“Please don’t.” I struggled against Grayson, but he held me firm.
“Fee, don’t,” Uri said. He shook his head. “Don’t… Don’t look.”
Grayson tried to force me to look away, but I fought him, and he had no choice but to settle for holding me to him.
“You ready, little woman,” super vamp said. He kept his gaze on me while I locked eyes with Uri.
The gunshot was like a slug to my chest, knocking the breath from my lungs and bringing fresh tears to my eyes. It choked me, squeezed my heart in a vise, but I didn’t look away, even as Uri toppled onto his side. I didn’t look away as the life bled from his eyes.
I didn’t look. Away. I… I couldn’t…I
A keening sound filled the air, surrounding me.
“Hush, hush.”
Grayson rocked me, and I realized that the low keening sound that filled the air…it was me.
Super vamp strode over and held the gun up to Grayson’s forehead. “Almost broken, but not quite,” he said. “I wonder if this will help.”
A chill swept over my body, and then a loud crack cut through the air.
I jerked, ice blooming on my chest as for a moment I thought he’d pulled the trigger, but he was looking off to the left, at the ground where one of his team lay dead, head at a funny angle.
A figure stood over the dead vamp, brushing off his hands as if he’d touched something unsavory.
Jasper looked right at me and smiled thinly. “Don’t worry,” he drawled. “The cavalry has arrived.”
Wait, if he was here, then—
The heat of my power exploded like a tsunami through my veins as my Loup roared to the surface.
The super vamp looked down at me, confused.
“You ready, little man.” My words were garbled as my mouth shifted to wolf fangs. “My turn.”
I attacked.
Cora
The weaselly science guy stares at me with round eyes. Okay, so I’ve just materialized in his lab and killed two guards with ejections of power from my hands, but like fuck has he not seen magic before. He works for a secret group experimenting on vamps for godsake.
“Fix him.” I point to Hunter, who’s propped up against the wall. “You must have an antidote.”
The flicker of his eyelids tells me he does.
“I’m going to give you till the count of three to comply, then I’ll assume that you’re useless to me and fry your ass.” I light up my hands with electrical power. “One. Two.”
He moves fast for an old guy and is across the room by a cabinet in less than a second. “I have it. I have something that might help.”
“Might isn’t good enough, buddy.”
He holds a vial out to me like a sacred offering. “I can’t guarantee. The serum is for vamps, not Loup, and I told him that. I told him it could kill him, but he took it anyway.”
Fuck… I look down at Hunter. Why the fuck would he…Fee. He did it for Fee. Damn if that isn’t the perfect redemption arc.
“This might help,” scrawny scientist dude says. “It could neutralize the effects. Right now, the serum is tearing apart his genetic code and attempting to rebuild it. This should halt and reverse the process.”
“Give it to him, and just know if he dies, you die.”
He nods and hurries over to Hunter, grabbing an empty syringe on the way. He administers the new serum and then quickly steps away from Hunter.
Tick tock. “Well?”
“It should be working by—”
Hunter takes a lungful of air, his body arching on the inhalation. I stop myself from rushing over to him; there’s no way I’m taking my eyes off bozo science guy.
“Hunter? Hunter, can you hear me?”
He takes several breaths. “What happened? Fee?”
“Jasper’s gone after Fee. The wards are down. How are you feeling?”
He rubs his chest. “Like I got kicked in the chest by a rhino.”
“Hey, blinky!”
The scientist looks at me.
“Check his vitals.”
“Um…I’d rather not get too close.”
“Would you rather I incinerate your ass?”
Yeah, that gets him moving.
Hunter growls as the scientist gets closer.
I glare at the Loup. “Stop it. Let him check you over so we can get the fuck out of here.”
“I’m fine.” But he holds out his wrist for a pulse check.
The scientist does pulse and eyelids and nods. “Good. I think it’s working.”
Hunter shoves him away and stands. “I need to get out there and…” He sways and grabs the wall.
“Not okay, blinky.”
“I don’t know,” the science guy says. “I don’t understand. Weakness isn’t a side effect, but Loup aren’t vamps, so…”
“I’m fine,” Hunter growls. “Get me to Fee. Now.”
I want to say I don’t take orders from anyone, but it kinda feels redundant considering getting to Fee is what I want too.
I let the fire wink out and grab hold of scientist dude’s collar. “You’re coming with us.”
I hold my hand out to Hunter, and once he has a grip, I focus on Fee and make the jump.
Fee
My fangs sank into Cold Eyes’ face with a satisfying crunch. His scream was a symphony to my ears, and then I set to work tearing him apart.
Uri’s face bloomed in my mind. His eyes filled with regret the moment before and then after…
Rage was a red-hot monster taking over my body, and I succumbed to it, allowing it to drive me. To bathe in hot blood and slide its claws through warm entrails. I tore and I ripped until there was nothing but mush, and then I zeroed in on the next dead-eyed fucker and went in for the kill.
The snarls and howls of my pack echoed around me like a battle song as we allowed our fury to reign.
I was the beast.
I was the Loup.
I was wrath.
Gunshots pierced my side but the pain barely registered before I was healing and the fucker who shot me was dying.
Magic whizzed through the air, lighting up the night and burning holes in the super vamps. I caught the scent of death with a metallic undertone that was less copper more iron to my left. This was their scent. My boot snagged on something. I looked down, and the rage that was fueling me melted.
Uri.
He lay on his side just as he’d fallen. His amber eyes dark and unseeing. My Loup retreated, and I fell to the ground beside him, slipping out of half shift.
Around me, the battle raged, but I didn’t need to look to know we were winning. No. I needed to stay here. Right here with Uri.
I carefully lifted him and dragged him onto my lap. His torso was dark with congealed blood.
His body was cold to the touch.
I stroked his face and ran my fingers through his silken hair. I was going to buzz cut it for him. He’d said I could. I closed my eyes, and his warm laughter rang in my ears. We’d had so little time. Too little, and still, he’d made an imprint on my heart, one that nothing would erase. I just wished…I just wished I’d had the time to tell him…
I opened my eyes and leaned down to kiss him. His lips were ice as I pressed mine to them. Hot tears slipped down my cheek to kiss his.
The pain in my heart was acute, spiraling, never-ending, and it hit me. I loved him. I’d fucking loved him.
Heat kissed my brow. Light. What? I sat back and stared at Uri’s body as it began to glow from the inside out. Wait…wait a second…
He sucked in a sharp breath and then cried out in pain, hands going to his chest as the wound began to knit.
I gripped his face. “Uri? Uri, can you hear me?”
“Fee…” He groaned. “Aw, fuck, that hurts. Back away.”
He slid off my lap and tried to put distance between us. My instinct was to go after him, but I did as he asked and backed away. He was glowing brighter and brighter, and the world around us was cast into darkn
ess, and then the light exploded outward in a shockwave, knocking me onto my ass.
I held up my arm to shield my face as the world dimmed again.
“Fee…” Uri stood a couple of meters away, whole and glorious, shining with an inner light that slowly seeped back into his skin.
“You’re alive.” A sob pinched my throat, and then I was on my feet and running toward him.
He swept me up into his arms and squeezed me tight. I let him for a moment, and then I pulled back, grabbed his face, and peppered it with kisses.
His chuckle warmed my heart and brought fresh tears to my eyes, this time, ones of relief.
“I thought I lost you.”
“He sent me back,” Uri said.
I pulled back. “The divine?”
“Yes.”
“Looks like I owe him.”
“He said he owed you.”
I pressed my forehead to his jaw. “Thank you. Thank you so fucking much.”
“Fee!”
Cora? Uri released me as Cora came striding into the clearing.
“Motherfucker, look at this mess,” she said.
Super vamp body parts littered the clearing, and my Loup stood about, naked and bloody. I spotted the Magiguard huddled in a corner, and then there was another flash of blinding light as a tear opened up in the world. Ursula led the charge of Magiguard, coming in hot.
Ponytail ran up to her to give her the lowdown, no doubt.
“Great timing,” Jasper said coolly, appearing by Cora’s side.
Grayson joined me. He was naked, but he didn’t give a shit, and neither did I. It was the nature of the Loup to be untethered and free.
Cora’s gaze flicked to Grayson’s crotch then back up, eyes round. Fucking hell, even at a time like this, she could make me smile.
“Looks like you didn’t need us after all,” she said.
Us? My gaze slipped over her shoulder, and I saw him, Hunter, his hand around a scrawny human’s wrists. His dark eyes locked with mine, and he smiled, smug and cocky.
“Took your sweet time, didn’t you?” And then he promptly collapsed.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“What’s wrong with him?” Grayson asked Petra.
“Is it the serum?” Cora asked. “I made the scientist give him an antidote, but the serum was never designed for Loup. It’s for vamps.” Her gaze flicked my way. “Hunter knew that it could kill him, but he took it anyway. He knew it was the only way to help you guys. Juice up and get me to the ward symbol.”
She said you guys, but she meant me. He’d done it for me. My throat pinched. He’d risked his life for me…again.
“Is it the serum?” Grayson asked Petra.
Petra shook her head. “The man you brought with you took samples of Hunter’s blood. It’s clean. The issue isn’t biological, it’s mystical.”
“The Tribus…” Grayson exhaled heavily.
“Maybe the stress he placed on his body kick-started his decline, or maybe he would have declined anyway; the fact is, now that it’s begun, he will continue to weaken and eventually pass on, unless…” She slid a glance my way. “The decision is yours.”
There was no decision. “It’s not a choice. We can’t let him die.”
“No,” Grayson said. “We can’t.” His throat bobbed.
“The curse removal?” Cora said. “Are we doing that today?”
With everything going on, I’d forgotten about the fucking curse. The wound on my neck had healed now, but the memory of Grayson’s devastated face was still sharp in my mind.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Can you call Vi?”
“I’ll go get her.” She winked out.
Petra patted my arm. “You’re doing the right thing, Fee. A Tribus is a rare and powerful thing. It’s considered a gift. Some say it only occurs in times where great turmoil is on the horizon. To spurn it would be foolish.”
“I get it. I’ll do what needs to be done.”
I’d hoped for more time to get to know Hunter. To help him get to a better place emotionally before we took the final step to bond, but saving his life trumped that.
Petra left Grayson and me alone outside Hunter’s room.
Grayson stroked my cheek. “You should do it now before he’s too weak to…”
I nodded quickly.
“It’s my duty to the Tribus.” My stomach quivered with nerves. “I’ll get it done, and then we can all relax and figure this thing out together.”
Grayson pulled me into a hug and held me for long minutes. “I’ll be in the lounge when you’re…When it’s over.”
He kissed my cheek and then walked away. Fuck, this was hard for him. Hunter was his twin, but they’d been estranged for so long that the bad blood between them would take time to clean up.
But there was no doubt in my mind that Grayson wanted to save his brother. They deserved a second chance at a relationship.
I took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and entered the room. The blinds were closed, but the gray light of predawn filtered in through the gaps, providing enough illumination for me to see Hunter propped up against several pillows in bed. His chest was bare, and a sheet covered him up to the waist.
He was awake, though. Dark eyes pinned on me.
I approached the bed, and then his lip curled. “What are you doing?”
“Completing the mating. You’ll die if we don’t.”
His throat worked for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed. “Always on hand to do the saving, aren’t you, Fee?”
Oh, boy. “Look, Hunter, I’m not here to stroke your ego, okay. Given the choice, I’d rather not do this right now. I’d have liked to wait and get to know you a little more…But we don’t have that kind of time.”
He looked up at the ceiling, his jaw tight. “So what? You’re going to hop on and ride me? You know I need to be hard for that, and right now.” He gestured to his crotch. “Nothing.”
I took several steps closer and allowed my Loup to swim to the surface. His scent filled my head. My skin pebbled with anticipation and heat swirled low down in my belly before slipping down to settle between my thighs. My body wanted him, and I’d let it have him.
The sheet over his crotch rose as he grew hard.
“Fuck,” he bit out.
“Seems to be working now.”
His chest heaved as I bridged the distance between us. He was beautiful. There was no denying that. His skin was a shade darker than Grayson’s. His hair was ebony, drinking in the light around it. His eyes were fathomless pits of emotion I couldn’t begin to comprehend.
I shimmied out of my jeans and knickers but kept my T-shirt on. He didn’t need to see my breasts. I just needed to climb on top, slide onto his cock, and ride him until we were pulled into the Vista.
I could do this.
“Take it off,” he said gruffly. “Take the shirt off too.”
“I don’t need to take it off.”
He closed his eyes and turned his face to the side. “I’m a boobs man. It’ll help get this over quicker.”
He wanted this over too? A far cry from the Hunter of a few weeks ago. The one who couldn’t wait to fuck me. He’d changed…We’d changed.
I considered arguing further but decided against it and tugged off my top. His mouth parted, breath coming faster and shallower. My nipples tightened to hard peaks beneath his hot regard. I wanted him to touch me, to take my nipples into his luscious mouth and swirl his tongue around them.
No.
This was sex that needed to happen.
I didn’t have to enjoy it.
But my body was already singing, telling me I was going to have the time of my fucking life because we had a cosmic connection so deep it was woven into our souls.
Hunter pulled back the sheet to reveal his boxer-clad arousal. “Do you want to do the honors?”
I licked my lips. “You can…”
He pushed down the waistband of his boxers and freed his erection, palming it and working i
t up and down. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the motion, the thickness, the length, and the glistening tip that told me he was more than ready for me.
“What are you waiting for, Fee? You want to do this or not?”
His tone was thick with desire, but there was an angry edge to it. I didn’t care. He was part of my Tribus. Grayson’s twin, my fated mate. This wasn’t the order I’d have wanted to do things in, but I couldn’t risk losing him over my sensibilities.
He wasn’t evil. I just needed time to know him.
Time that would come afterward.
I climbed onto the bed and straddled him, reveling in the heat that crawled up my body as the beast inside stretched and filled me.
He didn’t touch me. In fact, his hands were fists at his sides, dark eyes locked on my face as I reached down and gripped him at the base.
His breathing quickened. I didn’t have to, but I couldn’t help but stroke him. He was silk over steel. He was velvet and slick precum and my mouth watered with the need to taste him. I squashed that impulse. No need to go there. I needed him inside me.
“Fee…fucking just do it,” Hunter snapped.
His body was coiled as if he was ready to lash out.
I pushed up on my knees and finally guided the head of his cock to my core. I ran it up and down, sliding it between my lips.
Hunter threw back his head, breathing through his nose, his jaw ticking.
Oh, fuck. He felt good. Too good, and then I positioned him and lowered myself onto him slowly.
He groaned as I encased him, and I couldn’t help but whimper as he filled me. He was thicker than I was used to, and the sensation, although pleasant, was slightly uncomfortable.
I rolled my hips, settling onto him, and then I began to undulate. The plan had been to get it over with quickly. The plan hadn’t been for it to feel so fucking good. I needed to touch myself. I needed to… My hands went to my breasts, pinching my nipples, and then down to massage my clit. The heat was a building, tightening, sweet torment preparing me to come.
“Fuck!” Hunter growled.
His hands found my hips, and then I was on my back, and he was on top of me, thrusting hard, fast, and deep. My Loup swelled inside me, taking over, sharpening my vision, heightening each sense. The ridges of his cock inside me as he thrust and the callouses of his hands around my throat, pressing down enough to keep me pinned but not enough to hurt. My Loup reveled in the domination. Pleaded for it, whimpering, panting, begging him to go harder, faster.
Reaper Unhinged (Deadside Reapers Book 6) Page 21