Fanged Fury (The Adventures of Sydney Sedrick Book 3)

by Mandi Casey

  Matt put his arms up to stretch. The brat was goading me on. He clearly detected the scent of my desire and had caused his shirt to lift from the movement, exposing muscular abs. The rotten wolf was shoving his glorious body into my face.

  “Fine, suit yourself, Selected. I’ll be around.” He strolled over to where I stood by the door. Matt stood so close our noses almost touched.

  “You don’t scare me, just so you know.” I placed a hand on my hip for emphasis. I hoped he didn’t see me wincing when I put pressure on the wounds he’d inflicted.

  “I think I know what I do to you.” He laughed as his heated stare eyed me from head to toe.

  I jiggled the doorknob. “Go now. Thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate you taking care of that rogue for me.”

  Matt grabbed the back of my head. Roughly he brought his lips crashing down on mine. Heat flared through me straight down to my center. My flesh ached to be touched by the wolf. Because of his wolf’s sense of smell, he’d know exactly what his kiss did to me. A battle of wills ensued inside of me. I somehow knew having sex with Matt would be rough. I also knew I would enjoy every second.

  I wanted him.

  I hated him.

  Normally, the touch of his lips would have repulsed me.

  It should have, but didn’t.

  Something was wrong.

  Raising my hand to slap the sneer off his face, Matt roughly grabbed my wrist. He crushed our bodies together in a vise hold, maneuvering my arm, which he locked behind my back.

  I shoved one-handed at his chest with all my might. “You are not wanted here, so leave.”

  “All right, I’ll let Blake know I stopped by. Don’t be too surprised if the wolf is upset the next time he sees you.” Matt winked with wicked amusement as he touched the tender area on my hip, now seared with his mark.

  Warmth spread over my flesh where his mark was forever branded upon me. No, Blake was not going to be happy when he saw me.

  The sounds of the door chimes jangling soothed my nerves upon entering the store. After turning all the lights on, I started a fire. Then I put a call in to Kieran once the store was ready for business.

  On the third ring, a human blood addict picked up. “Hello, Kieran’s residence.”

  “This is Sydney. I want to leave a message for Kieran.” I waited for the nitwit to write down my name.

  “Is Sydney with a ‘y’, or an ‘i’?”

  Everyone in the coven knew who I was. The human on the other line annoyed the heck out of me with whatever game she was playing.

  “Just tell him I called, will you?” Irritation laced my voice, but I had to admit the humans who associated with the vampires were not normal. Stories of adult women giving up their children to the vampires for just a few drops of vampire blood disgusted me.

  “Yes, I will. He will also hear about your little attitude problem. The Master won’t be pleased to hear how you have treated me. I’m his new favorite,” she hissed into the phone.

  “Yeah, from the sounds of it I’d wonder why anyone wouldn’t want to be around you all the time.” I emphasized the ‘you’ in my statement for good measure.

  She let out a shrill laugh. “You know, Selected, he even talks about your grandmother when we’re together. He tells me she deserved what she got.”

  My face flushed with heat as my temper quickly boiled over the brim of my control. The bitch had struck a nerve. “Let me tell you something about my grandmother, you blood whore. If you utter one more word about her or anyone else in my family, I’ll make Kieran kill you. Do you understand?”

  My breath heaved in my chest. How dare Kieran’s latest blood slave mention my grandmother? Grandma Maria’s memory was to be honored, cherished, not soiled and tainted from the likes of the woman on the other end of the phone.

  Good, she knew I meant business. She also knew as the Selected I was more important to the coven leader than any blood addict. Addicts lasted in the coven houses until the virgin bite sites ran out, then the vampires tended not to want to partake anymore. Sort of similar to having sloppy seconds. Gross.

  “Apologies, Miss Sydney. I went too far. I beg your mercy.” Her words wavered as she spoke.

  I needed to set an example with the woman so maybe she’d tell her other blood-addict buddies not to mess with me. “Yes, you did go too far. I’ll make sure you’ll regret it if you do it again. Understand?”

  “I do, I understand. Please don’t tell the Master. I beg your pardon, from one woman to another, please.” She remained silent, waiting for my response.

  Making her quake in the reality that I could have such an impact on her fate, I finally said, “I’ll think about it. You make one derogatory remark toward me or mine again, you’ll seal your own destiny.”

  “I understand completely, forgive my insolence.” The woman took a deep breath then blew air into the phone.

  I couldn’t help but smile. Making her afraid of me was an unfortunate necessity, but it had to be done.

  Who was I becoming?

  “Whatever,” I said, sharply. “Tell Kieran I called.”

  Not waiting for her to respond, I clicked my phone shut to end the call.

  I leaned against the counter with my back toward the front door. I didn’t enjoy being cruel to that woman, no matter what my opinion was of her. Being the Selected for the few short months since moving to Kenosha, I’ve treated people less than kindly. I’ve said terrible, hurtful things to those I cared about. I wasn’t too proud of myself in that moment.

  Facing the front door of the store, I shifted my weight to sit on the stool to go over the sales of the previous night. Tapping a pen on the splintered glass top, I jumped when my cell phone vibrated and the blue neon screen lit up.

  I laughed at myself for being so tense as I picked up the phone. Blake sent me a text message.

  Just play along.

  What was Blake talking about? Just play along? The last time I’d seen or spoken with Blake, we weren’t exactly getting along. We did have amazing, steamy sex, but then we got into an argument

  Beads of sweat dripped down my back. I let out a loud groan. The entire store became sweltering hot. A werewolf was near, or two. The front door opened. Blake and Matt strolled in. Tension was thick in the store the instant they shut the door behind them. Their presence filled the entire room despite its fair size.

  Blake came to where I stood behind the counter. He flinched the moment he took a breath to smell the air around me. Eyes widening in disbelief, they began to turn an amber-bronzed hue. Blake whipped his head back around toward Matt, teeth elongated.

  Matt smiled. The Alabama wolf hunkered down into a fighting stance, opening his arms wide. “Come and get me, Blake.” Matt spit the words out as his eyes turned deep, emerald green.

  I screamed at the men about to brawl in my store, “Don’t you two dare. This is my store. You will not fight each other.”

  Blake gaped over his shoulder. My heart sank as I realized he thought I’d been disloyal. But it wasn’t my fault. Really it wasn’t.

  Matt took a step forward while keeping his legs apart to maintain a lower center of balance. Blake once told me wolves position themselves in such a way when readying to fight.

  “Sydney, I told you Blake would not be happy I marked you, but I did what needed to be done.”

  The superior inflection to Matt’s tone made me cringe. Blake would not take kindly to being told he hadn’t done his job as the heir to the wolf pack, or as a man.

  Swooping in-between them, which I was well aware wasn’t my smartest action of the day, I put my hands up. The air was hottest between the two wolves ready to engage in a brutal battle.

  “I said enough. Both of you need to leave, now.” Realizing the men may not hear my words due to their wo
lves taking over their conscious thoughts, I spoke louder. “I said leave, now.”

  Blake stepped close, his black boots scraping against the wood floor until my outstretched hand lay flat against his chest muscles. The moment we physically connected, Blake’s shoulders lowered, although only by a fraction of an inch.

  “Sydney, did you allow this wolf to mark you as his?” Betrayal and despair reflected in his wolf eyes.

  Shaking my head, I said, “No, Blake. Earlier this morning, Matt came to the house. He turned his fingernails into claws then he cut me. I am not his, Blake, I never will be.”

  I turned to gaze into Matt’s eyes. I lifted my chin, daring him to say otherwise.

  Matt opened his mouth emphasizing his lengthened jaw. When his chest muscles rippled under his T-shirt, my body broke into a fresh layer of sweat. My breath quickened. I licked the moisture forming on my lips.

  Matt continued to speak with an air laced in self-justification “It is no concern to me what she believes, wolf. You know how the mark works. The Moon Goddess did not make it necessary for the marked to consent. What is done cannot be undone.”

  That wolf really pissed me off.

  Stepping toward him, I pushed against his chest, hard. The infuriating wolf didn’t budge an inch or take his eyes off of Blake.

  “What are you talking about?” I pointed my finger into Matt’s chest. “This mark better not make us connected in any way, you hear me?”

  Blake cleared his throat, drawing my attention. “Sydney, this scoundrel has marked you with the essence of his wolf. He will always be able to locate you as long as you are outdoors. Other wolves will sense his mark upon your flesh.”

  Whipping my head around, I glared at Matt with fury. “You know what, Matt? You are not welcome in my store, ever. I don’t want you anywhere near me. How dare you do this? I don’t want your mark. You being able to find me whenever you want is something I despise. It’s a breach of my privacy.”

  Matt’s expression didn’t change as he stepped away from my hand. “Selected, I’ll leave you with this wolf who has proven time and again that he is not capable of providing the protection your station requires. I won’t be far.”

  “Don’t come back, Matt. I don’t want you here.” I couldn’t help but appreciate the span of his chest and wide shoulders as Matt callously bowed, then strolled to the front of the store.

  “Sydney, like I said before, it doesn’t matter what you want. I’m here. I’ll be watching you as well as Blake’s pack. I don’t plan on leaving until one has been chosen to share their blood to fulfill the prophecy. That is my goal, Selected. Unlike Blake, I don’t let a woman make decisions for me when it comes to doing my duty as a wolf, or as a man.” The door banged shut against the frame upon his departure.

  Blake quietly sank into the cushions on the couch. He leaned his head back. “I can’t believe that bastard marked you, Sydney. He knows how I feel about you. He knows you are my life-mate.”

  Sitting next to him, I placed my hand on his knee, patting it in reassurance. “Blake, he did it because he knew you’d get mad. That wolf has come to Kenosha to make trouble. That’s exactly what he’s doing. He knew marking me would grate on your nerves. He was probably hoping you’d attack him, which would cause some serious strife between the two packs.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. He was close to achieving his goal. Sydney, I haven’t come so close to losing control to my wolf since I smelled vampire blood on you, when Kieran brought you to your aunt’s house after being kidnapped.”

  I stoked the fire, needing something to do as a distraction. Not dealing well with the ‘being marked’ business, I asked Blake, “Matt didn’t create some kind of crazy bond between us that he can communicate with me whenever he wants, right?”

  Blake didn’t respond right away making my anxiety flare. “Well?”

  Blake raised his eyes to meet mine. Dark circles rimmed underneath his eyes, revealing a look a pure exhaustion. “No, he can’t communicate with you like he can with other wolves of his pack. The bond doesn’t work through the mark, but if he is close enough he can sense your emotions similar to how I can smell your feelings because of my hyper-acute wolf senses.”

  “I want you to unmark me. He did this without my say-so. I want it off.” I felt poisoned. It didn’t help matters that the claw marks on my hip maintained a constant tingling warm sensation.

  He let out a low growl. “Trust me, it would be off you already if it were that simple, but it’s not. There is only one way to undo a wolf’s mark, as far as I’m aware.”

  “What are we waiting for? Let’s do it, right now. I want that bastard’s mark off me. I feel coated in a layer of slime.” It was the truth. My skin felt covered with tiny bugs crawling along, stimulating every hair follicle on my body. Most of me wanted the sensation of being connected to Matt to stop. Unfortunately, not all of me wanted to end the warm tingling that crawled along my side.

  Shoving a hand through his hair, Blake said, “Sydney, the only way you can cut the mark’s link between you is for one of you to die.” He held up his hand to her, palm out. “Killing him isn’t an option. If the Mobile pack’s heir dies while he is here, his pack will slaughter the entire city.”

  “I never even considered killing him to be an option, Blake.” Though right now, I had to admit, the thought was tempting. “You can take the snotty tone right out of your voice. He did this to me, not you, so cool it. Help me figure out a way to reverse the mark.” My temper was flaring. Wolves were irritating at best when their egos ballooned out of proportion or they felt threatened, making them aggravating to be around when it happened.

  Blake raked his fingertips down his face. “I’ll speak about the mark with my father to see if he knows if there’s anything we can do. In the meantime, stay away from Matt.”

  Leaning into him, I rested my head on his warm chest. Blake enveloped me in a one-armed embrace. I breathed in slowly, relishing the manly scent of him. My sensitive nerves reacted to his maleness. I instantly became wet between my thighs.

  “What did Matt mean about choosing someone to share blood for the prophecy?” Matt had mentioned blood playing a part in the prophecy not once, but twice. Blake had yet to explain what the other wolf was implying.

  “Sydney, I need you, right here.” Before I knew what was happening, Blake had me pinned down along the length of the couch.

  His full lips met mine.

  My body coiled with tension, wanting him to take me in the middle of the store. It didn’t matter that the front door was open. I didn’t care the clock said it was just a little after lunchtime. My body cheered him on as I writhed underneath the weight of him, trying to position myself to get maximum contact between our bodies.

  Blake’s tongue dove into my mouth, his kiss a brand of its own. He hungrily devoured me with passion I’d known with no other while he trailed my body with his strong hands. The hard length of his erection pressed into my inner thighs causing my core to contract, swelling with need.

  The groan rumbling deep in his chest sounded like he was experiencing pain. “If we don’t stop, Sydney, we’re going to end up naked for your customers to walk in on. I don’t know if you’ll be happy if that happens.”

  I stared into his eyes, finding the strong emotions I felt toward him reflecting back at me.

  “I guess you’re right. We could always go in the storeroom.” I wiggled my eyebrows in jest. My playfulness was half-sincere. Part of me wanted him to carry me back there, lock the door, and have his way with me. Blake was an exquisite lover. My groin pulsated with desire and an ache he could satisfy if he’d only shed his clothes. Customers be damned, I was a woman with needs.

  Blake pushed against the couch to lift his body off mine. The loss of his weight disappointed every fiber of my being. Whatever the problem was with m
y lust-meter, I had to figure it out. My new wantonness had to be taken care of, pronto. I’d never would have had sex in a store in the middle of the day before. I couldn’t figure out what had changed.

  Repositioning his jeans to better accommodate the bulge pressing against his zipper, Blake crossed to the counter. Flattening his palms on the glass, he drummed his fingers in an agitated rhythm against the wooden front panel.

  My head cleared from the sexual cloud fogging my ability to think rationally. I went behind the counter to sit on the stool. I needed space between us if I wanted to retain my sensibility while he was near. “Blake, you still haven’t answered my question about the prophecy. What does blood have to do with it?”

  Blake shrugged. “Don’t bother yourself with the prophecy. If it happens, it happens. I’m not too worried about it, so you shouldn’t be, either.”

  “I thought fulfilling the prophecy was of the highest priority to all the wolves in your pack. Why not you?”

  Leaning across the counter, he enveloped my hands in his. The warmth of his touch seeped up my arms making me feel more at ease. “Since meeting you and realizing we are life-mates, my viewpoints have changed. I want us to be together. That’s all that matters to me. You are much more significant to me than an old prophecy passed down from generation to generation. I don’t even know if I believe in it anymore.”

  “What? That’s all your pack talks about. Seems like that’s all Matt’s pack talks about, too.” I didn’t enjoy the thought of being the cause of disrupting Blake’s belief system, the one his pack had shoved down his throat since he was just a cub.

  “You’re what matters to me now. Life-mates create a bond that can’t be broken.” His lip curled before he continued. “And it’s far stronger than the mark.”