Hunted: A Haven Realm Novel

by Young, Mila

  Nero lifted my feet and placed them on his lap, rubbing my soles in a way that had me softening. Now, this I could get used to.

  “Sweet lamb, when you vanished, and I searched for you, I swore I’d go insane if I didn’t find you. Losing you isn’t even a consideration. You are also mine.”

  No response came to mind, only the whirling tornado of a million questions, from me desiring shifters, to whether I had to move to a new home, and even if their packs would accept me… heavens, those were insane thoughts and it hurt my brain trying to make sense of them. Too much had happened too quickly, and my spinning mind hadn’t caught up yet. Sure, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my attraction toward them owned me. And their smallest caress undid me. But I ought to get to know them better, and such a commitment was huge.

  Grandma had always told me to never move too fast with a man, but when I found him, I’d sense it. And that was Nero and Oryn for me. Unable to picture myself living without them. But how could I experience such devotion in such a short time?

  I pushed my feet off Nero’s lap and rose out of Oryn’s arms. Both men stared at me, and I yearned for nothing more than to remain in their embraces, talking about setting up home in the woods, and forgetting everything else. Learn Nero’s tricks in the kitchen, Oryn’s tracking skills. But what about my shop? Friends? People I assisted with herbs?

  Were the walls closing in around me? Going outside for fresh air was out of the question with those rabid wolves prowling around, and as much as I yearned to ask to be taken home, I refused to leave their side. Talk about being a walking contradiction.

  My thoughts flew to Dagen and how I hadn’t even given him thought since arriving back. I’d harmed him, and it was my responsibility to help him.

  “I’ll check on Dagen.” I didn’t wait for a response but sprinted out of the room and down the dark hallway toward the shifter I’d injured and who needed my attention. Yep, that was what I’d do. Focus on healing him and try to sort out the mess in my head before I did something mental like agree to move in with them right away.

  Chapter 12

  “Well,” I began as I leaned over Dagen, who remained unconscious, “so many things have happened since we last chatted. Like insane things that might make you laugh out loud. Can you believe I slept with both your friends, and now they’ve claimed me as their own?” I shook my head. “Told you it was crazy stuff.” Though based on what Nero had told me about shifters having multiple partners, Dagen most likely have a harem of his own.

  While in a coma he couldn’t hear me, and a sense of relief flooded me at voicing that out loud and not having anyone judge me. Though part of me felt as if I ought to be judged. Damn, anyone in Terra would think I’d grown devil horns if they got wind of what I’d been up to.

  “And the strange thing is that I can’t stop thinking about them both.” I combed Dagen’s hair with my fingers, pushing the longer strands off his face. “It’s as if they’ve hypnotized me, yet my eyes are wide open, and I can’t bring myself to walk away. That’s weird, right?” I sighed and glanced down at the wolf shifter with pale cheeks, yet his stubble had thickened and his stubble had thickened. He was incredibly handsome.

  “Just between us, if you were awake, I’d love to taste your lips.” I blushed the moment the words left my mouth, and I crashed down on the seat next to the bed. Goddess, what had become of me? Was any wolf shifter safe around my libido?

  Control—I had zilch.

  His bandages were crisp and white where before blood had stained them. Nero must have changed them. I zigzagged my thumb down his arm between two bandages, and a faint charge sparked across his flesh.

  That had never happened before, and excitement had me jolting to my feet. Was this a sign that my power could awaken him? I ripped off the damn fabrics across his chest and arms, then placed both palms flat across his perfect pecs. Every molecule in my body buzzed as I concentrated on driving the strength within me down my arms, picturing the flow of power racing into Dagen.

  A spider web of blue static laced outward from my fingertips, crawling up and over his collarbone, up his neck and across his jawline.

  “Please wake up, Dagen.”

  My flesh tingled.

  Sparks crackled across his torso, except he didn’t stir. When I had touched Oryn in his wolf form, he’d shuddered right away. So why not Dagen? Perhaps it was the whole mate thing the men had mentioned. They responded because we were meant to be together apparently. Not that I was looking to add another guy to my growing harem. Geez, I sounded crazy. But what if he never woke up?

  Guilt wormed through my chest as he lay there, yet I’d seen how quick Oryn had recovered after his wolf fights.

  “Why aren’t you waking up or healing?” Wolfsbane had definitely affected him through my contaminated citrus spray. The fact that he hadn’t died meant only a small portion of the toxin had gotten into his system. But still, I’d done everything I could for him. I wasn’t sure herbs would help, either.

  I paced to the door and back. Grandma had once explained charcoal was her go-to solution for poisoning if nothing else worked. I could dribble some down his throat, but I didn’t want him choking to death.

  “What am I going to do?” I chewed on my cheek, remembering how my fingers had sparked when I’d traced his bicep while having hot and heavy thoughts about him. Maybe the reason Oryn responded to my touch the same as Nero was because my intent had been sexual in nature.

  Staring at Dagen, the blanket covering his hips, I had no intention of groping him again, but my gaze lingered on his lips. “I’ll try something, but don’t freak out.” I laughed at myself and how insane I sounded.

  But I pushed those thoughts aside and refocused instead on the perfect curves of his cheekbones, the honey-colored stubble over a strong jaw. His neck had layers of muscles to rival Oryn.

  I leaned closer. “Please, Dagen. If you can hear me, wake up. I’m sorry for hurting you.”

  With my lips brushing his dried ones, I exhaled, letting myself soften.

  Static snapped between us and thrust me backward. I gasped, but strong hands grasped my wrists, drawing me forward once again. My legs tangled beneath me and I fell across the bed.

  Dagen’s fingers dug into my flesh and his eyes flipped open, revealing the most incredible clear emerald irises.

  I stumbled back on my feet, the blanket unraveling from around me and cascading down my naked body.

  A growl rolled through his chest, and while I should have been ecstatic he was conscious, the hunger in his gaze terrified me. It reminded me of the wolves outside, the ones that wanted to kill me.

  “Dagen, let me go!” I pulled against him, reaching down for the blanket, but he only tightened his grasp, and dread slithered up my spine.

  “Who are you?” His darkened baritone carried a gravelly tinge and he snatched the blanket from my grip, tossing it across the room.

  “I’m Scarlet.” I twisted toward the door and called out, “Nero, Oryn, I could use some help. Dagen’s awake!”

  But he was on his feet in two seconds, bandages falling off his strong legs. His clutch never eased. He drove me backward, his height towering over me.

  “Why is a human in our home?”

  “Please.” I trembled, convinced Dagen would tear me apart in under a second.

  “Oryn!” I yelled. “Nero!”

  Dagen glanced across his shoulder and sniffed the air. “Looks like it’s just us two, alone in the house.”

  “What? No, they’re in the kitchen. They’ll tell you the truth. I’m here to heal you.”

  He tsked, and a grin split his mouth, revealing white teeth. “You attacked me in the woods. And you expect me to believe you now saved me? I might still be groggy, but I’m no fool.”

  The ache in my arms pinched from his grip, and hell if this was him groggy, would he have torn my heart out of my chest if fully alert?

  “You’re not too bright,” I blurted out, not sure what to say
next. At once, I regretted my sudden confidence. Only to have it deflate under his piercing gaze. But those green eyes… I could drown in them, get lost for eternity, die in his arms as long as I stayed here. As insane as my thoughts were, my body shivered with anticipation.

  “I will not hurt you,” I insisted.

  The pain in my arms eased from his loosened grasp, and I raised a hand, touching his chest, hoping it might connect us, help him calm down.

  Energy buzzed from my fingertips, spreading outward as it had earlier.

  His body trembled, and he stumbled backward, his gaze flittering across his torso. Narrowing eyes fastened on me, and a snarl rolled from his throat. His shoulders curled forward. Just as I’d seen Oryn do in the cave when he lost control.

  My breaths were in a marathon and my lungs were losing the battle. I sidestepped along the wall, every inch of me shivering.

  “What did you do?” he barked.

  “Please don’t hurt me.” I spied the door about five feet away.

  He shook his head and kept whacking the base of his palm into his temple.

  Escape was my only chance of survival. And where the hell were the guys? Yep, they’d find their friend conscious and me dead. A choked cry fell from my lips.

  Bastards! Yep, I only seemed to swear when facing death.

  I turned and sprinted, but he moved so fast, my vision blurred. He shoved me against the wall and pushed me by the shoulder to face away from him. His hot breath blew through my hair as he whispered in my ear, “So you want to taste my lips again?”

  “Wait, what?” An attempt to turn was impossible as he pushed himself against my back, squishing me. “If you heard me while you were out of it, then you know I’m not the enemy here.”

  “Maybe, but what concerns me right now is why your scent is fogging my head. Why some of your thoughts fill my mind. Why all I can think about is me fucking you. Except I don’t do humans!”

  With my cheek pressed to the wall, and his hands crawling up the sides of my body, I raised my voice to show him I wasn’t a pushover. “Arrogant much? And I don’t do shifters, either.” Damn, I was the worst liar in the world.

  His laughter covered me in pinpricks, the kind that dove south and curled in the apex of my legs. Heavens! This hunter could snap my neck off, and here I suffocated in heat.

  “That’s why my friends’ scents are all over you.” He pulled the hair off the side of my face, his stubble grazing my cheek as he responded, “Shall we try again? What did you cast on me?”

  “H-Healed you. But that’s okay, you need not thank me. Heavens forbid you show gratitude.”

  He stiffened for a moment but didn’t back away. “And the magic from your touch? Did you cast a delusion spell so I’d fall victim to your seduction until you escaped? Is that what you’ve done to my wolf brothers?”

  My mouth opened, but nothing came out at first. I hadn’t once considered that an option, but it warranted consideration. “I mean you no harm.”

  “I can smell your lies from your perspiration.”

  “Because you’re squashing me, and I can hardly breathe, you psycho shifter.”

  “Hunter,” he growled in my ear.

  “Okay, hunter. Now let me go,” I yelled.

  When his weight eased away, I turned around, but he remained there, arms on the wall on either side of me, glaring down at me.

  His mouth crashed against mine, hard and unforgiving. His tongue pushing into my mouth, tangling with mine, and as much I wanted to knee him in the balls, something was happening.

  A euphoric pulse coiled deep in my gut, diving deeper, and my heartbeat was a bomb in my chest, ready to detonate. I hated his forcefulness but couldn’t get enough at the same time. What was wrong with me? His hardness pressed against my stomach, and I trembled with the need to reach down and feel him.

  “Yes, grab me there,” he whispered against my mouth.

  What? Hadn’t I just thought that?

  He kissed me again, stealing my words but not thoughts. Had he read my mind? This was too much, and I thrust my hands against his chest, driving him off me.

  He licked his lips. “I don’t know how, but you’re in my head. I keep receiving snippets of your thoughts, words here and there.”

  “How?” I couldn’t hear a thing aside from my pulse banging in my skull like a drum.

  “You tell me,” he began. “You’re the magic user. And while you’re at it, explain why you’re enchanting me into craving you when I would never want a vile human.”

  The earlier excitement dwindled and left me feeling dirty and empty. I’d been called many things in my life, but never “vile” and not by someone I’d just kissed.

  Chapter 13

  “Vile? Please.” I lifted my chin to make myself look bigger compared to this six-foot-two guy wearing a wry expression. “I could call you worse things for threatening me after I cured you.”

  “You put me in that situation,” Dagen boomed.

  Anger fueled my response because I was getting sick of this wolf dominance shit. “You attacked me in the woods.”

  His furrowed brow softened.

  “Okay, maybe not attacked, but how was I supposed to know any different when three wolves came at me?”

  His chest lifted and fell quick, as if his patience was fading fast.

  “I was defending myself. So why are you mad at me?” I glanced toward the open door. Surely, Nero or Oryn would come any moment and discover their grumpy friend was awake.

  “Because humans aren’t supposed to be here. You kill anything that moves, anything you don’t understand.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Is that right, Mr. Stereotyping Everyone? Does that mean I can assume all wolves are sadistic monsters who’ll kill anyone without a hint of mercy like the ones outside?”

  He swiveled his jaw from side to side, making a clicking sound. “That’s an abnormality in Oryn’s pack.”

  Hypocrite. “And whatever human got you so riled up in the past was a one-off and in no way reflects who I am.”

  The corner of his upper lip curled upward, and a guttural snarl rolled through his chest. Okay, he didn’t appreciate being proved wrong.

  “You clearly know nothing about what your kind is capable of, the countless wolves they’ve hunted and skinned alive.”

  I swallowed the rock in my throat. Those atrocities had happened decades ago.

  “Yes, but the barbaric acts are still happening,” he replied out loud to my thoughts. “Just last full moon, we discovered two wolves butchered on our land with cuts from human blades.”

  “Stop reading my mind.” I didn’t want to believe what he said, even though the priestess loathed wolves, so what if…?

  “Your priestess has a lot to pay for.”

  I picked at a hangnail, unable to defend her when I’d seen a dark side to her and no way in the underworld would I assume she was all butterflies and flowers. But was she slaughtering wolves? It went against the peace pact that every realm had made when they’d split up centuries ago. Why would she risk a death penalty? The only rule that kept territories in check was to murder no one.

  “She’ll be held accountable like anyone else,” he growled.

  “If you can prove she did it to the councils in each realm,” I said, unable to believe I was attempting to defend her, but the rules were clear.

  “Oryn has seen the priestess watching her guards murder a wolf. Death is coming for her.” His tone darkened, and I didn’t have a single doubt he meant every word.

  I wasn’t sure how to feel because I didn’t support murder, but if what he said was true, then the priestess needed to step down from her position, or be imprisoned in one of her dungeons.

  “So what now?” I broke the silence.

  When I turned toward the door, figuring this was my getaway, Dagen snatched my wrist and forced me to face him. “We’re not done here. Tell me about your magic and how you’re controlling me.”

  I wrinkled
my nose and huffed. “If I could command you, would I let you scare me? Is that how you manage your pack? With fear?”

  His grip tightened. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  This whole dual personality within me—flipping from craving Dagen to getting pissed off at him—was getting on my nerves. I ripped my hand free.

  “Look, I get it, you hate me, fine. That doesn’t mean I’ll let you treat me like crap.” I spun on my heels, grabbed the blanket a few feet away, and marched out the door and into the corridor.

  Yep, “arrogant” and “hypocritical” perfectly suited Dagen. Should have left him unconscious. He had been much nicer then. And I didn’t care if he heard me think that.

  I pushed open the kitchen door and found the room empty. Where were the guys? The door to the outside remained shut, so I retreated and checked the living room with the fireplace, also finding it bare. With a quick check of the house, I still couldn’t track them down.

  “Told you we were alone.” Dagen leaned against the doorframe to the bedroom, standing there stark naked, a beam of candlelight glowing around him.

  “You want a gold star for being right?”

  He chuckled, and I turned away before I threw something at him. How could I hate and crave someone at the same time? Was that even possible?

  I stormed into the kitchen and closed myself in, leaning my back against the door. Dagen drove me up the wall with fury, with desire. Standing there all naked with his enormous… I gasped. How dare he call me vile?

  “I can still hear you,” he yelled from somewhere in the house.

  “Agh… If you’re in my head you’ll know I’m not evil,” I screamed, anything to stop the memories swirling out of control, remembering his hardness, the hunger of his lips, and heavens, I so wanted more.