by Rhea Regale
Years had passed since he last laid eyes on the tawny wolf. Riley moved with enviable agility, slinking between the chairs—a hunter straight through to the bone—until he leaped off the porch.
Nox whipped around, his jowls pulled back to bare his razor-sharp teeth. He prepared himself for the attack, but the other wolf landed a half-length in front of him. He crouched back on his haunches and released a low, dangerous rumble of warning to the approaching pack.
The lead wolf’s head lifted. She paused in her approach. Pointed ears perked up.
Oh, hell. It can’t be. Nox sniffed the air and groaned inward, which expelled a throaty sound. Wonderful. The bitch lives.
Riley barked again. Nox stepped up to him, keeping shoulder to shoulder with his old friend. He growled deep in his throat, laying weight to Riley’s threatening bark. His jowls quivered with each rumble, the feral need to protect his mate prevalent. One of the flanking wolves leaped forward.
Nox sprang toward him.
“You fucking moron! Don’t engage him!”
Riley’s scolding blasted his mind, jolting him in midair. He landed and stumbled sideward, but never once lost sight of the enemy.
The tawny wolf crept low over the ground until he placed himself between Nox and the pack of curious wolves. Riley snapped his teeth. The leader of the pack, surely one of Laela’s sisters, yipped. When Lenox tried to edge by Riley, his old friend kicked back his hind leg and caught him straight in the ribs. Nox swatted Riley’s leg in response.
“This is my home, my territory. Don’t you try to hold me back.” Nox arced over Riley and landed in front of him. He tried to connect telepathically with the threatening pack, but couldn’t latch on to a useful link. Riley looked over at him, teeth bare and glistening in the icy moonlight. He snorted his disapproval.
Nox stalked toward the leader of the pack, his growl persistent. The wolf watched him, silver eyes flashing against the moonlit night. Her nostrils flared until she spun around and bounded back to the forest line.
Straightening on his legs, he snorted out the residual scent of the wolves from his nostrils and turned to face Riley.
A stream of silvery white flew over the ground and landed square on Riley’s back.
“Aya! What are you doing?” Nox demanded. He sprinted over to the warring pair as they rolled down the hillside. Riley snapped at Aya’s snowy neck. She raked her claws across his snout. The pungent scent of blood infiltrated the air. Air that grew heavier with tension by the second.
“Ayasha!”
“He killed my uncle!”
Nox froze in his tracks. Riley killed Charles? He knew his old friend’s hatred ran deep after his father was murdered, but…Riley? What had the years of separation done to the man?
Nox shook free of his trance and lunged after Riley and Aya. He caught her scruff between his teeth, hooked a paw around her soft body, and yanked her off the wolf. He placed himself between the two, snapping his teeth at Riley when he detected the male’s readiness to attack.
“Turn, Riley. Now.”
The fur along Riley’s spine bristled as he righted himself on all fours. Nox stepped back, nudging Aya behind him. When he observed the first hint of Riley’s transformation, he, too, reined in his wolf and returned to his human form.
He glanced behind him. Aya’s pure white appearance left his throat dry with awe, but his body still seethed with anger.
“Sweet, you can turn back,” Nox coaxed quietly. Aya’s flesh-colored nostrils flared. She pulled back her lips enough to flash her front fangs.
“No. I feel better in my wolf.”
Nox nodded once. Turning back to Riley, he crossed his arms over his chest. Riley withdrew his bloodied fingers from the three gashes Aya left across his cheek. His upper lip twitched, his nostrils flared, and his amber eyes glowed with disgust.
“You killed Charles,” Nox accused, not withholding his own displeasure in the disturbing revelation. Riley snorted. “You killed her uncle.”
“If you’re looking for sympathy, I’ve none,” Riley warned. He raked a hand through his hair. His eyes lowered to Aya, still poised behind Nox’s body. “I don’t regret burning that bastard to ashes.”
Aya leaped. Nox grabbed her shoulders and wrestled her back to the ground.
“Easy,” he whispered against her ear. “Let me handle this.” He forced Aya behind him again and turned back to Riley. “You’re a fucking fool, Riley Tormel. You’ve no idea what you’ve done.”
“I murdered the man who helped slaughter my father, all because of that.” Riley jutted out his chin, motioning to Aya. She growled in response. “Foul creature, you white wolf. Both of you.”
Nox sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth and pinched his forehead, then turned his gaze on Riley. He barely clung to sane grounding.
“All these years you’ve lived believing your father was the target for murder. Your father, Riley, slaughtered the Whites. Ruthlessly tore them to shreds while others desecrated countless families, all on orders from a bunch of insane females. Laela and her sisters wanted the power and control those families held over the packs—”
“You have no clue what happened that night!” Riley snapped.
“And you do?” Nox stepped up to Riley, breathing hard and fast as he coiled his anger into a tight ball that threatened to spear out of his gut and stab the man standing in front of him. “You didn’t stick around to see the devastation. You took off the moment you heard I was appointed by the spirits to be her mate. Had you stayed, you would’ve learned you’re her other mate.” Nox shoved him in the shoulder. “You would’ve seen what your father did to her parents, both her mother and father. You would’ve known that Charles killed your father to protect your future mate.”
Riley looked away, his upper lip quivering and his expression cold as steel. Nox arched a brow.
“Aya is ours, Riley. We’re responsible for her well-being. We’re meant to care for her, protect her with our lives. Instinct led you to do that when your pack approached.” An icy grin touched his mouth. “That was your pack, I assume, being that one of Laela’s sisters headed it. I caught a blip of her telepathic call to you.”
“What?” Riley’s attention flew back to him. Nox nodded. “Eliza separated from a pack in Colorado. She has no affiliation with Laela.”
“Eliza,” Nox drew out, “smells bitter, just as I remember. Guess who really holds the leash if she’s leading your pack in your absence. Not you. I’m willing to bet you’ve been played to get to Aya. I’m sure the sisters all heard you being appointed to a white. The spirits spoke shortly before the massacre.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Riley snubbed. He took a short, sharp breath. His frigid gaze landed on Nox once more. “Don’t think because I stepped between you and my pack tonight that I’m on your side.” He looked down at Aya. Nox cast a quick glance over his shoulder just as Aya lunged back on her haunches, preparing to attack. “Blame the drug you injected in me for my poor judgment. I’ll be sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Riley snickered and dove toward the trees, transforming back to wolf and landing on all four paws. His tawny coat shimmered under the wintry moonlight as he bounded off.
Aya yipped and sprinted after him. Nox charged behind her.
“Aya! Let him go!” Nox barked.
“No! Let me handle him. Don’t follow me!”
Nox came up short of changing. His fingers and toes had already begun to shift and thicken. His legs had begun to shorten, and fur had pressed through his skin. His heels dug into the ground, and he watched in limbo as Aya’s white figure disappeared into the forest. The urge to protect pounded at his spirit fiercely. He didn’t trust Riley enough to leave her unattended in his presence, especially after this fallout. The man was unstable, his actions unpredictable.
Aya’s demand resonated in his ears.
And he would not deprive her of retribution.
Chapter Eight
Aya followed Riley’s p
otent scent—a toxic mixture of crisp air, raw power, and dark hunger—through the maze of thick brush and trees. His path banked this way and that, leading her deeper and deeper into unknown territory. Every hair on her body bristled, every cell tingled. She opened her mouth, and the intense, earthy taste of the forest, of him, rolled over her tongue.
He murdered my uncle. He doesn’t deserve my affections.
The brutal memory of the night prior shook her confidence. Compared to Lenox, she was a new pup in this strange world. She was young and inexperienced in most of her wolfen ways.
And yet, instinct led her along the path of a brutal, self-centered, heartbreakingly handsome killer.
He stepped between his own pack and you. There’s more to him than arctic words and death gazes.
A shaft of moonlight filtered through the dense forest canopy, casting eerie shadows in an already haunting forest. She paused, ears pricked to pick up on the slightest movement. An unsettling quiet surrounded her. The wild was far too silent, especially on an otherwise perfect evening.
She tipped her nose to the sky and sniffed sharply. Riley’s scent swam through her body, coating her mind with heady need. Not what she wanted to experience, but if Lenox’s words rang true, Riley was her mate as much as he. The news was a shock. With it came a tangled web of conflicting emotions that ran wild: a fight between the horror of having her uncle’s murderer appointed as mate and surrendering herself to a man who despised her.
A twig snapped to her left. She crouched low to the ground, the fur along her spine rising. Her nails dug into the organic debris beneath her paws.
A bush rustled. She sniffed again. The breeze had become stagnant, hampering her sense of smell from detecting approaching dangers. Riley’s scent continued to fill her, pushing past the boundaries of her barrier-forged front. Her blood began to heat, her pulse sped up.
He was nearby.
Leaves crunched. She tipped her head and focused on the patch of open area where the sound evolved.
A quick twinkle of nocturnal eyes. She pulled back her lips in a snarl. A moment later, a raccoon emerged from behind a tree trunk, its black button nose twitching as it surveyed its current position.
Aya blinked. She straightened up and stared at the creature. If Riley wasn’t hiding—
“Fool!”
His chide hit her mind the same instant his large body barreled into hers. Aya yipped, whipping her paws around to gouge at Riley. Sharp teeth burrowed against her scruff. He dragged her down, his powerful wolf encasing her between hard muscle, soft fur, and four agile legs that pinned her own.
Aya snapped her head around and bared her teeth, ignoring the pinch of his against her tender flesh.
He hadn’t broken skin…yet.
“You’re a fucking fool, Ayasha, for following me here. I can kill you in a heartbeat.”
To implement his threat, he snagged a bigger chunk of her scruff between his teeth. The extra flesh constricted around her throat, but he still didn’t harm her.
“Don’t discount my abilities to face danger. I’m capable of holding my own.” Aya swiveled in his tight grip, twisting her scruff from his teeth with only a consequential scrape. She swatted him across the face, a very human move, but it made her feel much better.
Until her gaze crashed with his, rocking her spirit and leaving her hot.
She gulped, struggling to reclaim control of the sudden weakness that plagued her. The image of this creature standing entirely naked only minutes before blinded her of sense.
Riley had been the epitome of steel-corded muscle. He was a powerhouse packed beneath beautiful swells of definition and chiseled accents of eccentric perfection. His eyes glowed an unusual amber-gold with infusions of streaming sunshine white.
Despite her rage and disgust with discovering the man she wanted to nuzzle against earlier was the same man responsible for leaving her world in shreds while she grappled at the frayed ends of a lifeline, her curiosity got the best of her. She had glanced—a very quick glance—at an impressive, and quite intimidating, erection that had been ready for action.
Riley growled, disrupting her thoughts and the euphoria that settled over her. He stood in one fluid motion, a paw at her throat. She watched the wolf transform with rapid precision. Paw turned to a hand, which left her furry throat in the iron grip of strong fingers. He lifted her off the ground, choking the air from her lungs as she kicked at his exposed belly and chest, his hard cock, and muscular thighs. Each sharp kick squeezed more air from her body, and left not a single mark on him to show for her struggle.
“Turn back, Ayasha, or you’ll choke to death.”
She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. The idea of being completely naked in front of Riley would result in a catastrophic mental meltdown.
Riley’s upper lip pulled back to show his still-pointed fangs. A dangerous sheen coated his breathtaking eyes. His fingers dug deeper into her throat until silver spots formed at the outer bands of her vision.
Finally, she gave in to his demand, tugged at the reins of her wolf, and folded her away. Her body elongated and lightened. The bones beneath her skin flowed into their proper human form. The fur that protected her from a hungry male’s gaze receded, leaving her flesh exposed.
Riley raked a slow, hot look over her, pausing at her breasts, heavy with need, and the soft patch of hair at the apex of her thighs. His nostrils flared, and the light in his eyes smoldered. The flitting shaft of moonlight cast a soft glow over his waist, and the moisture beading at the tip of his wide cock glistened like the glassy surface of a lake.
Aya grabbed his shoulders to ease the pressure off her throat and try to anchor her sudden abandon. The only thought that permeated the heady musk around them was Riley impaling her.
“I’m not pleased with feeling the same way,” Riley rumbled, his voice thicker, deeper than she recalled back at Lenox’s home. The sexually charged tone sent a shiver of delight down her spine. A wave of moisture slid from the walls of her pussy.
“Release my throat, you jerk.”
Riley snarled, but his grip on her neck loosened enough for air to flow freely. He pressed her backward until a tree halted her retreat. She ducked to run. He threw an arm around her waist, yanked her back, and encased her between wood and human concrete.
“Don’t you think about it. I’ll catch you, and it’ll be one helluva catch, baby doll.” Aya shuddered when she heard the slow creak and groan of the tree trunk being impaled by Riley’s claws. He had her pinned. “What made you risk my wrath to follow me?”
“I wanted the satisfaction of making you bleed for what you did to my uncle,” Aya growled. The nails on her right hand stretched and sharpened. She raked them across his chest. Riley hissed. Blood welled in the deep gashes over his well-formed left pec. “That should’ve been your neck, but I’m reluctant to kill my mate, even if he’s a heartless murderer.”
“You’re a naive fool,” Riley gritted. His gaze shot back to hers, dark and dangerous. “I don’t give a fucking crap what Lenox said. Your uncle slaughtered my father.”
“And your father slaughtered my parents,” Aya retorted. Her anger welled as thick as the blood from his wounds. And still, her pussy grew slick with arousal. Her skin tingled against the electrical currents riding persistently between them. Her heart raced in her chest.
Her wolf knew her mate, smelled his delectable scent of rustic woods and untamed wilderness.
“I have more reason to hate you and want you dead than you have of me. I have more reason to curse you to your solitary life of misery. You took my world from me before I had a chance to learn it. You.” Aya punched him, deliberately digging her knuckles into his open wounds. He barked. “And you call me a fool because I followed you. You had your parents, your friends, your pack. You had a childhood, teenage years, and all the activities that come with it. You had a brother in Lenox and a future handed to you. And what did you do? Shunned it all. You turned your back on everything that filled your li
fe because of what? A speculation of what happened in my home?” Aya grabbed hold of his shoulders, digging her nails deep into his flesh. Rage flashed like red embers in his eyes. She chuckled, bitterness lingering on her tongue. “If losing your father makes you hate so deeply, then just imagine what I should feel towards you.”
“You’re pissed, but you’re smelling sweet as sex and I can’t stand it.”
“Don’t choke on that bone, ’cause it’s a hard one to swallow, isn’t it?”
Riley dipped his head. Aya’s eyelids dropped beneath the assault of desires that boiled up through the cracks of her frustration. His hair, thick, glossy waves that barely brushed his neck, caressed her cheeks and shoulder. The clean scent of the strands made her shiver with delight.
His nose brushed her neck and he inhaled deeply. Her womb clenched, leaving a sigh to linger on her lips. His claws dislodged from the tree, the wood squeaking in protest. Large, calloused hands splayed over her. One cupped her ass and tugged her hips against his. One slid up along the path of her ribs until it folded over her breast.
“You’re so tiny,” he whispered. Carnal hunger marked his voice. Twisting emotions played a treacherous game of tug-of-war with the intense rebel wolf. He rolled her peaked nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
Aya retracted her claws, surrendering herself to Riley with a moan.
“You’re so big,” she murmured. His entire body encompassed her, folding her within a cocoon of scalding male muscle and flesh.
His head dipped lower, inhaling her skin above her breasts. His hand squeezed the fleshy mound, drawing a whimper from her. Hot moisture seeped from her core folds. Her clit pulsed once, twice, until the pulse turned into a throbbing itch that needed to be eased. She arched her hips against Riley while he rolled her pearled nipple between his fingers. He tugged. She moaned, her head dropping back against the redwood.
“My mate would never be so fragile.” He groaned just before his mouth clamped over her bare breast. He suckled hard, drawing her aching flesh into the feverish cavern of his mouth. Her body thrummed with electricity. Each stroke of his tongue plucked chords of pleasure that reverberated straight down to her pussy. Her legs weakened, and she clung to Riley’s shoulders for support.