Wild Heart

by C. R. Jane

  We lurched upward once more, swinging as we reached the twelve o’clock position on the wheel and halted for someone else to jump onto the Ferris wheel.

  “You asked what I was doing at the carnival,” Wilder said, his hand cupping my cheek, bringing me closer to him as he leaned in once more. “I came for you and only you. When I’m away, I feel an invisible pull to you, and the longer I’m away, the more insane I go.”

  I swallowed hard, unsure how to respond to that, but I didn’t need to when his lips pressed against mine. He kissed me with passion, his tongue sweeping into my mouth, his hand behind my head, cradling me against him.

  He bit down lightly on my lower lip, and I shivered underneath him as he slid his other hand under my top. I couldn’t resist and leaned in to him, fisting his shirt, needing more. The heat from his chest consumed me, and it seemed to weave around me, keeping me captive to him.

  His hand cupped the curve of my breast, his fingers finding the hardened nipple. I arched my spine, pushing close to him. He squeezed my nub to the point of pain, the most delicious kind of agony. My breath hitched along with a moan.

  The approving growl in his throat did things to me, his domineering gesture affecting every fiber in my body.

  Heat seared over my skin, and every nerve ending tingled.

  My stomach fluttered as I’d never done this sort of thing in public with so many people around. Daxon was right down there. Thinking about him being so close had a crazy idea popping into my head that maybe he’d join us. I almost laughed out loud at the idea that two men who hated each other would ever cooperate in such a way.

  It would be hot though. Probably the hottest thing ever.

  At the end of the day, I understood the danger lurking in my decision to keep pushing my relationship with each of them. Because how could I pick between them?

  But when his mouth slid over my cheek and found the softness of my neck, my thoughts flew away. I shuddered at his hot breath, the sexy groan on his throat.

  “Fuck,” he growled, his hand squeezing my breast harder. “I’m so close to losing all control, to stripping you right here and fucking you. I can smell your arousal, and I’m so hard that I’m dying for you.”

  I trembled at his words, moisture gathering between my thighs. I was finding it very hard to care about the people around us right now.

  The carriage beneath us trembled as it lurched forward, sending us backward, dipping. Wilder broke from our kiss, his hand slipping out from my top, and he leaned back into his seat, smiling that wickedly sexy way he always did. Here I was, hanging high, desperate for more, but he just drew away.

  My shoulders bunched up, and I stared at him incredulously. “I never took you for a tease,” I said.

  “Oh, gorgeous girl, tonight there are too many wolves around us, so that is all I can offer you.” He looked at me innocently, like he hadn’t planned this. Despite the flare of pleasure behind his eyes, he smiled, and I hadn’t even noticed that we had started going around on the ride, as it was meant to be. His hand held mine on my lap, and a groan slipped past my lips.

  “That’s just cruel.” I lowered my gaze to his lap, noticing the large tent in his jeans, knowing I wasn’t the only one who would be starving tonight.

  “Maybe I just want you to be thinking only of me all night.” He smirked, and I knew that was the truth. I’m sure it had everything to do with Daxon. Wilder swooped in and staked his claim, and I’d fallen quickly. I groaned because he’d been right—after that small taste, I wouldn’t be able to get him out of my head. All my attention focused on the way his thumb stroked my arm in small circles, bringing a flush across my skin.

  “Just so you know, I’m not happy with this arrangement.” Irritation jerked at my chest, but really, I could have said no. I turned my head and pretended to be mad.

  “I can tell.”

  Asshole loved every second of leaving me hanging. His hand tightened over mine, and I couldn’t believe how ravenous I was for him. The primal hunger flooded me again, a need I couldn’t shake.

  He smirked at me, and I felt pricks of desire dance between my thighs.

  The Ferris wheel finally came to a halt, and the metal barrier keeping us locked in popped up.

  Wilder climbed out, then offered me his hand, while with his other hand, he untucked his shirt to cover his erection. “Let’s go, unless you want to go around again?”

  Temptation swayed through me, but I eyed him, giving him my best evil expression, which only had him laughing. I was on my feet beside him in seconds, and when we walked out, Daxon stood there, still holding my llama, looking damn furious.

  “Oh, look, it’s Wilder,” Miyu stated, her voice filled with more sarcasm than actual amazement. Rae was too busy staring at Daxon for a reaction.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Daxon blurted and pushed the stuffed toy into my arms.

  Wilder straightened his shoulders and stared right into his eyes, no hesitation. These two were about to go all alpha on us, and neither was going to back down first.

  “I’m not fighting you tonight, so stand the fuck down,” Wilder growled.

  “Then fuck off. You’re ruining my date with Rune.”

  Wilder glanced over at me, the skin around his eyes tightening, then he swung back to Daxon. “Then count me as your third wheel.” He grinned wickedly.

  I sighed at their macho show. I turned to Miyu, shaking my head. “Let’s go on another ride while these two do their thing.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to watch?” Rae asked.

  “Nope. I’ve seen enough of their aggression, and I want to enjoy the carnival before they tear down the place with their fighting.”

  11

  Wilder

  These idiots were like fucking cockroaches I decided as I pounded the latest douchebag Rune’s ex had sent. I’d found this one lurking right behind the restaurant, obviously having caught Rune’s scent.

  I’d made sure the first thing I did was to break the fucker’s nose, but I wasn’t sure even that would prevent him from being able to smell Rune. Her scent was…intoxicating.

  And it seemed to be growing more so as the days passed.

  I wasn’t sure if that was because the mating bond was intensifying or because something was happening with her. But it was a bit concerning.

  Because everyone else seemed to be noticing as well.

  I’d even seen Marcus sniffing around her the other day, and he was hopelessly in love with his mate.

  She just smelled that good.

  “When’s your alpha coming, big guy?” I asked as I drove my brass knuckles into his gut. He moaned and coughed up some blood.

  One thing was for sure, the guys coming were getting bigger. Of course that didn’t mean they were any smarter. Obviously, Rune’s ex valued force over brains.

  Unfortunately for him and his men, I had both.

  Another punch, this time a sucker punch in his mouth. I laughed as a few teeth fell out and he started bawling.

  This was truly pathetic.

  Protect our mate, my wolf growled. And I groaned because I knew what was going to happen next.

  All my life, I’d been in perfect control of my wolf. Since our first shift, we’d existed in perfect harmony. Until now.

  When it came to Rune, my wolf was batshit crazy. It was his world, and I was just living in it. I kind of was shocked every day that I woke up as a human because I kind of expected my wolf to take over, full moon be damned.

  The bloodlust settled over my mind, and then there was nothing but the continued pounding of my fist hitting skin, destroying everything about this shifter who’d dared to come after our mate.

  Protect.

  A dark chuckle suddenly echoed through the alleyway. My wolf immediately recognized the asshole it belonged to.

  Daxon.

  “Well, look at this. What a pleasant surprise,” he purred, stalking towards me. I turned my head and bared my teeth at him, my wolf not pl
eased at being interrupted. Not when we were trying to protect Rune.

  “What did this poor guy do to you? He looks…terrible.”

  Daxon looked excited as he stared down at the huge guy crying at my feet.

  I didn’t explain myself to others. I especially didn’t explain myself to Daxon.

  But I had to admit this looked pretty bad.

  “Look—” I began.

  “Did that fuckwad ex of Rune’s send him?” he growled, so much craziness in his gaze, even I felt a little scared at the sight.

  Wait a minute… “You know about these guys.”

  There was a long pause, like Daxon was deciding something. “I’ve gotten rid of five so far,” he admitted before launching a kick right at the midsection of the already ruined guy sniveling in front of us.

  The crack of his ribs sounded through the alley, and Daxon and I both smiled.

  “This is my third one,” I told him, crouching down and lacing a rope embedded with silver around the guy’s wrists with my glove protected hands. His whimpers increased as the silver began to burn through his wrist. They’d eventually burn all the way to the bone, and he’d have no relief until the rope was removed.

  Unfortunately for him, the ropes were never going to be removed. Fortunately for him, he’d be dead soon.

  “That’s actually clever,” Daxon said admiringly, crouching down next to me to inspect my handiwork.

  “Don’t sound so surprised, asshole,” I growled, even as I hid a smile.

  He smirked at me, his stupid golden boy smile on his face that never ceased to make me want to choke him.

  Daxon tapped on the rope thoughtfully. “You make this yourself?” he asked.

  “It comes in handy whenever I need to emphasize a point.” I chuckled at the tame description.

  “Hmm. I might have to borrow this idea,” he said before standing up and scrutinizing me. “Maybe we have a little bit more in common than I thought.”

  I rolled my eyes. We both knew at one point, we’d thought of each other as closer than brothers.

  The chasm between us seemed too wide to close at this point. There was a part of me that hated him more than any other person that existed. That part tended to block out anything inside of me that still considered him my brother.

  “He’s just going to keep sending them,” I told Daxon as we continued to study the man at our feet.

  Daxon’s eyes glittered as he nodded. “I’m counting on that.”

  Daxon…was coming across a little bit like a psycho. What had he managed to hide from me and everyone else beneath that bullshit nice guy act that had always made me want to punch him?

  “Eventually, he’ll have to come himself,” I said before bending down and grabbing the guy under his armpits to start heaving him away. Fuck, this guy really was a beast.

  I should probably move the guy before anyone else from town happened to pass by though.

  Although, part of me seriously doubted that Daxon just happened to find me. I’d felt Daxon watching me for weeks, ever since Rune had come into town. I’m sure he was trying to find out something he could use against me to get Rune all to himself.

  Daxon surprised me by picking up the guy’s feet and walking with me, a whistle on his lips that was possibly the creepiest thing I’d ever heard.

  “Rune know you’re creepy yet?” I taunted.

  Daxon’s grin just grew. “Maybe,” he murmured, continuing to whistle.

  We didn’t say much as we walked, weaving behind buildings to avoid eyes. We were the alphas, there wouldn’t be too many questions, but when there were eight dead guys between the two of us and Rune was already under suspicion by most of the town, it was best to stay as under the radar as possible when dragging a soon-to-be-dead guy.

  I loved my pack, but I wouldn’t put it past them to do something crazy like hand Rune over to one of the guys before Daxon and I could stop them.

  And then I’d go crazy and probably destroy the entire pack.

  So, I should do everything I could to prevent that.

  I studied Daxon as we walked, noting the differences between his body language right now and how he usually was.

  To the rest of the world, he was perfect. The perfect alpha, the perfect wolf, the perfect guy… I’d hated him for that, always felt compared, honestly.

  I had my pack’s loyalty, I didn’t doubt that. But when you were basically running a town with someone, it became a little more complicated than that. Daxon delighted in presenting himself as the good guy and leaving me to be the bad guy in most town decisions.

  I resented him for that, but I guessed he also resented the fact that I’d ended up sleeping with his girlfriend, so we were perhaps even on that. Not that I’d known the reality of their relationship when it all went down.

  Why was I thinking about that right now?

  I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and Daxon smirked at me again, like he could read my mind. We were walking into the forest now. We probably should have been keeping an eye out for any shadow creatures, but between the two of us, there wasn’t much we had to fear.

  The guy’s eyes opened just then, and they widened as he realized his predicament.

  There was only one reason we’d be in the woods, and he knew it. He started to kick and scream, in general making a ruckus that echoed around us. Daxon promptly dropped the guy’s legs and then pulled out a savage looking knife from his pants. He pried open the guy’s mouth and sliced his tongue right off. I cringed as it flopped out to the forest floor.

  I stared at Daxon in disbelief. He just smiled at me, almost angelically, like it was perfectly normal to slice someone’s tongue off.

  I mean, he’d told me he’d gotten rid of at least five of these guys already, but I’d envisioned it was how I’d done the job—a bullet to the head before burying them deep in the woods.

  Now I was wondering.

  The interloper had passed out from the pain, so I guessed at least we didn’t have to worry about him alerting anyone anymore with his screams.

  But it was going to take a while to get that image out of my head. I’d done a lot of things in my life, but chopping someone’s tongue off wasn’t one of them.

  Daxon was watching me closely.

  I cleared my throat. “Do that kind of thing often?” I asked, echoing his words from earlier. I kept my tone even, my mind remembering the kind of boy he’d been. The sunshine appearance of him hadn’t been a mask back then. He’d freaked out on me if I accidentally squished an ant. Daxon had even tried to go vegan for a period of time, a practically impossible thing for a wolf, just because he couldn’t bear to hurt another living thing.

  I remembered noticing when he’d begun to use the golden façade more as a weapon than it actually being who he was though. And I’d never been quite sure what had brought about the change.

  But the guy standing across from me…I suddenly wasn’t sure if there was an ounce of that little kid in him anymore. He’d transformed, and somewhere along the way, I’d totally missed it.

  “I’ll do anything to protect her,” Daxon announced fiercely. I could feel the promise behind his words. His “anything” literally meant anything.

  But could he protect her from himself? And did he even need to?

  Daxon picked up the guy’s feet again, and we continued to march. I realized that I hadn’t told Daxon where we were going, yet he was heading in precisely the right direction. The fucker really had been stalking me.

  I shrugged it off for a moment, not in the mood to start another fight with him that would only inevitably draw attention at a time it was desperately not wanted.

  Past the river, there was a piece of the forest that had always felt off. I’d heard townspeople talking about the place they never went to, even in wolf form. For centuries, they’d claimed this place was haunted.

  A perfect place to store bodies.

  Especially since it included a dramatic crack in the ground that seemed to descend f
orever. You couldn’t see the bottom, even with a flashlight, and I wasn’t about to see what else was down there.

  I always got a jittery feeling here, an itching under my skin almost. Daxon looked completely at ease, however. The fucker was probably getting off on the feeling.

  We dropped the guy on the ground almost simultaneously with a loud thunk, and he woke up. He stared at us with pleading eyes, an inhuman sound coming out of his mouth as he tried to beg for his life.

  Guilt tried to flicker in my gut, as usual, but I pushed it away. This guy would have taken Rune away from me.

  Mate, my wolf reminded me.

  And I wasn’t about to let that happen. Ever.

  “Do you want to do the honor, or shall I?” asked Daxon, cocking his head and staring at me very animal-like. I could see his wolf in his eyes, waiting right beneath the surface for a chance to pounce.

  “By all means,” I said, kind of wanting to see this new Daxon in action. I felt like my whole world had suddenly changed, and I’d been let in on a secret of utmost importance.

  Daxon grinned savagely, and I found myself grinning back, bloodlust leaking into my veins like I was breathing it in. I pulled out my gun to offer it to him, but he just waved it away. He knelt down behind the writhing picture of pathetic wretchedness and took out his blood-stained knife.

  “You were stupid to come after what was mine,” he said softly as he trailed the knife down the side of the guy’s face, a line of blood forming.

  My wolf growled that he’d dared to describe Rune as his, but I held him in check.

  Without warning, Daxon suddenly stabbed the guy right in the throat. He then proceeded to pepper the guy’s entire chest with stabs before finally ending the guy’s life with a sharp stab to the head.