Untamed- House of Berserkers

by Lacey Carter Andersen

  I didn’t know Emory was there until he grabs the vampire by the back of the hair. He slams his face into the metal bars of the cafeteria furniture four times in rapid succession, and then releases the vampire as he slides to the ground. All along, he manages to keep from going berserk, but I can see the fury in his eyes.

  “I wanted to do that,” I growl at both the big men, my own anger still rolling beneath my flesh.

  Adam cocks his head, a question in his eyes.

  “Yes?” Drake asks, lifting a brow.

  “You two protected me.”

  Drake shrugs, rolling those massive shoulders of his. “If Kiera wants you safe, you stay safe.”

  Adam smiles. “We’re friends.”

  “I didn’t say--”

  “Friends,” he repeats, then steps over the vampire and takes his tray. Everyone in line clears out of his way, and he looks pleased as he goes through the line, selecting different things. The cafeteria ladies scoop food onto his plate without hesitation, and then he heads for the table.

  We follow him, Emory and Drake at my sides. “Thanks,” I say, unable to look away from the happiness in Adam’s face.

  “We’ll always keep you safe,” Emory tells me softly.

  “Oh, I didn’t need help, but I like Adam knowing you have his back.”

  I feel the two men exchange a look over my head, but I don’t even care.

  “We just want to keep you happy,” Drake says, but there’s a note to his voice I haven’t heard before.

  I try to hide my smile. “Well, there’s nothing that turns me on more than seeing two sexy men beating the hell out of bullies.”

  Their surprise is almost palpable.

  “Well then, I’ll strive to beat up more men for you.”

  When we reach our table, I turn to face Drake, grinning. I know he doesn’t suspect it before I land a hard kiss to those perfect lips of his. But just as the flame of desire leaps into his eyes and his hands reach for me, I leap back and take my seat next to Adam.

  Drake makes a sound of frustration as he sits down across from me.

  Adam smiles at all of us. “That was kind of fun.”

  Emory makes a grumpy noise, but I know there’s a smile behind his frown.

  Then Adam sighs. “I haven’t had warm food in so long. Everything looks so good.”

  My heart aches a little at his words. “Well, eat as much as you want, and we can go back for seconds.”

  Adam digs into the food and speaks around a chunk of meat. “This is the best day of my life.” I open my mouth to respond to him, but he adds, “Except the day we had sex.”

  I feel my cheeks burning and take a big bite of my food.

  Drake makes a low sound that sounds like a threat. “About that…is the mutant the only one getting to see you naked?”

  I swallow my food and drink some of my soda before answering. I plan to say something clever and flirtatious, but when our eyes meet, the words die on my lips. “You keep not being a jerk and see where it gets you.”

  He flashes me a wicked smile. “Challenge accepted.”

  I’m about to tell him that it wasn’t a challenge when I see Emory staring at me. The longing in his eyes takes my breath away. But when he sees me looking at him, he draws his gaze away and focuses on his food.

  I eat the rest of my meal in silence, feeling troubled. Drake and Adam had made their motivations clear. But Emory seems to think he has to protect me because of some strange pride, or like he has a debt to me. But was it something more?

  Somehow I’d imagined…I’d thought that there was more to the mysterious man who saved me that day. Or maybe I just wanted there to be. And now that I knew that he and Emory were the same, it had changed something inside of me. Every time I thought of him, my emotions felt super charged. Complicated.

  And I didn’t like complicated.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Drake

  For three days, life was calm…or as calm as it could be at the Wicked Reform School. We took our classes. A wolf shifter librarian took over for our Fighting teacher, and I was proud to show Kiera some new moves without the threat of some asshole teacher putting her in a dangerous position.

  As a wrestling partner, she was…surprisingly capable. I mean, it didn’t hurt that every time she touched me all my blood went straight to my cock. But even so, she impressed me.

  And then there was the day she fought a shifter, him with a sword and her with those fucking axes of hers. To say it was amazing was an understatement. She used the deadly blades like they were an extension of herself. The shifter had been on his back, the blades to his throat, before he’d known what hit him.

  Now she wore the things on her back at all times. And as much as I hated to admit it, the sight of them got me hard.

  Which was just…fucked up.

  I shiver, trying to push the thought of just how good Kiera was with her hands out of my mind.

  The mutant had chosen to shadow Emory in all his classes, for some reason, but had managed not to have to fight in class so far, so I still had no idea what he was capable of. Most of the time, he seemed more fascinated by the interactions of everyone in the class than the lesson that was taught.

  Not that I blamed him, he seemed to know nothing about other people.

  And then there was Emory. I couldn’t quite resist measuring the two men as my competition. While Kiera seemed to dote on Adam, and he received more attention than both of us combined, it was how little Emory and Kiera talked that bothered me. It was the way he looked at her when he thought no one was watching.

  Never before had I imagined I’d share my mate. But if I had to, I would be certain of my place among her men. I refused to be the lowest male in her regard.

  And yet, I still hadn’t found a way to win her affection.

  As I lazily wandered the forest near the cliffs, a sound made me freeze. There were people just up ahead. Angry people.

  For a second, I intended to simply walk away. Not every fight was my fight, but then I heard the unmistakable sound of Adam’s voice and cursed. The man seemed to find trouble everywhere he went.

  Moving more quietly, I slide through the trees and spot four warlocks surrounding Adam. In his hands, he holds wildflowers, no doubt gathered for Kiera. And his face is troubled.

  “I didn’t know these were your woods,” he says.

  One of the warlocks, a man with long red hair, grins, then murmurs beneath his breath. A second later, flames leap from his fingertips, burning the flowers in Adam’s hand.

  The mutant gasps and drops the bunch onto the ground. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because,” the warlock advances on the mutant, even though Adam is easily double his size, “we don’t want you here.”

  Adam frowns, but his words came out soft, “Then I’ll leave the woods.”

  He starts to walk away, but another warlock blocks his path.

  Adam looks startled.

  The red-head grins. “I don’t think you understand. We don’t want you at our reform school.”

  The mutant draws himself up taller. “Kiera wants me here, so I’m staying here.”

  All the assholes start to laugh, but it’s the red-head who responds. “Mutants are basically just test animals, right? How about we do some tests of our own? How about we try out some spells on you?”

  Adam goes white. I might be a cold-hearted bastard, but the terror on his face tears at my own heart strings. “I don’t like tests.”

  “And you won’t like ours either,” the warlock says, a savage promise in his words.

  I emerge from the trees. “Warlocks in the woods. Strange. I’d have thought there was a dark hole you should be casting spells in.”

  All of them whirl around, and I finally recognize the red-head as Harold, a douchebag who was apparently an expert caster. “This isn’t your fight, lizard.”

  “That’s king of the shifters to you, asshole,” I snarl.

  Something dangero
us swims in his dark eyes. “I noticed that you chose to live with the shifters, while the House of Dragons stands empty. Why is that?”

  A growl slips from my lips, and I try to push back the memories of my first day on campus. Of coming to that quiet building. The walls lined with photos of powerful, dead dragons. The last of the photos was an image of my own parents.

  “Afraid of the ghosts?”

  My hands curl into fists.

  “Careful,” he threatens, “even dragons aren’t immune to my powers.”

  “Even warlocks can burn,” I threaten back.

  His gaze grows calculating. “I heard they destroyed your wings and cut off your cock. I heard they left you half a dragon.”

  My entire chest aches as the memories of that day rise within me. And I know I take too long to respond.

  “Don’t hurt my friend’s feelings,” Adam says, his words quiet but angry.

  The warlocks glance from me to him, and then they start laughing. “A mutant and a dickless, wingless dragon! How perfect!”

  I planned to destroy them, but Adam was faster. Claws emerge from his hands, and he slashes Harold’s face. The warlock screams and my jaw drops as Adam picks him up, lifting him over his head. He races through the trees and I see him toss the asshole off the cliff, into the ocean far below. When he turns to face us, his eyes glow golden.

  One warlock starts to murmur a spell. I punch him in the face, watching the bastard crumble into an unconscious heap. When I look up, Adam is dragging the last two warlocks to the cliff. As they scream the words to spells I don’t understand, I feel magic brewing around them, but Adam simply tosses them over the edge, completely unaffected by their dark powers.

  I’m grinning when I go to stand next to him. We watch until we see three shapes emerge from the water down far below. I don’t tell Adam he just made himself some powerful enemies, because I wouldn’t say a thing to ruin this moment. The quiet mutant had actually grown a backbone and fought back!

  “That was…good, mutant.”

  The glow in Adam’s eyes fades. “They hurt your feelings.”

  Is that why he fought? The thought bothers me for reasons I don’t understand.

  I rub my back, then stop myself when I realize what I’m doing. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

  His gaze meets mine. “Did they really cut off your dick and your wings?”

  I sigh. “Half of that is true.”

  He looks at my groin.

  “My wings!”

  His gaze jerks up. “I’m sorry. Did it hurt?”

  I swear I haven’t ever admitted something hurt before. “Yes. More than anything in my life.”

  Adam tries to take my hand.

  I spring back. “What are you doing?”

  He looks confused. “Kiera holds my hand when I’m sad.”

  “Dudes don’t do that…”

  “So what do they do?”

  “I don’t know.” I run my hands through my hair in frustration, then curse myself when I realize I’ve messed up my hair. “I don’t usually see a purpose in having men as friends. Hell, usually I don’t see a use for women other than…well, so, I think dudes just pat each other on the back.”

  Adam’s expression grows serious. He walks up to me very slowly, then pats me lightly on the back.

  I can’t help but laugh. “Come on, let’s get you back before Kiera worries.”

  We leave the woods and run into Kiera and Emory just outside of the berserker house. Neither of them are talking. They just sit next to each other on the steps, looking opposite directions. He with a sword on his back, her with her axes. It’s a strange sight. Like they’re the same but different all at once.

  When they spot us, Kiera springs to her feet. “Where have you been?”

  Adam’s expression falls. “I was gathering you flowers, but the warlocks burned them.”

  Her hand goes to the hilt of one of the axes of her back. “What warlocks? What happened?”

  Adam smiles. “Drake, my friend, beat them up for me. Then I patted his back when they hurt his feelings. They said he didn’t have a dick or wings, but only half of that was true.”

  Kiera and Emory look at my crotch.

  “My cock is just fine!” I growl.

  And then Kiera laughs, dropping her hand from her weapon. Was she just screwing with my head?

  I feel some of my tension ease away.

  “Don’t we have history class now?” Adam asks Emory.

  The berserker looks resigned as he says, “Yes, I guess we do.”

  They take off, both casting Kiera glances as they do so. My gaze moves back to Kiera, and I find her watching me, those blue eyes of hers evaluating me. I stand absolutely still and let her look, wondering what she’s thinking. And having absolutely no clue.

  “I have a break between classes,” she says.

  I lift a brow. I already knew that. “We both do.”

  “I was thinking of doing some laps in the lake by the mermaid house. It’s usually quiet this time of day. Want to come with me?”

  I nod.

  But instead of going to get a bathing suit, she starts heading in the direction of the lake. I forget to move until she looks back at me and grins, and then I’m hurrying after her, falling in line beside her.

  “So, you protected Adam?”

  I shrug. “Not that he needed it. The mutant can handle himself better than I suspected.”

  “I heard rumors they found the bodies of some berserkers in the detention house. They said the men must have broken into it and been attacked by flesh eaters.”

  “Adam and Emory are more useful than I initially thought.”

  She studies me from beneath her lashes. “So, you like them?”

  “Like isn’t exactly the word I’d use. I…tolerate them for you.”

  She looks disappointed.

  I instantly regret my words. “I don’t like when people are unkind to Adam. I’ve never understood people who are cruel just to be cruel. And Emory, he’s hard to read.”

  “He’s different from when we were kids.”

  “I don’t know what he was like then, but it sounds like he endured some pretty bad things. If half the stories about his brother are true, it’s probably even worse than he said. I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed. Bad things have a way of turning us into people we never imagined.”

  Kiera surprises me by slipping her hand in mine. “I wonder what it means that I’ve had a good life.”

  I’m careful not to do anything that makes her draw her hand back. “You don’t have to be as fucked up as the three of us to be a good person. And actually, maybe that’s why we seem drawn to you; you aren’t jaded. You’re…different.”

  “I don’t think Emory is drawn to me,” she says, frowning.

  Does she really not see it? “Trust me, he is.”

  She studies me. “What makes you say that?”

  I debate not telling her, but then sigh and decide the hell with it. “He looks at you the same way I look at you.”

  “And how do you look at me?”

  We stop at the edge of the lake. Turning, I catch her gaze. Looking at our hands, still entwined, I stroke the top of her hand and try to think of my response.

  “This whole mate thing…you don’t really know me. How do you know that there’s really something between us?”

  It’s hard to breathe as I choose my words carefully. “It’s like…knowing that the sun will rise in the morning. Never before has a shifter chosen a mate who was wrong for them. The fact that my dragon chose you means that you’re the female for me. There is no other.”

  “I thought you were only pretty sure I was your mate.”

  I draw closer. “I lied.”

  And then I lean down, and she surprises me by kissing me. At first, our kiss is soft, and then it grows harder and more desperate. My hands run down her shoulders and arms, then grab her hips and pull her closer. Her hands dig into my hair, pulling me down to her, and s
he takes control of our kiss.

  I never let women take control of me, but I let Kiera. It’s fascinating to feel how she angles me. To see how her tongue guides mine. And yet, the desire inside of me grows hotter until it threatens to unleash.

  With other women, I wouldn’t have held back. With her, I do.

  I will not screw this up.

  When she breaks our kiss, she’s breathing hard. “That was…”

  She doesn’t need to say more. That kiss was better than good. It was everything.

  “Come on,” she whispers.

  We walk the outside of the lake until it curves into the woods. She takes us through some trees to a quieter part of the lake, then turns back to me. “Ready to swim?”

  My mouth goes dry, but I nod.

  She takes off the sheath with her weapons and then her black tank top, dropping both onto a rock. The black bra she wears underneath is sexy as hell, thin, and made of silk. My fingers itch to take it off, but then she draws off her boots and pants, and stands before me in just her bra and underwear.

  “Your turn.”

  I don’t hesitate. I reach for the hem of my shirt and strip the material off slowly, giving her a full view of my six pack, and my arms…the ones women are always complimenting. And by the way her gaze glides over me, Kiera likes what she sees too.

  When I take off everything except my boxers, I stand before her, feeling proud. This woman is beautiful, more beautiful than any woman I’ve ever seen, but I’m a man who can stand at her side. If she’ll let me.

  “Come on,” she says, and then she turns, darting into the water.

  I follow after her, more slowly, watching the way her underwear hugs the glorious curves of her ass. “That’s spectacular.”

  She looks back at me as she sinks into the water. “What?”

  “Your ass.”

  She grins. “Thanks.”

  “Ever had a cock in it?”

  I expect her to blush. I expect her to ignore me. But instead, she lifts a brow. “Enough times to know I like it, when the man knows what he’s doing.”

  Catching her around the waist in the water, I draw her closer. “Well, I know what I’m doing.”