by C. D. Gorri
The other wolves sprang, a mass of fur and fangs covering the creature as they snarled and growled, but a menacing laugh reverberated through the forest.
They froze, silent. Chase backed up, and Noah moved to the side to get a view of the demon, but it was gone. Cade, now healed, took off with James to scout the area, but the gargoyle-demon had vanished.
As the men shifted back into their human forms, Luke looked at Noah. “You held him with your ability?”
Noah nodded. “I never should have shifted, but when I saw all of you on the move, I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry.” He lowered his head, preparing for his punishment.
“That’s understandable,” Cade said. “Remember what it was like when we were kids? If we were around our parents when they shifted, we couldn’t resist.”
Noah inclined his chin toward Cade, silently thanking his friend for sticking up for him.
“You’re right,” Luke agreed. “I shouldn’t expect him to have any more control than a young wolf would.”
Noah’s ears burned. The alpha may not expect him to have more control, but he expected himself to. He’d never be allowed to patrol with the pack if he didn’t get his shit together, and he definitely couldn’t be Amber’s potential mate in this condition. They wouldn’t allow his defective wolf to taint the alpha line.
Chapter Thirteen
“Is this your alpha?” Alrick shoved the tuft of fur he’d ripped from the wolf’s hide through the magical prison wall.
Nylah’s jaw clenched as she leaned toward his hand, and her nostrils flared, her pupils constricting as the scent registered. He sensed the flush of heat running through her veins, and while her skin didn’t turn to gooseflesh, the fine hairs on her arms rose on end. Just as he suspected. The local werewolf pack—her pack—had noticed his presence. She would pay for their attack.
“What did you do to him?” The she-wolf moved to snatch the token, but he grabbed her wrist with his other hand.
He jerked her forward, slamming her head into the prison wall and bloodying her nose. The vexatious woman minimized her reaction, so he yanked again, releasing her when her nose broke with a satisfying pop.
“Son of a bitch!” She backed away, out of his reach, and clutched her face. Deep purple spread outward beneath her eyes, and she winced as she pushed the bone back into place.
Tough girl. Her abominable magic would heal her far too quickly. He dropped the wolf fur into her prison, and she scrambled to grab it. The blood had already ceased its flow from her nostrils. Infuriating.
“Did you hurt him?” Her voice held far more accusation than a woman in her position should dare.
“I did nothing to him, but he did this to me.” He gestured to his shoulder, where the biggest wolf’s teeth had penetrated his skin, cutting all the way to the bone. The extra piece of Thropynite he’d taken from Nylah had made him both stronger and more vulnerable at the same time. His flesh, which formerly had the strength of stone, had softened, turning to the consistency of skin in some places.
“Next time he’ll do worse.” She set the fur on the small table inside her cell, the same table where his witch would keep the flowers he brought to brighten her mood.
Alrick’s chest ached at the unwelcome memory, and he rotated his shoulder to try and ease the pain. His skin was slowly mending itself, but he’d need to feed a few more times to regain his strength.
“Doubtful. There were four wolves, and they couldn’t lay a claw on me. If it weren’t for the man who accompanied them, with his blasphemous powers, I could have taunted them until they passed out from exhaustion.”
“What man?” Her eyes narrowed, her fingers curling at her sides.
Interesting. He tilted his head. “He was some sort of witch with powers I’ve rarely encountered before. He held me still with his mind, which allowed the wolves to attack.”
She rushed toward him, slamming into the invisible cell wall and rubbing her forehead. When she recovered, she pressed her palms against the barrier. “He’s no witch. He’s my brother, and if you lay a finger on him, I swear to God, I’ll tear you into so many pieces, no one will even know you existed.”
Alrick was fiercely protective of someone once, and look where that got him. “Perhaps when I tire of our conversations, I’ll let you try. If you continue to take the Lord’s name in vain, I’ll be the one doing the shredding.”
She scoffed. “Do you hear yourself? You were made from a fucking demon, yet you claim to be doing the work of God.”
His jaw clenched. “Because I sacrificed myself for the greater good.”
“Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”
He turned a chair around backward, straddling it and resting his arms on the back. “Tell me about your brother.”
“No.”
“Tell me where you found the Thropynite.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
She was feisty, much like his witch. Nylah’s resemblance to her may have been the only thing stopping him from digging his claws into her skull and retrieving all the information at once.
“You love him. I can see that.” When she didn’t respond, he continued, “I once cared for someone enough to risk my life to protect her.” A mistake which added fuel to the demonic rage inside him.
“Your fiancée?” She sat in the chair next to the small table, arching a brow in defiance.
“She was one of the forsaken, like yourself. A witch.” He chuckled, though he wasn’t sure why. Simply talking about the treacherous woman tore his heart to shreds. “I loved her in spite of her ungodly magic.”
“How very kind of you.”
“When the Sect recruited me, I was forced to cut ties with her, but my love for her never ceased. We were to raid her village, killing all the forsaken in a single night, but I couldn’t allow her to be harmed. I warned her. I bought her passage on a ship to New Orleans and begged her to start a new life, out of the Sect’s reach.”
“Let me guess. You missed her so much, you followed her here to live happily ever after.”
“I missed her, yes, but there is no happily ever after in store for me. She followed my instructions and fled to America, while I stayed in Europe and thinned out the supernatural population.”
She crossed her arms. “And what brought you to my lovely town? Your Sect trying to expand its reach? Are there others like you here?”
“We are the only ones, to my knowledge.” He gestured to his brothers. “As for what brought us here, it was your kind. The werewolves of Paris organized all the neighboring packs into an army. They were the only ones who could sense our true nature in our human forms, so they attacked us when we were at our weakest, murdering us in masses. The Sect disbanded our legion, abandoning us, so I and my brothers fled to save our souls.”
“Your true nature is hard to miss. Have you looked in a mirror lately?”
“We brought a piece of the Thropynite with us, for without it, we turn to stone ourselves.” He cast his gaze to his brothers. “But it wasn’t enough. We lost the ability to shift from human to gargoyle, getting stuck in this halfway rendering of both our forms.”
“And I guess your witch took one look at you and told you to fuck off.”
A growl rumbled in his chest. “She would not have me, but I could not live without her. I brought her here to the room you now reside in. Time moves at a crawl in this dimension, so she was mine for one hundred years.”
“Then you got tired of her and killed her?”
He should have. “She tricked me and escaped. She destroyed the Thropynite, turning us to stone, and we’ve been frozen ever since…until you brought a piece here. Where did you find it?”
She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, refusing to speak.
“I’ll need to feed again to heal this wound. Your brother’s magic is formidable. I love the taste of a powerful heart.”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”
He laughed. “You know what I am and my purpose in
life. What reason would make you doubt my word?”
“Kill me. Take my heart.”
“Oh, but I enjoy your company far too much. You’ll either tell me what I want to know, or your brother will be my next meal.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You didn’t have to cook.” Noah sat at the table in Amber’s kitchen while she finished making dinner. “We could have ordered takeout.”
She set a plate of crawfish étouffée in front of him and took the seat beside him. “I don’t mind. I actually enjoy cooking, and it’s not every day I have someone else to cook for.” She gazed into his eyes, staring longer than comfortable, willing the connection between them to form. Surely if his wolf had claimed her, he would have said something. She’d made her interest in him clear, so there was no chance of him scaring her away.
She didn’t feel the tether that Odette described magically forming, so she looked away and shrugged. “Besides, with the curfew Luke put on the pack, it’s obviously not safe to be out in the Quarter at night. I couldn’t endanger the life of a delivery person.”
“Good point.” He took a bite of his dinner. “This is delicious.”
“Thanks. It’s my mom’s recipe.”
They ate in silence for a while because she couldn’t make herself bring up the conversation they’d left unfinished a few nights ago. Honestly, she hoped he would bring it up, but he seemed content to eat his meal, smiling at her occasionally as if the kiss they shared never happened.
“Any news on Nylah?” she asked.
He swallowed his food, his eyes growing wide briefly before he spoke, “The pack is searching the area around Grunch Road and where we found the body for any signs that she might…for signs of her. So far, they’ve found nothing. Any news on your end?”
She shook her head. “I still feel like she’s alive, but that’s all I’m getting.”
“Me too.”
Amber chewed the inside of her cheek. She’d known Noah all her life, and the tension in his shoulders combined with the way his gaze darted about the room made it obvious he was holding something back.
“Luke said you helped them with the Grunch last night.” Between running the bar and being the alpha’s sister, Amber was privy to more information than a normal pack member would be. Plus, she drilled her brother with questions this morning when she found out Noah had been on the scene with him.
“I don’t know how much I helped. The bastard still got away.”
“Yeah, but they never would have come close to catching him if not for you. I guess you’re getting more control over your wolf?”
“I don’t know about that either.” He shoved another scoop of étouffée into his mouth, avoiding eye contact.
“You’ll get there, I’m sure.” She reached across the table and placed her hand on top of his.
His breath caught at the contact, and he looked at their joined hands before gazing into her eyes. “I have no control. I shouldn’t have shifted last night when the others took off to fight the Grunch. Cade was injured because of me.”
“That’s normal.” She laced her fingers through his. “With the moon nearly full, and your packmates shifting, how could you resist? Even Luke was like that when his wolf first awoke.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m not thirteen. It feels like I’ve got an alien living inside my body, battling me for dominance. I’m out of control.”
She traced her thumb over his. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” He slipped from her grasp, resting his hand in his lap.
Amber picked up her fork and pushed the food around on her plate. “Your wolf knows me now. That won’t happen again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. I have powers too, remember?” Honestly, she didn’t know. She’d had no more premonitions about Noah since she’d sensed his change, but logic told her she was right. His wolf didn’t know who she was then; now it did. Problem solved.
She watched him eat for a few more minutes. Ever since she’d mentioned his sister, his demeanor had changed. He seemed nervous now, as if he had a secret. “What are you not telling me about Nylah?”
He froze with the fork halfway to his mouth before looking at her and returning it to his plate. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying.” She leaned her forearms on the table, holding his gaze. “You can trust me.”
Sighing, he lowered his head and tugged a slip of paper from his pocket. He held it tightly, the tip of his thumb turning white from the pressure before he handed it to her. She unfolded it and read the words on the page.
I can’t tell you where I’m going or why, but I promise to return with an answer to your prayers.
“This is Nylah’s handwriting. When did she give you this?”
“She put it on my dresser the night she left.”
She turned the page over, looking for more information, but the single sentence was all she’d written. “You knew she didn’t go rogue?”
“No, I had no idea she left to work for the congress. This is all she told me.”
She read the words again, realization dawning. “‘An answer to your prayers.’ Do you think Nylah brought the Thropynite here?”
“I know she did. Look.” He showed her a series of texts he’d received.
“These are all from different numbers.”
“Burner phones. I’ve tried replying, but the messages don’t go through. My prayer was to awaken my wolf, and Nylah answered it.”
“And woke the Grunch in the process. Holy crap.” She gave the note back to him, and he folded it before returning it to his pocket. “This is bad, Noah. If Luke finds out…” She shook her head. “If the congress finds out she was the cause of the very thing she was sent to investigate…”
“I know. We’ll both be dogfood. That’s why you can’t tell anyone about this. How the stone got here doesn’t matter. The pack just needs to find Nylah and stop the Grunch.”
She nodded. “You’re absolutely right. We’ll keep it between us. I’m sure she had no idea bringing the Thropynite here would awaken the Grunch.” How could she? Information on the stone was so scarce, it was thought to be merely a legend until now.
“Thank you.” He took her hand beneath the table, and his magic vibrated across her skin, stronger than it had ever been.
“What are friends for?” She laced her fingers through his, sandwiching his hand between both of hers. “Thank you for trusting me.”
As she held his gaze, something passed between them, like the shared secret formed a bond, deepening their relationship. He smiled and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead before gliding his fingers down her cheek in a much more intimate way than a friend would touch her.
Rising, she carried their empty plates to the sink, grabbed two more beers from the fridge, and padded toward the living room. Noah followed and sank onto the sofa next to her. He took a drink of the beer she offered before setting the bottle on the coffee table.
She set her bottle next to his and angled her body toward him. “We need to finish the conversation we started before you shifted. You have a wolf now, so you can’t use that argument against us dating.”
He took her hand and scooted closer. “I don’t want to have any argument against us dating.” He cupped her cheek in his hand, running his thumb across her skin.
Being near him, her entire body hummed, and his dark brown eyes held so much emotion, she couldn’t have looked away if she tried. “So don’t argue.” She drifted toward him.
“I won’t.” He pressed his lips to hers. They were warm and soft, contrasting with the coarse scruff on his chin, and as she leaned into him, she slid her arms around his shoulders.
An mmm resonated in his throat as he coaxed her lips apart with his tongue, and she opened for him willingly, losing herself to the feel of his strong arms wrapped around her. Everything about being with Noah felt right. His scent, his touch, his taste. She couldn’t fathom why it had tak
en her so long to feel the spark, but now, the flame had turned into an inferno.
Yes, this was technically their first “date,” but being friends as long as they had, they’d already gone through the getting to know you part of a relationship. The only new territory left for her to discover was his body, and she couldn’t wait to explore every inch.
Gripping the back of his neck, she rose onto her knees and straddled him. His deep inhale sent a shiver down her spine, and as he glided his hands up and down her back, she slid in closer until she met the bulge in his jeans.
He groaned, gripping her hips, and she moved against him. The friction, even through their clothes, sent a bolt of electricity shooting straight to her core. Good lord, she needed this man.
She slid her hands beneath his shirt, and as her fingers met skin, he sucked in a sharp breath. He was soft flesh over hard muscle. The perfect combination of strength and comfort. Everything she wanted in a mate.
“Amber,” he whispered against her lips. “Amber, wait.” He clutched her shoulders, breaking the kiss. “Before this goes any further, we need to talk.”
“You said you didn’t want to argue.” She kissed him again, and he moaned, sliding his fingers into her hair.
With a sharp exhale, he pulled away. “It’s not my argument we need to discuss. It’s yours.”
And there was her answer. She didn’t feel the tether Odette mentioned because it didn’t exist. She slid off him and folded her hands in her lap. “Your wolf hasn’t claimed me.”
He shook his head. “The guys have described what it feels like, and I…I don’t know if I’m capable of it.”
“Of course you are; don’t be silly.”
“I mean it. This wolf inside me doesn’t feel like it’s mine. He hasn’t claimed me, so I don’t see how he could claim anyone else. I have feelings for you. I always have, but this wolf…” He blew out a hard breath. “I don’t think you want it tainting the alpha line. There’s something wrong with me.”
“I don’t give a shit about the alpha line, Noah, and there’s nothing wrong with you. I wanted you before you had a wolf, and I want you still. You’ll get him under control.”