The Hunter's Heart (Wilde Creek Book Seven)

by R. E. Butler

  He groaned, his cock spasming inside her as he followed her into bliss. She panted for breath, closing her eyes as the sweet relief of her climax flowed through her.

  Then she realized that his cock hadn’t softened when he came. She opened her eyes and met his intense gaze.

  “What’s happening?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I…do you want me to stop?”

  “What? Hell the fuck no.”

  He grinned, swinging her away from the wall and settling on his back on the hospital bed. She straddled him, his thick length still hard inside her. She rested her hands on his chest, stroking his smooth skin. The tattoos were fading before her eyes, some of them already gone from his skin. She wanted to ask what that meant, but he pushed up into her and grasped her hips, and all thought fled.

  Another climax rose inside her, aided by Lucian’s fingers, and another after that. He came inside her twice more, their bodies slick with sweat. The scent of their passion filled the air. He looked down at her as they made love for the fourth time, stroking his fingers through her hair and kissing her. Their feverish pace slowed, as they rocked against each other. She was tired, and deliciously worn out.

  Out of her subconscious, her wolf howled as she was finally released from the drug’s dampening effects. Mia felt her strength returning, her wolf’s abilities to heal coming to her aid. Her fangs elongated. Her wolf wanted to mate with Lucian, to seal their bond together. He stopped moving inside her, staring down at her as she panted for breath and struggled against the wolf who wanted to pounce on him.

  “I see her,” Lucian said, his voice low and reverent. “I see you and your wolf, Mia.”

  He tilted his head, offering her his neck. She smiled and sank her fangs into his flesh, marking him as hers. He groaned, his hips flexing as he began to fuck her again, burying his fingers in her hair and holding her tightly. She released her hold on his neck and wrapped her arms around him, holding on as he took them both to the heavens. Just as her climax hit, she felt his sharp teeth at her neck and shouted her pleasure.

  He bit her with more than just fangs – all of his teeth were sharp, and each one buried itself deep into her skin. She felt a connection between them snap into place, a bond that was stronger than she’d ever thought possible.

  He came inside her, following her into bliss. Her vision winked out, and her fingers and toes curled at the delicious pleasure that arced through her. Nothing had ever felt as good.

  “Mine,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming in pleasure.

  He kissed her, brushing at tears that she hadn’t realized she’d cried. “Are you okay?”

  She waited for another wave of desire to assault her, as it had each previous time she’d climaxed, but nothing came. Just peace. And exhaustion.

  “I’m good.”

  He chuckled. “More than good, baby. You’re wonderful.”

  “If the drug works like a real heat, I’m pregnant.”

  “I know. Are you angry with me?”

  “For coming for me?” She arched a brow.

  “For all of it.”

  “Right now, all I am is tired. And happy.”

  “Let me find you something to wear so we can get the fuck out of here.”

  “I second that.”

  It took a few minutes, but Lucian found a lab coat and a hospital gown, which she put on. Then he carried her out of the room where she’d been held. They reached the first floor, where she met his father, Jasper, who was waiting for them. Jasper had dumped all the bodies in the foyer and covered them with a harsh-smelling accelerant.

  She was inclined to look away from the gruesome pile, but she forced herself to really look at the bodies. She knew she’d sleep better if she saw that they were really all dead, and wouldn’t ever harm her or anyone else again. Her gaze swept over the corpses, and she saw Dario and his mother among the dead, along with the males who’d touched her. In the midst of the pile she saw Fawn, who had brought her food and an antidote. Her sightless, glassy stare shook Mia to the core.

  “You killed her,” Mia whispered.

  Jasper cleared his throat. “She tried to take my head off with a kitchen knife. No one in this nest was innocent.”

  Mia couldn’t control the tremble that wracked her body. Whether it was nerves or shock, she didn’t know, but she wanted to be gone from this place.

  “Don’t cry for her,” Lucian murmured. “I would level a city to keep you safe.”

  Burrowing against him, she pressed her face to his neck and inhaled. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “You got it,” he said. To Jasper he said, “Let’s light this place up.”

  Lucian carried her out of the house, followed by his father. She looked over Lucian’s shoulder and saw flickering flames through the windows.

  “Burning the bodies helps to hinder the police,” Lucian said.

  “Will you be in trouble?” she asked.

  “I’ve probably lost my job, but that’s no hardship. The nest was a criminal enterprise. No matter what the consequences are, you’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

  She wanted to stay awake, but exhaustion pulled at her. Despite her best attempts, she fell asleep as soon as Lucian laid her gently in the backseat of his car. She had no idea what the dawn would bring, but she had Lucian, and the ravens were dead. Everything else was just details.

  Chapter 8

  Lucian stopped at his father’s house. Mia was still asleep in the backseat, and he didn’t want to disturb her. He didn’t know a lot about what the females went through during their heat-cycles, but he did know that what she’d gone through with the drug was far faster than what she would’ve normally endured.

  He glanced at her, his thoughts traipsing into unwanted territory. He knew she’d spent her heat cycles with a male from another pack, and he couldn’t help but feel a simmering jealousy. His beast perked up, questioning whether they could go kill him.

  Turning his attention back to his father, he said, “I need to get her to Mal’s.”

  “And then?”

  “I’m going to see the witch.” He rolled his wrists and looked at his bare arms. The tattoos had faded so much that there weren’t many still visible. Only the most recent ones remained – an eagle and a yin-yang. He didn’t understand why the tattoos had faded. Even if the magic had been released, the ink should’ve stayed.

  “You promised me a conversation.”

  “After.”

  “Look at me,” his father said.

  Lucian turned his head and stared at the man he’d hated for the majority of his life. He’d lost everything because of him – his mother, his home – but Jasper had stood by Lucian during the darkest night of his life. He’d give him the conversation promised, but he wasn’t sure it would change anything.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  Lucian shook his head. “I can’t not do it. I have to be safe for Mia to be around. That’s my mate back there. Her heat-cycle is over, and whether it was manufactured or not, she’s most likely carrying my child.”

  His father’s dark brow arched. “Your berserker stopped the moment Mia was safe, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Isn’t that enough for you to know that there’s more to what you are than you were led to believe?”

  “I know what I am,” he snapped. “I won’t take Mia’s safety for granted ever again.”

  “Lucian,” Jasper started, but Lucian cut him off with an impatient grunt.

  “Not now.”

  “When?”

  “I don’t know! For fuck’s sake, I need time to figure things out on my own.” He shook himself out and snarled. “I didn’t say it earlier, but I wouldn’t have been able to get her to safety on my own. Thank you for that.”

  “You’re welcome. Come find me when you ‘figure things out.’”

  His father got out of the car and shut the door gently. Lucian pulled away from his childhood home and head
ed toward Wilde Creek. The drive was one he hadn’t made since his grandparents had come to get him after his mother was killed and his father disappeared. He didn’t remember a lot about his mother’s death; his recollection of that day was distorted and foggy. He remembered her screaming for him to run away. He’d tried, and that was where his memories stopped. He’d woken up in the hospital, his grandmother weeping at the loss of her only child.

  His father had come for him a week later. By that point, his grandparents had gotten the law involved, and Lucian had been given into their custody. He hadn’t wanted to talk to his father. His grandparents had told him that his father had slaughtered her in a berserker rage, and because Lucian was a berserker too, he’d be a danger to anyone he loved. He’d carried that burden for years. Hating the creature inside him, and loathing the male who had passed it to him. But now, as he watched a man he barely knew walk into his childhood home, he wondered if he’d been wrong all this time.

  It was tempting to take Mia into his father’s home and take the time to have their chat now, but he couldn’t shake the deep fear that he wasn’t safe to be around. Whatever his father wanted to talk about would have to wait until Lucian had done what he needed to do to ensure his mate’s, and his unborn child’s, safety.

  He drove to Mal’s house, his mind spinning with what he needed to accomplish before he could return to Mia. Aside from the re-tattooing, which would take hours, he needed to check in with his teammates. It was possible that the higher-ups in the hunters’ organization were hunting for him, and he would need to dole out some damage control to make sure he didn’t wind up behind bars.

  When he arrived at Mal’s, it was just after five a.m. Mia was still sound asleep, occasionally letting out a soft growling snore that he thought was adorable. The house was dark, but Lucian knew that his best friend was up already. Mal was the definition of an early bird, while Lucian had always leaned a little bit more toward being a night owl.

  Lucian texted Mal that he needed him to come outside. When Lucian saw the front light turn on, he got out of his car and met Mal on the sidewalk.

  “What’s wrong?” Mal asked.

  “First, I want you to know that Mia is safe.”

  “What?” Mal shouted the word, his face paling. “What happened?”

  Lucian put his hands on Mal’s shoulders and said, “She was kidnapped last night by a group of raven shifters.”

  His mouth fell open. “Raven shifters? Why would they take her?”

  “It was my fault. My team put away their leader, and they followed us to find weaknesses. When I came here for dinner, they were following me and saw Mia confront me outside. She was their leverage.”

  He stopped talking for a moment, and then pushed on. “They gave her a drug to force her into a mating heat.”

  “How long did they have her?”

  “She was in their lab for a little over four hours by the time I got to her. She’s out of the heat now, and sleeping. They terrorized her, but they didn’t actually hurt her. She has wounds on her wrists and ankles from the bindings. I thought that Doc could look her over and make sure she’s okay.”

  Mal didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then he balled up his fist and punched Lucian square in the face. Pain exploded behind his eyes, and the sick twisting sound of cartilage breaking made him grunt. He was fast enough to have ducked the swing, and his beast didn’t particularly like being punched, but he knew that Mal was just being a protective older brother.

  Mal shouldered past Lucian and stalked to the car with a growl. He lifted Mia into his arms, and she didn’t stir as he carried her past him and into the house. Mal stopped at the open door.

  “Get the fuck out of here, Luc. We’re done. I’ll buy you out of the business, and we won’t have any further contact.”

  Now the beast was mad.

  “I’m coming back for Mia.”

  “The fuck you are. You show up here again and I’ll kill you.”

  “She’s my mate.”

  “You nearly got her killed! I told you to stay away from her. Leave, or I’ll call the pack.”

  “I’m coming back, Mal. You can’t stop me.”

  Mal stepped into the house and kicked the door shut. Lucian heard the deadbolt slide into place. Not that he wasn’t strong enough to break the door down, deadbolt or not, but that wouldn’t do anything but terrify Nila and Jack, which he absolutely wouldn’t do.

  At least Mia was safe with her brother and would be seen by the pack doctor. Lucian would be back when his beast was firmly caged by magic once more. However the hell long it took, he would come back for her. There was no other option.

  * * *

  Lucian pushed the buzzer for the tattoo shop and rubbed his eyes. He was fucking tired as hell, and although his broken nose had healed, the area still ached. There was a crackling sound as the intercom turned on.

  “Lucian?” Talitha, a witch and tattoo artist, yawned and then said, “Why are you here?”

  He looked down at himself and then up at the security camera over the door. “I need my tatts redone.”

  “You don’t have an appointment.”

  “It’s an emergency.”

  She sighed. “It’ll cost you.”

  “It always does.”

  The door unlocked, and he twisted the knob and walked in. The tattoo shop was dark for a brief moment and then he had to shield his eyes as Talitha turned on the overhead lights.

  “Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “You look like a nightmare.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t have time to get a shower.”

  “Well, you need one now. No way am I inking you while you’re covered in filth. I have to spell the ink anyway, it’ll take about ten minutes. Let me see what’s up.”

  He was still wearing his torn jeans, but that was it. He was glad she opened the door for him at all, considering he probably looked psychotic. Without going into too much detail, he explained how he’d had to set his berserker free to save his mate.

  She stared at his chest, her lips puckered into a frown. “Even if you cut the magic, the ink should’ve still remained. You have two tattoos left. You had how many? A dozen? And some of them were quite large.”

  “I don’t know what happened.”

  “Maybe your berserker didn’t like them.”

  He snorted. “It doesn’t matter. He’s gotta go back in the cage so my mate will be safe.”

  “If she’s your mate, why wouldn’t she be safe?”

  “My mom wasn’t safe from my dad.”

  Her brow furrowed, and she opened her mouth, closed it, and then sighed. “I’m sorry about your mom. There’s a shower down the hall. There’s a robe in the linen closet, and I’ll have Reggie bring something for you to wear.”

  He lifted the bag in his hand. “I’ve got clothes. Who’s Reggie?”

  “The other artist. He’s apprenticing with me to learn how to apply magical tatts. If we need to do multiple tatts to get your beast back under control, I’ll need the extra hands. And double the payment, plus a waking-me-up-early tax.”

  He smiled. Talitha was in her mid-forties, with short, dark blonde hair and eyes that were a shade right between blue and purple. She was one of the few people who knew of Lucian’s nature, and although he only saw her once a year, he considered her a friend.

  He left the main room and headed down the hall to a bathroom that had a small stand-up shower. Even though he’d washed up in the sink at the compound, he still looked terrifying. He didn’t know how Mia had allowed him to touch her when he still had blood splattered on his upper body, face, and arms. Considering that he was aware how much his body changed when the berserker took over, she must’ve really been lost to the mating heat.

  Or, she was enough in love with him that she didn’t care what the outer package looked like, which seemed far more likely. And made him feel like a gigantic ass. He didn’t deserve her love. He’d never done anything but keep himself apart from her, which must’ve
been hell for her wolf. He hadn’t cared, because he hadn’t allowed himself to care. Caring was dangerous in his profession. He wasn’t sure how he was going to earn her forgiveness, but he’d work his ass off to get it.

  He flipped the shower on and opened his go-bag, removing the contents and setting them on the toilet lid. He showered quickly with the water as hot as he could stand it, scrubbing his skin and hair twice until he was entirely blood-free. He dressed in jeans and boots, leaving the shirt for later.

  Under his skin, the berserker hummed, anxious to return to Mia. He didn’t know what settling the creature back under the confines of the magical tattoos would do, but he really had no choice.

  Talitha and Reggie were talking quietly in the main room when he walked in, their heads together and their voices too low for him to pick up. Reggie lifted his head and stared at Lucian.

  Talitha turned around with a tray of colors and a glass jar of dark gray ink that seemed to be moving on its own, swirling and twisting against the smooth surface. “Lucian, this is Reggie. Reg, this is Lucian.”

  Reggie extended his hand and Lucian shook it. “You really a berserker?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Fucking-A. Never met one of you before.”

  Talitha elbowed him, and he released Lucian’s hand. “He’s trying to corral the beast, not give it a big ego.”

  Lucian half-smiled. “It’s okay. I know I’m unique.”

  “I pulled your old tatt sketches since you didn’t give me advanced notice to make you new ones.”

  “Those are fine,” he said.

  “Start on the back?” she asked. “We’ll work at the same time, so we’ll cover more ground. But I hope you didn’t have plans for the next eight to ten hours.”

  “Not at all,” he said, straddling the chair and leaning his chest against the padding. Talitha and Reggie spoke quietly over him as they set up to work, and within a few minutes, the first image – a complicated black tribal design that spanned his back shoulder to shoulder – had been transferred to his skin. The buzz of the tattoo machines as they turned on set his teeth on edge, but he pushed the feelings away and thought of Mia. This was all for her.