Wild Heart

by C. R. Jane

  My phone buzzed just then, and I pulled it out of my pocket, hoping I’d be getting the information I wanted.

  Jawbone Pub, Sin, my beta, had messaged. As soon as I’d noticed the stranger in the bar, I’d had my men on the move to make sure there was an eye on him at all times.

  I’ve got him, I wrote back, signaling that he needed to go about his business. There wouldn’t be any need to watch Sterling after I got done with him.

  I made my way over to the pub. I actually hadn’t been in for a while. It had been a place that I’d go to pick up my lucky lady for the night, but ever since I’d met Rune…well, I hadn’t felt the urge. One thing you could say for the demon that lurked inside of me, he didn’t care for anyone, until her. One look at her, and we’d become obsessed, determined to maim, kill, destroy, obliterate anyone who stood between us and our girl.

  Sterling clocked me the second I stepped into the pub. He was sitting at the bar in the corner, a sign of his enforcer training. It was one of the only seats in the place you could sit and see everyone around you. He wasn’t looking to get jumped from behind.

  I offered him a charming smile with just an edge of teeth, enough to put him on notice that I presented danger, but not send him running.

  Dietra gave me a wide grin, already leaning in to try and give me as much of a view as possible of her rack without actually stripping. I’d made the mistake of fucking her one blue moon, and she’d been after my balls ever since then.

  Not interested.

  I ambled my way over to my prey and sat next to him, signaling to Dietra that I wanted my usual. I could feel the gazes of others in the room. Between the stranger and a Bitten in the bar, they were having trouble keeping their eyes off us. Normally, they would at least pretend to not be staring at me, since we’d coexisted in peace for generations. But with Eve’s death, that had changed. They were still terrified of me, as they should’ve been, but evidently, they were determined to keep an eye on the big bad wolf in the room, even if it was obvious.

  “I have a feeling you’re not the welcome wagon,” the dead man drawled as he took a long pull from his beer, his hands only slightly shaking. I’d noticed that in the restaurant too, while I was cataloging how exactly I was going to kill him and dismember his body. He put on a brave face, but he had shaky hands. I’m sure his Alpha just loved that about him.

  I hummed non-committally for a second as Dietra came over to give me my favorite draft, a local beer from a town nearby actually. Jawbone was the only place in town that carried it. She gave me a hopeful smile as she pretended to polish an already sparkling glass. Sterling was eating her up, a sparkle in his gaze that let me know if he were to survive the night, Dietra might not.

  “I’ll let you know if I need another,” I told Dietra with a wink, and her smile fell as she got the hint she wasn’t wanted.

  Sterling huffed next to me as she left, not missing out on the chance to watch her ass as she went away.

  “Is this where you warn me out of town?” he finally said, my silence obviously doing its intended job of making him uneasy.

  I chuckled darkly. “On the contrary, my friend. I happen to be thrilled you’ve come into town.”

  His gaze shot to me, a white line appearing around his lips as his scent began to smell like fear.

  I sipped my drink, humming a bit under my breath. I could feel his terror grow.

  It was delicious.

  “I know your game, Bitten. But it’s not going to work. You’re not going to scare me away. And you know what, I’ve decided that I deserve to play a little bit before I bring Rune back to my alpha. Her cunt must be worth something, don’t you think? I mean, it’s been enough to drive him crazy, even after he rejected her.” He laughed then, the sound coming off a little too high-pitched to fool anyone. He was about to piss his pants. “Do you think she’s a screamer? Does she get off on a little pain? Because—”

  I plunged a syringe into his leg just then because I was tired of listening to his shit. I usually liked to play with my victims more, but evidently, listening to another male talk about Rune was my breaking point.

  I’d still have fun with this next part.

  The drug set in quickly, moving through his bloodstream and creating a euphoric effect. To anyone watching him, they’d just think Sterling had one too many drinks. In reality, the drug basically worked to imprison him in his mind. His body could move, but he wasn’t in control any longer.

  I was.

  “Let’s get you up, buddy,” I told him, helping him off the chair. I shot a flirty smile to Dietra, and she swooned as I began to walk Sterling to the door. “I think he’s feeling that last one. I’m going to help him get to the hotel.”

  She looked at me like I was some kind of hero, and I winked at her just to make sure all she would remember from this night was thinking she might finally be getting somewhere with me. I slapped Sterling’s back, and he fell forward a bit before beginning to walk to the door as if in a trance.

  Once we got outside, I directed Sterling to the back of the bar, where I’d parked my car. Not many people knew I even had one since I usually rode my bike everywhere. It was perfect for stowing…extra passengers.

  Sterling sat quietly in the passenger seat, staring blankly ahead and twitching every once in a while. I turned on the radio and sang my heart out to “Welcome to the Jungle.” It was an oldie but a goodie, that was for sure.

  We drove out of town, weaving around the one lane road that carved through the forest until we got to where the turn off was for my cabin. An overgrown dirt path darted off to the left, and I took it, my singing growing louder.

  After driving for a mile, I rounded one more curve and then I was there. I couldn’t wait until I could show this place to Rune someday, I knew she’d understand. You just needed a place to be able to get away from it all.

  I snorted at the thought as I parked. I got out of the car, inhaling the forest around me, scenting the air to make sure I couldn’t smell anyone nearby. The air was blissfully clear.

  I walked over to the passenger side door and opened it up. Sterling sat there calmly, not even looking over at me.

  “Welcome home, Sterling. I think you’re going to really enjoy it here.”

  Sterling stumbled as I grabbed his arm and heaved him out of the car. I took him through the main floor of the cabin to the back guest bedroom, where behind a shelf in the wall, there was a set of stairs that led to the “entertainment room” of the place.

  I led Sterling in front of me and then promptly pushed him down the set of stairs. The drugs worked so perfectly that he didn’t even scream as he fell down the entire flight.

  I’d need to change that. It was always better when they screamed.

  A chair sat in the middle of the room, a drain underneath it. The floor was slightly sloped in the middle so any fluids would drain easily. I sat him down in the chair and then went over and turned on my sound system, blasting some classic rock as I went to work.

  First, I tied his ankles to the legs of the chair and then tied his arms behind him. I then took a syringe of the antidote to the drug I’d injected him with earlier and stuck it into his thigh, laying out my tools while it kicked in.

  Terrified breathing started up, along with short moaning gasps.

  Sterling was back.

  I walked around to the front of him and then crouched down.

  “How you feeling, bud?” I asked, smiling wildly.

  I cackled as the front of his pants began to darken as he pissed himself, his gasps increasing.

  “What are you—” he began.

  I promptly sliced off his tongue with the knife I was holding in my hands.

  His screams lit up the room.

  I closed my eyes, the sound better than any music I’d ever heard.

  “You should have left her alone, Sterling. No one’s going to take Rune from me, no one. Not you and certainly not your boss. And anyone he sends her way is going to find themselves
in the exact same situation as you are right now.”

  Sterling blubbered, tears and snot streaming down his face…along with the blood of course. Mouth wounds always did bleed a lot.

  I waved the knife in front of his face and watched as Sterling tried desperately to move and get away, something he failed at, obviously.

  “Now let’s see, do you think your alpha would appreciate your head, your hand…or your dick as a little present?”

  Sterling’s muffled screams intensified.

  “Sorry, man, I can’t quite understand you.” I laughed. “Did you say ‘dick’? You want to give him your dick? I agree, that’s probably best. Probably sends him the best warning about what exactly will happen to any dick that gets close to Rune.”

  I sliced the front of his pants open, showcasing his tiny dick. “No wonder you’re such a douche, Sterling. I probably would be too if I had a stump like that.” I cackled again as he cried out.

  I walked over to my table and picked up the large butcher knife. “This should do quite nicely. Blunt enough that it might take a few whacks to get it off.”

  Sterling was full on screaming at this point. He was utterly terrified. It was fantastic.

  I walked over and stood right in front of him as “Sweet Caroline” began to stream through the speakers. “Now make sure to sing along during the chorus,” I admonished him as I raised the knife. “And do tell the devil I send my regards.”

  I sliced the knife down at the base of his dick.

  I’d been right—the knife really was too blunt to do it in just one cut.

  The soundtrack had switched to something darker, edgier as I tried to settle myself after the high that always came out of a kill. I washed my hands, the water initially dark red before eventually clearing up. Sterling lay in pieces next to the chair. I’d lost a little bit of control for a moment when I’d thought about the things he’d said about Rune. The place was a little bit wrecked. Time for cleanup.

  I tossed my clothes and the pieces of Sterling’s body into the pig pen I kept out back, sans his dick of course, which would be mailed to Rune’s ex. Trying to delay the inevitable, I showered and changed into a pair of new clothes. My whole body was shaking with the adrenaline rush. There was really nothing like it.

  But finally, I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.

  I had to see Rune.

  I drove like a maniac back to town, dropping off my car first at a garage I kept near my house and then grabbing my bike.

  Somehow…I made it to the inn.

  Get ahold of yourself, man. She’s not ready.

  I flicked a finger at Jim as I passed through the bar and restaurant area. He gave me a knowing look that I ignored. I could care less about any of the Lycan fuckers. All I cared about was getting to her.

  The stairs seemed to last forever, but finally, I was there in front of her door.

  My body was shaking like a fucking junkie, and I knew when she saw me, she would know immediately something was off.

  Taking a deep, shaking breath, I banged on the door.

  Rune

  I paced my room nervously, wondering when Sterling was going to make his move. Daxon had said he would take care of him, but what did that mean? Could it really be as easy as that? For a man to actually promise me something and then he actually fulfilled his promise?

  It seemed too good to be true.

  Pound, pound, pound. Something banged on the door, and I jumped, my heart fluttering wildly at the sudden sound.

  Was it Sterling? Had he come for me?

  “Who is it?” I called out, knowing that wouldn’t stop him from coming in no matter what I did. But at least the crowd downstairs might hear my screams.

  Although with the way they’d been lately, I was pretty sure they would hand me over for torture in a heartbeat.

  “It’s me,” Daxon said roughly, a thread of what almost sounded like desperation in his voice.

  I let out a sigh of relief and threw open the door.

  No sooner had I done so than Daxon was on me, his lips pressed against me frantically like he’d never been more desperate for something in his whole life. Our lips crashed together again and again in a hard, fast embrace. One touch from him, and I’d become obsessed. We gripped each other’s faces like lifelines as our mouths connected on a level so deep, I swore I could taste his soul.

  We pulled at each other, both frantic to somehow get as close to each other as we could. Our bodies heaved with need as everything that had been building up the last few weeks…every touch, every thought, every heavy look, poured into this embrace and into each other.

  I never wanted it to stop.

  He thrust himself against me, and that was all it took for me to jump into his arms, his hands squeezing and kneading my ass as he walked us to the bed.

  A little voice in the back of my head reminded me that I’d had Wilder on this bed a very short time ago.

  I told that bitch to shut the hell up.

  He rolled against me again, and I squeezed my thighs around him, even as he went to lay me down on the bed, forcing him to follow me down. I wanted more, but somehow, I also wanted less. Less clothes for sure.

  And maybe less thinking.

  As he touched me, the past seemed to slip away, almost like it didn’t exist. If there were a way to bottle up that feeling, I would, just so I could carry it with me always and feel free from the memories that constantly haunted me.

  I never thought I’d enjoy sex…crave it even, after what I’ve been through. Like everything else in my life, my mother had romanticized what it would be like…making love with your one and only. Insert sarcasm obviously.

  I’d even saved myself for my true mate.

  And while that might have been an epic love story with another couple, saving myself for Alistair had just been tragic. Sometimes, it didn’t even feel real what he’d done to me that night after he’d rejected me, like it had happened to someone else and it was just a movie that I had the unfortunate ability to see over and over again in my mind.

  “Stay with me,” he ordered breathlessly as he moved one hand into my hair and gripped it by the roots, pulling my head back and deepening our kiss. His firm grip centered me. My thoughts came flying back to the way his lips felt against mine, the way his sunshine hair brushed silkily against my cheek.

  I wanted this to be just fucking. But there was something wild in his kiss, just like with Wilder. Daxon’s kiss felt like a claiming. It was unrelenting and pressure filled. His tongue plunged and begged for mine to give in to him.

  I can just pretend right now, I told myself.

  I wanted to pretend because it felt natural to be with Daxon like this. Just as it had with Wilder. To let him possess my body. I thirsted for it.

  His mouth moved to my neck, his breath hot on my skin as I fumbled for his jeans, my hands shaking as I tried to unbutton them without him getting any farther away from me. Finally, I shoved them off his ass, not finding it at all surprising that Daxon was commando. Whatever ideas I’d formed about who Daxon was at the beginning had been obliterated as of late. He was an enigma wrapped in an angelic package. But I knew that what lay under the mask he wore was a whole different beast.

  And somehow, that made him even hotter.

  Daxon pushed his cock back and forth in my hand as I squeezed his silky hardness, groaning loudly into my neck as he moved. With one wild move, he literally sliced the front of my leggings open, obviously having transformed his hand into a claw to manage the feat.

  Wild heat surged between my legs as I watched the savageness in his eyes, the golden glory of them almost disappearing with how much his black pupils had extended. A loud rip tore through the air as he finished obliterating my leggings, throwing them somewhere behind him.

  I was going to make him buy me some more. I had limited clothing and limited resources to get clothing after all. His hand slid up between my legs, and his fingers slipped inside the crotch of my panties that had som
ehow survived his mauling. His finger teased my opening as he touched me through the thin, sopping wet cloth. He bent his head and licked my slit through the cloth, and somehow, I almost came undone. He groaned, a low, decadent groan that had me blushing, even though there was no one to see what I’d done.

  No idea why that had seemed so sexual, but the sight of a golden god between my legs was heady and overwhelming.

  Suddenly, he leaned back and managed to flip me over. I let out a loud squeak as I bounced on the bed. A loud tear signaled that my shirt was now ruined as well.

  Daxon licked down my spine before suddenly biting my exposed right butt cheek that peeked out from my thong.

  Why had that been so freaking hot?

  A smack landed right on the opposite cheek from the one he’d just bitten. The sound startled me, and my jaw dropped. In less than a ten-second time span, he’d bitten me and spanked me.

  “Oh!” I squeaked as I realized my ass cheeks weren’t the only thing on my body throbbing. Daxon began to drop kisses down my spine again as he squeezed and stroked my tingling ass. I pushed against his hands, crazily turned on.

  “Please,” I moaned. “Do it again.”

  Daxon froze in place, still palming my butt. “What was that, Rune?” he said in a low, deep, grumbly voice that honestly did as much for my insides as everything else he’d done.

  I paused, a quick moment of shame and terror passing over me as I realized what I’d said. Did I like that kind of thing? And more importantly…how did I like that kind of thing after everything with Alistair?

  Don’t think about him, I admonished myself.