by AJ Blackburn
“Morning, little wolf, or should I say witch?” He smirks with his eyes still closed, so I slap his chest.
“Ouch, fuck, what was that for?” He rubs at the now reddening handprint. Satisfied with my work, I just shrug at him.
“I’m a witch, I don’t need an excuse.” I climb out of bed and sway my hips all the way to the bathroom.
“Witch!” I hear him shout as I close the door and giggle.
Yeah, okay, I may have tricked him to run around the woods for an hour last night, only for him to find me in our bed, naked and ready. In my eyes I paid for that, in fact the handcuffs are still attached to the headboard. So yeah, I’d paid for being a naughty wolf. Who cares if I enjoyed it.
I shower and dress then make my way to the kitchen where my favourite ‘best sister’ mug is on the table filled with milky tea. Of all the cheesy things she gets me, this was definitely my favourite. She’d had it made so it looked like us both on the front; gin glasses in hands, arms linked and on the opposite side is the message, ‘She’s my sister, break her heart, I’ll break your face.’ It makes me smile every time. It’s so Phoenix. I pick it up and take a sip, perfect. Hunter makes the best tea. Damn, I don’t think I could love him anymore, even if he is a pain in my butt.
“Has Phoenix rang you yet?” He opens the cupboard and pulls out some cereal for breakfast.
I hug my cup. “No, nothing yet. I’m betting she’s busy.” I wiggle my brows at him.
“I wonder who he is. I’d like to know. If he’s just some fucking using idiot, he will have me to deal with.” Hunter's voice takes on an edge. I love how he also sees Phoenix as his sister. The protective streak in him is just another trait to love.
“Hunter, if he is, we all know that my sister will just use and abuse him, then walk away without a backward glance.” I reassure him, taking a long drink of tea.
“But, what if he is…you know…her mate? What if she walks away then?” He asks me.
“I think she would have said that to me, wouldn’t she?” I ask him, but he shrugs at me.
“I’m not sure if she would have. You know what she’s like, she hides from things like that.” Hunter is right, I’ll have to ask her when she rings. “Don’t you just go blurting it out either, Ember. I saw the look you had just now. You need to approach this differently.” I snort at him.
“There is no other approach with Phoenix. It's blunt and to the point, or don’t bother,” I tell him.
“Yeah, okay that’s true. But maybe ask her face-to-face, not over the phone.” I nod, that way I can see the face she pulls and know if she’s lying to me.
“Fancy some shopping today?” I grin at his look of horror, but he’ll still come with me.
I’m trying and failing to push the soulmate thing to the back of my mind. I’m ringing Ember every day as promised. Each time she has tried to convince me to go home or for her to come to me. I somehow talk her out of it, not sure how long it will last for though. She’s told Dane I’m safe, and her being the golden girl, it has eased his worrying about me. So, I decide to enjoy myself a little while.
My skin is growing tight though and it’s starting to annoy me. Ryder has said it’s best not to shift in case someone is still watching. But I’m getting agitated now, so fuck it.
I can hear Ryder in the kitchen preparing dinner; so hot, a male that cooks. I pad down the little staircase, through to the kitchen and stop in the doorway. He turns to me, his look of amusement makes me wag my tail at him.
Really, Phoenix, in the house? His rough voice echoes in my head, surprising me a little. My link is still broken to my pack and Ember, so I don’t know why he can get through. Maybe our connection is forming now as I'm spending more time with him?
Why? Scared I’ll shit on the floor? I tilt my head and flop my tongue out, my wolf version of a silly face. He chuckles and shakes his head at me. You said I can’t play outside, so I have compromised.
I stretch, reaching my front legs out then my back legs. Then back up, lowering my front end to the floor, tail high and bark at him.
You are a minx, you know that right? He says this a lot.
Nope, I’m a wolf. I tell him simply. I bark again and run off though the cottage to hide. I’m expecting Ryder in his human skin to come find me, but the huge black wolf strides into the living room and looks around. He sniffs the floor and back peddles. He sticks his nose behind the curtain, and I nip it and bound off. Yapping at me loudly before he bounds after me, chasing me up the stairs. I run into our bedroom and leap on the bed. Spinning around and around as Ryder watches me like I’ve totally lost it. So, I stop. Then leap off the bed and crash into him, nipping him and running off again. You are a total nutter. He laughs into my mind, and then chases me again. Jumps on me and tackles me to the floor. Big beast. I nip at his front legs till he jumps back.
We play in the house for hours. However, I really want to go run in the woods, or just in the back-training ground, but every time I go to the back-door Ryder growls at me. He is no fun at all. Actually, he is but I’m not telling him that.
Each day we've been training and sparring in the yard, then we play in the cottage in our wolf skins. Every night I am blissfully fucked to sleep. Ryder hasn’t mentioned the soulmate thing again and I'm pleased. In the shower that morning though, I’d felt a strange tingling sensation down the side of my ribcage. I looked in the mirror, but there was nothing noticeable. However, the more I stared, I started to make out the faint, white-silvery outlines of four wolf paw prints, spaced apart like they were walking up my side. Each paw print was unique; differently shaped and sized. As quickly as I identified them, they vanished. All apart from the one at the very top, closest to my breast. It was the biggest out of all four and the more I focused the darker the outline seemed to become, going from faint silver to a deep, more permanent black. I had a total panic attack inside my own head, but I managed to calm down before Ryder returned.
“Nothing?” I ask. “Like not even a whiff of them?”
“Nope; no scent, no tracks, nothing,” he confirms.
“So, what does this mean? They have finally given up?” My heart gets a little erratic. I'm not sure if it’s because this means I can go home, or because I don’t know if Ryder will come with me. Over the past week and a half, he has told me over and over that he isn’t going anywhere, but people say anything to get sex.
“It seems that way. I don’t want to fully trust that they have left, but there’s no one out there. So, I can take you back to your sister and family now.” Yup, it’s going back home, that’s why my heart is doing weird shit. Apparently, it appears on my face too. Ryder’s hand comes up to grip my chin and tilts my face to his.
“I’m coming with you, pretty wolf. You are mine, and I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to figure that fact out. I am yours.” The sincerity of his words shines from his eyes, there’s no doubt that he's being sincere. Then his perfect lips meet mine and his tongue slips inside my mouth. His hands roam softly down my body, they find the bottom of my tank top and he pulls it off over my head. Shit, he's going to see it! I push in closer to him, trying to hide the mark. He backs me against the table, then pushes me backwards until I’m flat on my back. There goes my idea of hiding it from him. He towers above me, his green eyes that I love so much, rake down my body, before stopping just below my breast. Shit. His eyes shoot back to my face and a range of emotions shine in them; heat, need, and something else. It's almost as though there's a look of pure pride emanating from him.
“Surprise.” I awkwardly smile at him then tense waiting for him to speak. Surprise? That's the best I could come up with? Good job I don’t have a party popper to hand, it would have topped the moment off fantastically.
Ryder doesn’t even say anything, in fact, I think his animalistic instincts just take over. He is on me, touching and groping every part of my body that his hands can reach, while his mouth devours every other inch. When he reaches the mark, his hands and mouth lingering over it,
worshiping it. So, I lay there and endure it all, like a good pretty wolf.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on and needy. By the time he makes his way down to my shorts that he then promptly removes, he’s done with the teasing. His mouth ravages my slick pussy, his tongue slides in and out, and his rumble of satisfaction vibrates against my clit. I grip the sides of the table to stop my orgasm exploding out of me. That doesn’t seem to please Ryder, my mate, though. He rumbles again, now suckling my clit as he pushes three fingers roughly into me. And hell, with the assault to my clit and the pleasure-pain of his three large fingers stretching me, there’s no stopping it this time. I scream in pure, exquisite ecstasy as blinding pleasure ripples through my body so strong, my muscles contract so hard. I’m actually paralysed as I ride it out, my legs locked around him too greedy to let him leave. Ryder’s fingers still gently fuck me, slow and deep, riding out my pleasure waves. My head thuds on the table as I go limp. Then his perfect face looms over me again as he gathers me up.
“Are you okay?” he asks. What a stupid question, I think to myself, but I nod at him anyway, words eluding me. “Good. Right, get dressed.” He puts me on my feet and lets me go, only when he’s satisfied I’m not got to fall flat on my face.
“Get dressed? What the…you just do that to me and now you are barking orders out?” He looks back at me blankly.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing.” He slaps my arse, gives me a chaste kiss and smiles. The idiot knows he is far too good. So, I just roll my eyes at him.
Ryder has been gone fifteen minutes. We have left the car at a lay by a few miles down the road, so it looks like nobody is at the cottage.
Tap…Tap…Tap.
What is that? I'm just finishing ramming the clothes I bought into my bag when I hear the noise. I stop and listen harder.
Tap…Tap…Tap.
It’s coming from out in the backyard I’m sure. Maybe the wind is just blowing something. But it sounds too deliberate. I slowly edge down the stairs and keep my hearing locked on the back door.
Tap…Tap…Tap.
It sounds like metal hitting metal. Don’t be rash now Phoenix, just stay inside, I tell myself.
Tap…Tap…Tap.
Fuck it. I stride out of the back door. I’m just freaking out being left here on my own knowing I’m going home, and that Ryder is going to be coming with me… I stop dead in my tracks. It is metal on metal alright. A huge hunting blade, tapping the frame of the climbing wall, or wall of death as I like to refer to it. The blade is in the hand of a huge male, no, a man. He’s human, I realise as his stench reaches me; stale sweat, cigarette smoke, and beer. His eyes are pure evil. A hunter. RYDER! I bellow at him as loud as my mind can shout. The hunter crooks his finger at me and invites me over. Deciding fast that I’d fight in my human skin first for as long as I can, I saunter across the yard. Looking as calm as I can, blanketing the rage inside.
“Well, well, well, you are a pretty wolf.” Using Ryder’s endearment, his cold dark eyes take me in from head to toe and back again. His appraisal of me nearly has me gagging. Where the hell had he gotten the name from? Keeping my face blank, I ignore his taunting.
“What do you want?” Not that I don’t already know, but I need to stall for Ryder to get back here.
“Isn’t it oblivious, I want you, pretty wolf,” he spits the words. His body shifts from relaxed, to a fighting stance. I prepare myself. I could take this dirty man out, no sweat, but I can scent others around. I just hope I can take them out too.
Phoenix, I’m coming, baby. I’m coming. Stay inside and I’ll be there soon. Ryder is breathless, I can hear it even in his mind. But his words have come too late, I have no chance to reply. I meet the mountain of a man head on. I snarl, bite, claw, and draw blood. He just takes every blow, and his grin gets wider with each one I land. Then he fights back. A strong kick to my side knocks the air out of my lungs. He goes for my legs to take me to the ground, but I jump over his leg. Landing, I swing my fist to just below his sternum, it’s like punching a fucking boulder, and I‘ve gotten too close I realise. His mammoth hand shoots out and grips me around the throat. He lifts me from the ground and squeezes. I rasp in what little air I can. I claw at his hand and arm, his blood flowing freely from the deep gashes, but his hold just tightens. I kick and thrash my legs, but still nothing. Shit, he is like the Terminator.
“Phoenix!” Ryder’s growled shout comes as he appears out of the trees. I glimpse the sight of him over the man’s shoulder, my vision blurring slightly. He is covered in blood. It leaks from a gash in his chest and his arm. He has blood smeared across his face, his or someone else’s, I can’t tell. I continue to thrash harder, rage spurring me on.
“Take care of him, you idiots!” The man gripping my throat shouts. Just then other hunters appear out of the shadows and they surround Ryder. I thrash harder and harder, finally I'm dropped to the ground. I gasp oxygen into my burning lungs and get to my feet, adrenaline urging me on. I go at the man again. I can hear the grunts and screams of dying hunters behind me, but I am going to take out this giant before me.
I fight hard, however it’s just not enough. His crimson blood leaks from wounds I leave, but it doesn’t affect him. He grabs me again while laughing and spins me. My back meeting his front, and the hunting blade he taunted me with earlier now pushes hard into the soft flesh of my neck. His other hand roughly knots in my hair and pulls, making me yelp out loud, as he wrenches my head back painfully.
“Stop! Wolf! Unless you want me to slit this pretty wolf’s throat?” The man’s bellow echoes around the training yard and the fighting stops. “Take him to his knees.” The man’s voice is laced with malice. The three remaining hunters surround Ryder, whose eyes are locked on me with tortured torment. Two hunters grab an arm each and twist them backwards, and the third stands behind him and kicks the back of his knees. The thud of Ryder falling to his knees before these vile humans reverberates through me, shattering my heart. If we weren’t soulmates, he wouldn’t be like this. He wouldn’t have fought so hard to save me. He is broken, blood runs down his body and pools on the floor soaking the grass in a river of red. One eye is starting to swell shut, his lips are split and bleeding, a black shadow is blooming over his right cheek bone, and now he is being held on his knees. A broken male. All because of me.
“Now. Isn’t that better?” I can hear the malevolent smile in the man’s voice behind me. “Powerless to help your pretty bitch now, aren’t you, dog?” He torments Ryder, who struggles in the hold of the hunters. The man’s mouth comes closer to my face. His tongue snakes out and licks up the side of my neck, he bites my ear. I manage to swallow my gag, somehow. I don’t want to give away how weak I feel in his hold.
“Get off me, you dirty fucking scum bag.” I go to swing my head back to head butt him, but the knife at my neck pushes into my skin. I feel the sting of broken flesh, then a warm trail of blood runs down my neck. An agonised, frustrated growl comes from Ryder and he manages to dislodge one of the hunters from him. He goes to stand and fight them again, but they take him back down quickly.
“Stop, please. Stop.” I beg him, trying desperately to convince him I’m not worth his life. I can’t stop the choked tremble of my voice.
“Finish him while I chain the bitch.” I struggle again and so does Ryder. I watch as the hunter behind him picks up a rock and bashes it into the back of Ryder’s head, hard. Once…Twice...Three times.
My heart slows as I watch Ryder’s limp and broken body slump to the blood covered grass. A scream rips out of me, my vision blurs with tears. Tears of anger, tears of hate and rage, and tears of loss. I feel myself change to my wolf skin as I lose control of my rage, just as a needle pricks me in the neck. Then blackness descends.
I’m trying to keep distracted from the fact that Phoenix hasn’t rung yet today. It’s heading to early afternoon and it started to rain a few hours ago. The sky is black with heavy rain still to come. Hunter and I had been ou
t playing in our wolf skin all morning. We had played all the way to the waterfall, where the water pools deep, shifted back before going for a swim in the cool refreshing water.
Our naked swim had soon turned into some water sports. Then the sunny skies had grown dark with clouds, so we made our way home. The last mile back to the cabin it started to drizzle, and I’d repeatedly shook my fur dry. I hated to get rained on, in either skin. But now, back in our cabin, warm and dry, I can’t stop the nagging feeling, like I can feel something simmering under my skin that can’t break out. A foreboding feeling.
Phoenix and I still hadn’t fixed our telepathic line, so I couldn’t reach out to make sure all is well. She must have slammed her wall up way too hard that day in the woods because she severed her connection to the whole pack. When she did ring me, she always rang off a blocked number, for my own safety she had said. I had no way to reach her and that’s really bothering me right now.
“You okay, baby? You seem pretty tense,” Hunter asks from across the table.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just Phoenix hasn’t rung me yet. I don’t think the weather is helping with my mood either. I was enjoying our time out this morning.” I winked at him, and that mischievous half smile curved his perfect mouth.
I jump in my seat when a huge bang sounds outside the front of the cabin, like a log has been dropped on the front porch.
“What on earth was that?” I’m out of my seat and following Hunter to the door. He pulls it open to reveal a huge black wolf, who is slowly and agonisingly shifting back to a dark-haired male with black stubble. His eyes flutter open and piercing green eyes look up at us.
“Phoenix.” My sister's name is a barely audible whisper on his split swollen lips, right before he passes out cold.
Hunter reaches down and picks him up, carrying him to the kitchen table as I grab towels, water, hibi-scrub, and bandages out of the first aid box. I have no idea who he is, but I would bet my bottom dollar that this is Ryder because despite all his blood I can scent my sister on him. If he is here, bleeding out all over my kitchen, then where is my sister?