Wild Instincts - Complete Edition (Werewolf Erotic Romance)

by King, Claudia

  My heart jumped in my chest, and I almost broke into a run on the spot before Thorne nipped my tail with another growl. I struggled to calm my racing body, willing my animal instincts to listen to reason. My wolf's only impulse was to protect her own, but Thorne's solemn look reminded me that listening to my wolf was liable to get me caught or killed if I didn't temper it with reason. We were two werewolves against Cyan's entire pack, and likely more if his new friends were nearby. I still didn't have a clue what we were going to do once we found them, I just knew I had to get Ellie out of danger. Thorne cocked his head at me, as though asking the same question, one that I was unable to answer. I shook my head and turned back to the scent of my sister, following it through the undergrowth, but more cautiously now. It took every ounce of restraint I had, but I forced myself to move slowly and silently, my eyes open and my ears pricked for any signs of danger.

  I hoped desperately that Sabi and Niya would be alright protecting the others. I hoped Ethan and his patrol were safe somewhere nearby. I even hoped that Rowan was already ahead of us, challenging Cyan to put an end to it all

  I realised, faintly, that this was what it had all been about, ever since that first night when I had confronted Cyan by the fire. Even my romance with Thorne, that had since become my everything, had stemmed from that initial desire to pursue all the things Cyan had denied me. I wanted to be back with Ellie. I wanted a family. People I could rely on, and who relied on me. Something better than the family I'd grown up with and the life I'd lived under my old alpha.

  Perhaps I was asking for too much. Perhaps this was what kept leading me down the troubled path I'd walked ever since becoming a werewolf. Could I really have the mate of my dreams, a family of my own, and the freedom to enjoy it all without finding myself pursued by dangers at every turn? I was dreaming human dreams in a society of animals. If I had accepted my lot as Cyan's mate, said goodbye to any hope of maintaining a relationship with my old family, and settled down into the business of everyday life with my old pack, would all of us have been better off for it? Maybe the safe, simple choice would have been smarter than shooting for the stars. At least then I wouldn't have been dealing with the threat of people dying hanging over my head, myself, Thorne, and Ellie included.

  My eyes felt hot and prickly, my shaking paws crunching through the dead leaves as I followed the scent onwards into the night, struggling to think of ways to confront Cyan and coming up short every time. My keen senses gradually dulled until all I could focus on was the trail in front of me, and it was only when Thorne stopped that I realised something was wrong. He growled in the back of his throat, a low sound of warning, and I turned to see him crouched beside the stump of a tree, his eyes scanning back and forth through the branches surrounding us.

  Then I saw the eyes. Dozens of them at once, shining out of the darkness as they crept forward from their hiding places around us. One by one the shapes of my former pack mates emerged from the forest, hemming us in and blocking every escape route until we were surrounded by more than a dozen wolves.

  I heard a click and the fwumf of flames bursting to life. Cyan stepped out of the darkness directly ahead of us, dark shadows flickering across his hunting jacket in the light of the burning torch he held. For a moment I almost didn't recognise him in the gloom. His eyes were cold and intense, three freshly-healed cuts marking his face from the nose to his right cheek; three cuts I had left him with the last time we'd been together. It wasn't the first time I'd been frightened of Cyan, but in the past that fear had always been mingled with a furious desire to stand up to him. Now, with the knowledge of how far he'd gone to track me down, knowing that my sister might be with him, I had nothing.

  I shrank away from my former alpha. Thorne moved forward to stand beside me, his teeth bared.

  "Talk, if you want to talk," Cyan said, his voice flat. "It won't be long before someone notices this torch. Once they do, we're leaving, and you're coming with us."

  Thorne took his human form before I could, steadying me by the arm as I rose to my feet beside him.

  "What kind of alpha drags his pack miles away from home for this?" Thorne said, then turned to address the wolves clustered around us. "Do you think this is what a good leader does? And you all still follow him?"

  "And what does a good pack member do, Hawthorne?" Cyan replied. "Do they obey their alpha, or do they betray him? Attack him? Abandon their brothers and sisters for the sake of their own selfishness?"

  "Don't talk about selfish reasons after the way you treated Lyssa. You're lucky she didn't run away sooner."

  Cyan grimaced, his teeth showing between his lips. "Pity you didn't feel like standing up for her until after you'd run away from me. What about you, Lyssa? Can't you speak for yourself any more?"

  "Did you take my sister?" I said. "Is Ellie with you?"

  Cyan looked at me for a moment, before glancing behind him and taking a step back, raising the torch in the air. Baya stepped out of the trees, her hands on the shoulders of a blonde-haired girl. Even in the dim light, I would've recognised Ellie anywhere. My stomach cramped painfully as my sister gazed at me with with tired, frightened eyes, not saying a word as she raised a hand to wave at me, her fingers clutching at the sleeve of the oversized sweater she wore. I unclenched my fists and forced myself to wave back, tears stinging the corners of my eyes.

  Cyan lowered the torch, looking back at me. "Come here, Lyssa. I want to talk to you alone."

  Thorne gripped my arm tighter, but I nodded, resting a hand atop his and easing free of his grasp.

  "The Wood Pack will be here soon," Baya said. "They'll have seen the torch."

  "I'm counting on it," Cyan replied, bending down to drive the torch into the ground, burning pitch dripping from the tip to spatter amongst the leaves. "Our friends wanted a distraction. This'll be it."

  "Since when are the Mine Pack your friends? Or are you looking for a shot at becoming their alpha again?" Thorne growled.

  Cyan's eyes flashed. He raised a finger, pointing at my mate. "You'll be lucky to be alive after tonight, Thorne. I'll be glad to rid my pack of you."

  I stepped forward, giving Ellie a desperate glance before fixing my eyes on Cyan. "If you want to talk, then let's talk."

  He pried his predatory gaze away from Thorne and nodded silently. Taking me by the arm, he led me away from the group into the trees, barking instructions to his pack over his shoulder. "Keep him here, and let me know the second you catch a sniff of the Wood Pack. This won't take long."

  I bit my lip as Cyan walked me past Ellie, my eyes meeting those of my sister for a moment. I shouldn't have looked, but I couldn't help it. She had her arms wrapped around herself, clutching the hem of her sweater tight. Her chin was up, her eyes wide, holding the unconvincingly stern expression she always tried to maintain when she was trying to be a big girl despite being terrified.

  I twisted away from Cyan at the last moment, hearing him turn with a growl behind me, ready to give chase, but I wasn't trying to run. I dropped to my knees beside Ellie and pulled her away from Baya, wrapping my arms around her in the tightest hug I could manage.

  "Don't be frightened," I whispered in her ear. "I'm here now. I'll keep you safe, I promise."

  "I'm not frightened," she whispered back, but I could feel her trembling as she clutched the front of my jacket.

  "Just keep on being brave for me. We've got friends nearby, they'll be here soon."

  Cyan's hand settled on my shoulder, but I clung to my sister stubbornly, refusing to let him interrupt the moment. Then his fingers tightened, and I finally let go, allowing him to yank me back to my feet.

  "That's enough," he said. "You'll have plenty of time to talk later."

  I shivered, the warmth of the torchlight dimming behind us as Cyan led me away, his hard fingers digging into my arm, bringing back the memory of a dozen nights when that same insistent grip had dragged me into far more wild and passionate encounters. Once we were away from the group he turne
d to face me, leaning forward to trap me against the trunk of a tree, the same way he always did when he wanted me cornered.

  "I want you back, Lyssa," he said, his dark expression lighting up now that we were alone, fire and ice in his gaze. "If it was anyone else, I would've let them go. Even Hawthorne doesn't matter. It's you I want."

  "He's my mate now," I said.

  Cyan grit his teeth, casting a long glance back in the direction of the burning torch. "Why? I know you. You want an alpha. You need one."

  "Exactly." I glared back at him, the heat of a familiar anger rising alongside my anxiety.

  Cyan's hand shot forward, grabbing me by the chin as he moved in close, his breath touching my lips as he snarled. "I gave you what you needed. Wasn't that enough for you?"

  "That was all you ever gave me!" I spat back, struggling in his grasp. "You never let me have anything of my own! You knew how badly I wanted to be with my sister, and now you— just look at what you've done! She's a little girl!"

  "You really think I'd hurt a child?"

  "You dragged her out of her home and into the middle of a feud with the Mine Pack!"

  He hesitated, shaking his head slowly. "I kept her safe. Why do you think I brought her here? There was no other way I could've gotten you to come back without fighting my way through the Wood Pack. Nobody has to get hurt this way."

  "You couldn't have known I was with the Wood Pack when you took her," I said through clenched teeth. "Don't pretend you were trying to protect anyone."

  A hint of a snarl pricked at Cyan's lips, but he bit it back, keeping his voice steady. "Will you come back with me if I let her go?"

  I glared at him in silence, hiding the agonising weight of the decision behind more anger.

  "She could be one of us, you know," he said, his voice softening. "One little bite, and you wouldn't have to worry about running away to see her ever again. I never wanted children in my pack, but I could make an exception for her."

  "Don't you dare," I hissed, struggling to pry his hand away from my neck, but his grip held firm. "She has a normal life back home."

  "So what? Didn't you used to as well?"

  "I spent mine making sure hers turned out better. She doesn't need this." I took a deep breath. "And she doesn't need an instinct like mine."

  Cyan's snarl cracked into a grin, cocking his head as he held me up against the tree. "So that's why. You're still afraid of your instinct."

  "No!" I protested. "I'm not, not any more. Not since Thorne—"

  "He made you forget all about it in a couple of weeks, did he?" Cyan snorted. "Then what's the problem? Why are you so bothered about your sister turning out like you if a handsome pair of green eyes is all it takes to fix it?"

  I twisted in his grasp, digging my fingernails into his wrist, but he barely even seemed to notice.

  "I'll tell you why, Lyssa," he continued. "Because you're weak. You know you can't control your instinct by yourself, and you never will. There's that fiery girl inside trying to deny it, but at the end of the day you always have to come crawling back to your male, don't you? Your instinct's too strong to ignore." His grip eased slightly, and for a moment I caught a hint of something weary in his voice, something vulnerable, a glimpse of the same Cyan I'd seen bury his face in his hands that day I'd run away from him in the forest. "I know what it's like to have an instinct like that, believe me. That's why you're right for me. That's why I need you back."

  "No, you don't," I said, my anger ebbing, the familiar scent of Cyan's body and the touch of his rough hands reminding my wolf of something I had tried to forget. "You don't need to listen to your instinct, it doesn't have to define you! There's a woman here, Agatha, she taught me how to listen to my wolf without having to fight it. And Thorne too, he—"

  Cyan snarled and shook his head sharply. "You can try and fight it as long as you want, but in the end you'll realise. You can't control your wolf, it controls you. Do you think I wanted to be an alpha after I turned? Do you think I wanted to bring my pack out here, drag your sister away from her home, put everyone's lives in danger? I didn't do it because I wanted to, Lyssa, I did it because I needed to. Because the harder I fight my instinct, the harder it is to give in when my wolf finally gets his way. And he always gets his way in the end. We're beasts, deep down, and we can't ever change it."

  I shook my head. "You're wrong. We're better than that."

  He moved in close, his stubble brushing my cheek as he inhaled the scent of my hair, whispering in my ear. "Then why can I smell it on you already? The desire. The need for your alpha."

  I breathed in sharply, my futile struggles weakening as he nipped my earlobe between his teeth. My wolf was awake, confused, fighting against the familiar memory of the male who had first taken her. I didn't want this, but I hadn't wanted it all those times before, either. I pleaded with my wolf to resist, to listen to me, to remember Thorne, but the tug of my instinct was already heating my body and drawing pricks of perspiration from my skin.

  "See," Cyan whispered. "You can't fight it. I tried to make you realise it, night after night, but you never listened. It doesn't matter what you want, it's your instinct that drives you. Stop trying to hold on to the person you were before. She's gone."

  I closed my eyes, pressing my lips together as I struggled to fight the urge to give in. If I was forced to go back with Cyan to keep Ellie safe, perhaps it was better to just let it happen. My wolf could be satisfied, at the very least, even if I had to give up everything else I'd ever hoped for.

  Would you like that? I asked the animal inside me, beginning to despair. You'd have everything you need. An alpha as a mate, a satisfied instinct, and you wouldn't have to worry about me fighting you any more.

  But the emotions I felt in response weren't what I'd expected. My wolf was forlorn, upset, confused. She remembered another alpha, another mate, one who'd fulfilled her in a way Cyan never had. She wasn't just an animal searching for a strong male to take her under his wing, she was more than that now. She was me.

  "No!" I dug my nails into Cyan's wrist hard, drawing blood as I tore his hand away from my neck, stumbling away from the tree. I heard crashing branches in the distance and the barking of wolves. "You're the weak one, Cyan," I panted as I stumbled back, brambles catching against my jeans, the heated flush of my instinct still fogging my senses. "You let your instinct break you. You could have been a good leader, you still can! Make your wolf listen, call off your pack, you can still end this!"

  Cyan shot a glance over his shoulder in the direction of the commotion, his fingers curling. When he turned back to me his teeth were bared, his eyes glowing with anger. He darted forward, lashing out to catch me by the front of my jacket. The stitching tore as he yanked me towards him, pain lancing through my jaw as he struck me across the face with a viciously sharp blow.

  Tears warmed my eyes as the force of it sent me reeling, struggling to clear the throbbing shock from my head as I willed my wolf to rise to the surface. But I was too slow. I could already feel Cyan turning, his grip on my jacket loosening as his fingers gave way to sharp claws, the snarl of his voice becoming a roar as he shifted in front of me.

  Behind him the light of the torch went out. The howls of wolves were deafeningly close now. I barely had time to throw myself away from Cyan before a rush of brown fur darted out of the darkness and bowled into him, Thorne's claws digging into his back and driving him to the ground as he pounced. The two alphas rolled over one another, the momentum sending them crashing through the bushes as they struggled and snarled, tufts of brown and black fur catching in the brambles as both of them fought to come out on top. Thorne found his footing first, his teeth flashing in the dim moonlight as he lunged, the pair locking jaws as Cyan's hind paws scrabbled for purchase in the dirt, driving Thorne back as he rose up off the ground.

  The spiked undergrowth dug into my clothing and caught against my wrists as I dragged myself out of the way, my wolf finally answering my pleas and rising up to
let me shift into my animal form. I caught my balance and shook my aching head, trying to clear away the disorienting cloud of confusion as my heart raced. Shining eyes darted through the darkness towards us, Cyan's pack breaking and running as they scattered from the commotion in the distance. I whipped my head back and forth frantically, torn between helping Thorne and making sure Ellie was safe.

  Everything was happening so fast. Half a dozen furred bodies streaked past me as Cyan and Thorne fought, oblivious to everything around them as they wrestled for dominance, each one trying to find the better footing and drive his opponent back as their snarling jaws remained clamped together. It would only be a matter of seconds before Cyan's pack noticed what was happening and came back to help their alpha. Half of them might be running scared from whatever had scattered them, but the rest wouldn't abandon their leader so easily.

  I could run. I could keep myself safe. But I couldn't leave Thorne, and I couldn't abandon Ellie. Willing my groggy legs to obey, I propelled myself forwards as hard as I could, butting into Cyan's side with my shoulder and hearing him yelp as the force of the impact drove the wind from him. I didn't stop to see him fall. The drumming patter of paws was homing in on us.

  Barking urgently at Thorne, I turned and ran, the sound of his panting breath quickly catching up to me as he abandoned his fight with Cyan. I tore my way through the undergrowth, oblivious to the tugging brambles and whipping branches catching against my muzzle, forcing myself into a sprint as I struggled to navigate my way between the solid tree trunks hemming us in on every side.