by Sadie Hart
“What happened?” Morrigan said, furor jolting through her voice and Zeke felt it like a crack of lightning striking home in his chest. Anger pulsated from her, and the demon—her Bali—snarled with it.
“Went to fetch your errant wolf.” The troll looked down at him, then nodded. “Bali.”
A kinship suddenly stretched between them, a knowledge of an alliance. Of more heinous crimes. An image of a child lifted in the air, the troll’s jagged-toothed mouth crunching down on the small body. Blood at Bali’s paws. Zeke wanted to be sick, he wanted to feel bile and vomit curl in his throat, feel the nauseous twist of his stomach.
But this wasn’t his body anymore.
And the demon he now lived inside didn’t find the troll disgusting. He’d done things just as evil.
“We’ll get my wayward wolf back soon enough. Regardless, his part is done. He is irrelevant.” Her hand curled under Zeke’s chin and she tilted his head up. “I have my Bali, my alpha. I only need one wolf before my guardians will be complete. Then I’ll be able to wake the rest of our people.”
Elation swept through Bali and Zeke shuddered against the flare of emotion. It was as close to joy as a demon could get, but the feeling came with a sadistic edge. Zeke knew that the people she would be waking would be more like the monster he lived inside now, more like the child-eating troll standing next to him. Monsters. True, sadistic monsters unlike anything the world had seen.
“First, I need to wake Fahlow.” The omega. She leaned down and stared into his eyes. “Bring me someone, Bali. Someone good enough to balance our pack.”
She let him go and Zeke found himself running through the forest, bloodlust simmering in his gut. Zeke fought, twisting in his mind, but if the demon felt his presence, he wasn’t bothered. Then the forest broke way to an open lawn, a small farm house set off to the center. Zeke screamed in his own mind, frustrated and helpless to stop the monster that stalked across the yard.
The demon was going to take someone else and there was nothing Zeke could do to stop it.
***
Pain pulsed through Bay with every pounding thud of his heart. He felt liked he’d been gutted and the moment he tried to roll to his feet, the dizzying lance of agony that speared through his side and up into his head told him his guess probably wasn’t that far off. The last thing he remembered was the troll ripping into him and Eden flying through the air.
Eden.
Bay staggered to his feet and reached for the thread of humanity inside him. His wolf didn’t even bother resisting, instead, letting him take control and shift them back to normal.
“Wait,” a woman called out, but Bay shuddered and the change washed over him.
Dark blue bandages pooled onto the snow at his feet, followed by thick once-white gauze, now red with blood. A portion of the gauze still stuck to his left side. Bay let out a breath, it hissing between his teeth, and he jerked his head up, glancing around. One of Eden’s friends, the vet, brown haired—Kennedy.
His gaze jerked up to meet hers but she looked away, red tingeing her cheeks.
Crud.
Bay winced and reached for the pile of bandages. They looked like enough to swaddle a semi-truck and he hauled them up, pausing as only a slight twinge pulled at his left hip. He peeled off the piece of bandage still stuck to his side, the dried blood had caked it to his skin, but the moment he’d pulled it away he froze. There was no gaping wound, nothing to account for the amount of blood on the bandages. Just a mass of pink-tinged scars, healing.
“Damn,” Kennedy said and suddenly she was standing next to him, her fingers running over the area where his wounds had been. “Holy hell. When I thought you might heal a little bit better than normal because of the whole werewolf thing I didn’t really thing you’d heal this well.”
Her warm hands slid over his bare midsection and Bay stiffened. He cleared his throat. “I take it you bandaged me up?”
Instantly her cheeks turned crimson again and she spun around. “Oh. My. God. Yes I did, but as a wolf. I mean, while you were a wolf, not a man. Oh God. I’m sorry. I was just startled. I didn’t see anything.”
Bay wrapped the blue bandages around his hips and twisted to look around. Eden’s truck was still here, as was Kennedy’s, but he didn’t see any sign of Eden. “Where is she?” He asked and he couldn’t keep the sudden growl for his voice. His, an instinct urged in his head. She’d been hurt, now she needed protecting again.
“Rowan took her to the hospital to get checked out. She didn’t want to go, but you were sleeping and drugged up.” She paused. “Damn. I gave you enough to put a bear out for several hours. You were out for a max of one. You’re like super wolf or some shit.”
His lips quirked in a small grin as he stared at the back of her head.
“You decent?”
“Uh.” A shiver wracked through him, the cold snow leaving his feet raw. “Actually, let me go put some clothes on.”
Bay hurried up the steps before she had time to answer him. The door was wide open, but the only scent he could smell inside his house other than his was Eden’s. Hers was the most recent. Then again, he thought he’d seen a bed sheet outside in the mess.
He raked a hand through his shorn hair and blew out a long, shaky breath. She could have died. He could have died. Bay strode towards his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers. Not only that, but he was shivering, his hands and feet numb with the cold. A far cry from when they’d first arrived, or after he’d shifted at Eden’s house.
He’d been almost unaffected by the cold. Blazing actually, by the time they’d reached his house. So damn horny he’d put his fifteen-year-old self in the back of his dad’s Chevy to shame. All he’d been able to think about was getting Eden inside and laying her out over his bed. Had it been his wolf then?
As fast as he thought it, he dismissed it. The wave of possession and longing that filled him wasn’t just from his beast. It came from him too. The desire was still there, just dampened. Being nearly gutted probably did that to a man. So why was he cold now and not then? He rubbed at his face, too tired to try and think it through. Especially not with the replay flashing through his head.
An image of Eden flying through the air, her broken half-sob an echo in his ears, and Bay shoved on a pair of jeans and reached for a sweatshirt. He needed to get to the hospital. Make sure she was okay. Hell. A hit like that, she could have a couple of broken ribs, a pierced lung, she could be dying—
A knock sounded on the bedroom door and he jumped.
“Bay?” A second later Kennedy’s head popped into the room, obviously not worried about him being decent, but then again, she’d already seen everything. He winced a little at that. Nothing like giving your mate’s best friend a peep show.
Mate? The word stalled him, his heartbeat a rapid fire in his chest. He liked Eden a lot, but zero-to-mate in a few days was beyond even him. He needed time to wrap his brain around it all, but the instincts clamoring through him now demanded otherwise. He needed to see her. Make sure she was okay. He inhaled sharply and then headed for the door, doing his best to dismiss the wild swirl of emotions.
He didn’t have the time or energy to figure this out.
Bay jerked the door open the rest of the way. “Yeah?”
Pulling the sweatshirt down over his head, his eyes drifted past Kennedy to the woman hobbling into his kitchen. Eden. Relief left him weak-kneed and for a moment, he just stood there, staring at her. Her blonde hair was pulled back away from her face, she was in fresh clothes, but he could still smell the tinge of blood on her skin, under the sterile scent of hospital and peroxide. She’d been cleaned up, but it didn’t hide the fact that she’d been hurt.
Eden looked up at him and grimaced, reaching a hand up to rub the back of her neck. Bay made a quiet, strangled sound in his throat as he took a step towards her. “I never wanted you to get hurt.”
She smiled at him then and leaned back in the chair, her blue eyes closing for a brief second
before focusing back on him. “Yeah, well, unless you hired that thing outside, I can’t really say it was your fault.”
An image of her body flying through the air again flashed through his mind and suddenly Bay couldn’t hold himself back. He strode down the hall and headed straight towards her, his hands instantly finding her cheeks when he reached her. Tilting her head back, Bay leaned in to steal a kiss. She gave a startled, surprised sound, but kissed him back. He slid his hands along her jaw, reveling in the soft skin under his touch.
He pulled away on a soft groan. Eden smiled up at him. “Well that was a heck of a welcome back.” She looked him over from head to toe. “Glad to see you’re up and at ‘em. When I left, you didn’t look too well.”
Her words grew softer as she spoke until finally, the last word, was nothing more than a whisper. Guilt was written plain and simple in her crystalline irises. Bay trailed his thumb over her lips, feeling the soft skin give as he pressed down slightly. “Apparently it’s a benefit of being half-wolf now.”
“He shifted and he was completely healed.” Kennedy had leaned against the far wall and stood with her hands stuffed in her pockets, her eyes still locked on his side. “Wish I knew how to bottle that kind of healing ability.”
“Damn,” Rowan murmured from her place at the other side of the table. Bay hadn’t even noticed her until she’d spoken. Not with the roaring pulse in his ears, the steady thrum of his newfound instincts on fire. He wanted to pick Eden up, carry her into the bedroom, and stretch out alongside her. Just hold her until he was certain they were both safe again.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. Bruised, a bit battered, but nothing serious. Doc said I was lucky I didn’t crack a rib, but that’s me. Apparently I can take a mean hit.”
His wolf growled at that, an audible sound that shivered through the kitchen. Bay closed his eyes and fought the animal back, only to feel Eden’s hand on his, holding his palm to her cheek. “You okay?”
He gave a jerky nod, but she obviously didn’t buy it. Instead she let him go, twisting in her seat to face Kennedy. “Thanks again for rushing out of work to help me. Both of you.”
“Any time,” Kennedy said, “but I should be getting back. It’s a mess up at the clinic today.”
Rowan’s chair scraped over the kitchen tile floor. “I’ll head out too, I left the diner short staffed and had to call Nana in. You know my nana too, never thrilled to be back to work. She likes her retirement.”
“How is Dorie doing?” Eden asked, her voice small.
“Good.” Rowan smiled. “Call if you need anything.”
Then her and Kennedy headed for the door.
Bay listened as they both left, but he couldn’t move. The wolf still paced under his skin, edgy, as swamped with the newfound instincts as he was. He braced his hands on the back of her chair, only to have Eden cup his face gently. “Bay?”
His eyes opened and whatever she saw in them made her frown. “You okay?” she whispered.
“No.” The word came out ragged, hushed. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
But he could think of a way to fix it. He wanted sex, but he craved the feel of her skin against his, the ability to simply hold her, more. Hell, he needed it. More than he needed his next breath.
“Just hang with me for a moment,” he said, then plucked her out of the chair and carried her off towards the bedroom. Her body stiffened, but she didn’t tell him no.
Hope flared in his chest as he set her down across his bed. His scent was all over the room and her just sitting in here, in the heart of his home, had a knot of tension between his shoulders beginning to loosen. Bay stretched out next to her and pulled her against him, just holding her, one arm draped over her hip. His fingers played over her belly, drawing small circles over her abdomen. She sucked in a breath and he relished that little intimacy.
Bay brushed aside her hair and kissed the back of her neck. “Thank you.”
“You want to talk about it? In the kitchen there for a moment your eyes went black. Like they do when you’re a wolf.”
His tongue made a nervous swipe out over his lips, a sign of weakness he instantly resented. He covered it by kissing her again. First his lips at the curve of her shoulder, then teeth followed, nibbling over the side of her neck. Eden went lax against him, yielding under his touch. “Bay.”
“New instincts.” He traced a finger down her hip.
“Oh. I get it.” She twisted in his arms, a wince creasing her forehead, but suddenly she was facing him. “The wolf in you. All those pack instincts, you’re getting them now.”
And then some.
But he must have looked dumbfounded because she laughed. Her hands found his chest and rested there, warm and reassuring. She was here. Safe. The last of the tension eased out of him.
“Have you seen my dogs? I have whole kennel full. I know a thing or two about packs and canine behavior.” Eden leaned in and kissed him. “So what am I? Part of your ‘pack’ now?”
“Mate.” The word came unbidden, but even if he could, Bay didn’t want to take it back. He let it hang there, a sharpness in the silence. When she didn’t bolt out of bed and run for the hills he took it as a good sign. Eden chewed on her bottom lip,
“Well that’s interesting. Considering I haven’t slept with you.” She smiled, teasing. “Though it would explain my current predicament.”
Her fingers curled into his shirt and Bay’s heart slammed in his chest, hard and violent. Eager. He ran his hand over her hip and he had the sudden urge to press her back into the bed, to strip the clothes off her body, and make love with her. Make her his. Need coursed through his veins, suddenly burning hot. Her breath hitched slightly and his world began that slow spiral out of control, his dick suddenly painfully hard.
He pulled her closer, flattening her hips against his, reveling in the warmth of her thighs embracing him. She’d be so warm, wet. He could smell the arousal now, the wolf’s added senses making his sharper. She wanted him. It would be nothing for him to strip off her shirt and have her here. His fingers tightened their grip and she let out a pained his.
“Bay?” Eden’s hand touched his face, imploring.
Shit. He was losing it. He closed his eyes and breathed through the roll of instincts, the primal pounding pulse of lust. He wanted her damn it, but not just because some mating urge had crawled into his dick. He wanted her in the way a man wanted a woman he truly cared about. Which meant it couldn’t happen like this.
When he took Eden he wanted it to be under his control, his choice. Hers. He wouldn’t be some chest-pounding gorilla who couldn’t keep it in his fucking pants. “I’m sorry,” he ground out, his eyes opening so he could look into hers. There was no condemnation in her gaze, just acceptance. She refused to see him as a freak, a monster. Eden leaned in and laid a kiss against his lips.
“For what? You didn’t do anything yet?” Her gaze drifted to his lips again and he wanted to shove her back down into the bed. To take and conquer, dominate. Instead, he trailed a hand up her side, his touch purposefully gentle.
“You should probably go.” He ground his teeth and forced the rest of the words out, even when something feral inside him twisted furiously at the idea. Bay slid out of bed, his muscles so tense they ached. “I don’t have control.”
Eden followed him off the bed and towards the living room, her footfalls quiet behind him. He still wanted to take her back, but he refused to let something else control his life. For the same reason he couldn’t give himself to Morrigan, he couldn’t let these instincts rule him. It wasn’t just the wolf, there was a darkness inside him now too. A hunger that needed to be fed, sated. And he didn’t know what that meant yet.
“Tell me when you do.” He turned at that and caught her staring at him, one hand on her coat. “I knew what I wanted when I drove you home this morning, remember?”
She gave him that smile that kick started his heart every damn time. He remembere
d. It had been different then, still slightly out of control, but different than the darkness in his soul now. He glanced outside, the sun had started to fall. Maybe that was it. At night, he could feel Morrigan calling in the woods. He felt the need to feed her. To go to her. Like a frozen evil that leeched his soul at night, he could already feel the hunger rising inside him.
“I remember, but right now—” His gaze drifted back to the window, and he felt the wicked taint of bloodlust, of hunger begin to grow. “It’s different at night.” He met Eden’s eyes and wanted nothing more than to crawl into the vibrant blue, to lose himself in her. “I have less control.”
She slid into her coat and stepped closer to him, pressing her lips against his in a chaste kiss—if any kiss could ever be chaste with Eden. He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, his fingers playing in her hair as he deepened it. She pulled away and despite the roar of lust inside him, he let her go.
“Like I said, let me know when you do.”
She made it to the door before he stopped her. His body lurching across the kitchen until his palm slapped the door, slamming it shut before she could leave. He shuddered and swayed under the feelings swirling through him, some begging him to shed human skin for wolf fur and go crawling back to Morrigan. To feed her. Others demanded he take the woman in front of him, use her to cling to what was left of his humanity.
But he didn’t know why or what would happen if he followed any of the choices in front of him right now. And until he did, he couldn’t afford to act.
He felt his wolf whine inside him and hunker down, as if trying to avoid the woman calling them outside. Bay’s hand fisted against the door, stealing himself against the rampage dueling it out in his head.
Eden looked up at him, but there was no fear in her eyes. Not like that first day.
“How do you not think I’m a monster?”
“Because you’re fighting it. You don’t want this. To be evil, you have to want evil to win.” A growl crashed out of him and he pinned her back against the door, his arms braced on either side of her. His hips fit against her and Eden gasped, her hands finding his shoulders. She didn’t push him away. “You have control, Bay. I’ve seen it.”