Hurt (Alexa O'Brien Huntress)

by Trina M. Lee

  I grabbed her hands before she could reach inside my pants. Grief could cripple a person. Hanna was falling apart. “I’m not sleeping my way into a higher pack position. And I don’t think this is what you really want either. How about I call Izzy and have her hang out at your place with you for a while? You don’t have to be alone.”

  My rejection changed her mood. She shoved away from me with a glower and lost her balance. I caught her before she could fall.

  “What kind of guy turns down a blowjob?” She was offended. Glaring daggers at me, Hanna pulled away and clutched the desk to keep on her feet. “It’s your loss. I give amazing head.”

  “The kind of guy who gives a damn about integrity and honesty. And a guy who cares about you, Hanna. I took an oath to protect this pack and that means you too. Don’t give me shit for not being an asshole.”

  She fixed me with angry wolf eyes, but I saw the pain within them. The pressure was taking her to a bad place.

  “Look, Hanna, let’s just forget—”

  A crash from beyond the door cut me off. What now? I was starting to get really sick of this shit.

  As soon as I opened the office door, I wished I could go back inside and climb out the window. A chair had been shattered. Bastian and a few others held pieces of it like makeshift stakes. And standing there smirking at them was Arys.

  What the fuck was he doing?

  I rushed forward to put myself between the vampire and the snarling wolves. It wasn’t Arys’s safety I worried for.

  “What are you doing here?” I caught Arys’s eye, doing my best to give him a ‘don’t fuck shit up for me’ glare.

  Arys stood in the middle of the room with his hands shoved into his pockets. He affected a suave, cool stance meant to unnerve. Six or seven werewolves with stakes held at the ready was of no concern to him. The arrogant bastard.

  “Funny you should ask,” he said, oozing charm like a snail oozes slime. And like the snail, that slimy trail seemed to follow Arys wherever he went. “I’m the one who started all this shit. So I came to finish it.”

  I couldn’t tell if he was just fucking with me or if he was serious. Like Alexa, Arys hadn’t been of especially sound mind these days. Or was this his way of helping me gain the trust of my new pack? Whatever Arys had in mind, I felt pretty certain that I wouldn’t like it.

  Bastian kept his distance after experiencing Alexa’s attack; however, he wasn’t able to keep his mouth shut. “Do you expect us to believe you’re not part of this, Shaz?”

  Arys laughed like that was the dumbest thing he ever heard. “You stupid wolf. Is that really what you think? Shaz might be Alexa’s pet, but he’s nothing but a pain in my ass. I plan to kill all of you. Shaz included.”

  Confused didn’t even begin to cover what I felt. He must’ve lost his mind. If this was all part of some stupid plan to manipulate the wolves into thinking I was on their side, it was a bad one. I’d have never agreed to this, which was why he didn’t tell me.

  “Yeah?” Bastian just couldn’t shut up. “Then why don’t you start with him?”

  “What the hell is going on here?” Hanna’s drunken demand had us all turning her way. She sidled over with an unsteady gait and a scowl for Arys. “Good God I am so sick of you motherfucking vampires.”

  Arys took in the sight of the intoxicated she-wolf and nodded. “I think I’ll start with her.”

  He snapped his fingers, and that was all it took to throw everyone but Hanna off their feet. I hit the floor and rolled, but by the time I got up Arys already had her. With one hand on her throat, he pulled her against him so her back was pressed to his chest. Sniffing deeply of her scent, Arys grinned.

  “Oh, how I love that aroma. Wolf, woman, and blood. My three favorite things.” Arys seemed oblivious to her thrashing as she panicked in his embrace. Even though he could have subdued her with an erotic pulse, he let her flail.

  I wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. Having no idea what he was up to here, I could only rely on instinct. If he’d totally lost it this time, would I be able to stop him from killing everyone here?

  “I’m not going to let you do this, Arys,” I said, advancing on him, slow but steady.

  Instead of engaging in confrontational banter, he skipped ahead. Pulling Hanna hard against him, Arys aggressively bit into the side of her neck. She cried out and ceased to struggle. Frozen in fear, Hanna stared at me in wide-eyed shock.

  “Oh my.” Arys captured the blood on his lips with a quick swipe of his tongue. “Someone’s been hitting the sauce hard tonight. Not quite how I like my wolf.” He flung Hanna aside as if she were an afterthought. Due to the alcohol in her veins, she stumbled and fell. To the rest of us Arys asked, “So? Who wants to be next?”

  There were no volunteers. Big, bad Bastian clutched a stake, but he made no attempt to use it, like he knew he’d never get close enough to swing before Arys tied him up like a pretzel. Pussy.

  “I guess that’d have to be me.” I searched Arys for any sign that this was all a game, a show. He was elusive, giving me nothing.

  I’d come to somewhat pride myself on how well I could read Arys. In the last year I’d studied him closely. Able to read him well, or so I liked to think, I could often anticipate what he might do or say in a given situation. Not this time.

  Tasting Hanna’s blood had an effect on him. I saw it happening as I stared at him. Hunger pooled in his dark-cobalt eyes, but it wasn’t alone. Madness drove it. Arys had tasted wolf blood. There was no way to predict his next move.

  When they said twin flames would drive one another insane, they weren’t kidding. Whoever the hell ‘they’ were. Since the night Alexa died, the two of them had been riding the crazy train more often than not. Still, more than once I’d put myself in Lex’s path and brought her back to earth.

  Put it to the test, I heard Gabriel say. Shit.

  “Now we’re talking,” Arys said, beckoning me with both hands.

  I approached him with both hands up. Fearless but wary, I tried to feel him out. “You know, this really isn’t a good time for us. If you’d like to come back another night, I’m sure—”

  My feet went out from under me. My back slammed into a chair, and I went down on top of it. Did not see that coming. With a groan I moved fast, shoving to my feet in time for Arys to hit me with another shot of dark energy. It felt like a punch in the chest that stole my breath. It fucking hurt. I hit the table and grabbed hold to steady myself.

  My fellow pack members made no move to come to my aid.

  “Arys, what the fuck?” My words were a growl.

  With clawed fingers I clutched the table. I forced the claws back so I could make a fist, and then I threw it into Arys’s smug face. It had taken just two hits from him to bring out my beast. Which was what he wanted. I could see that.

  We had all changed. Over the last several months I’d become a different version of myself. One who was ready to fly into action when necessary, one willing to do what it took no matter how ugly the outcome. Like that night in Las Vegas when I’d killed a wolf in a cage fight.

  Maybe the A-team weren’t the only ones with a danger zone.

  I didn’t want to go there with Arys. But once my fist was in motion it stayed that way until Arys had had enough and flung me off. He didn’t hold back. Not when he smashed me in the face with his fist so my brain rattled and not when he threw me over the bar, into the stack of bottles behind it.

  I landed on all fours, instinct taking over. Bottles crashed down around me. I threw up an arm to protect my head until they ceased to fall. Then I sprang over the bar, ready to kick some vampire ass.

  “You have totally lost your godforsaken mind,” I snarled.

  Anticipating Arys’s next shot, I dodged it. I managed to get my hand around his throat. Throwing him against the wall, I shook him as if that would knock some sense back into him. No such luck.

  Arys laughed right in my face. “Why do you even care about them? They don’t
give a shit about you.” He thrust a hand toward the watching wolves who’d all moved further away.

  It looked like a few might have taken off out the back door.

  Hanna was standing behind those who remained, clutching her wounded neck. She was shaken and stricken, and unfortunately she was right. She couldn’t run this pack without Dayne. It wasn’t just rogues like Bastian. She couldn’t even rally them against one vampire.

  To be fair, this was no regular vampire. Still, she just stood there, dazed and afraid. Anyone who wanted to take a shot at the pack now would have an easy time of it. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

  “Stop this shit right now.” I shook him and bared fangs, hoping he’d get a clue and back the fuck off.

  Arys’s smirk delivered a charge of erotic heat. “Make me stop.”

  I snapped.

  The smug expression he wore. The fact that he dared to walk into my new pack and start shit for me. The subtle way he touched me in places that could not be reached. All of it added up to be more than my existing patience could take. I was an easygoing guy, but if anyone could send me into that danger zone, it was Arys.

  A head butt in the face stopped him from laughing. With both fists I hit him, one after the other, taking advantage of having stunned him. My ego swelled at that. Pretty much nobody got the drop on Arys.

  His eyes flashed with Alexa’s wolf when he grabbed a hold of me. It didn’t shock me anymore. We threw each other around, moving in tandem, like usual. It made for an interesting fight. We both took as many hits as we landed.

  It felt good though. Really fucking good. We hadn’t gone at it like this in some time. After what he’d done to me in Shya’s hell house, I needed this. I hadn’t realized quite how much until my fist was pounding his face. Everything I’d been holding inside since that night burst forth. I owed Arys an ass kicking.

  Hurting him felt amazing. Being hurt by him also had its appeal. So maybe we’d never be best buddies who shared more than the love of a woman. Perhaps we would always eventually come to blows over something. But I was ok with that. In that moment I needed the rush of the fight. My wolf craved it.

  Until the remaining wolves jumped in.

  “What the hell are you standing around for?” Hanna barked at them. “Get in there and help your pack mate.”

  Did I need help? Was that how she saw it? I was vaguely aware of the blood running down my chin and staining my knuckles. Still, I didn’t feel like I was losing this round.

  The others jumped in with their makeshift stakes. Bastian, aggressive and stupid, tried to get between us. Together we knocked him aside. The rest of them swarmed Arys, forcing us apart. I watched as they surrounded him, like they were hunting. They couldn’t overpower him. Not when all it took was a flick of his wrist to knock them all down like dominos.

  Arys loved it. He beckoned them to keep coming, to keep trying.

  Having had my moment of blind violence interrupted, I stood back and watched as five wolves tried to take down the most powerful vampire in the city. It was kind of like watching King Kong swat planes out of the air.

  Arys’s attention was divided among them. As soon as he’d take one down, two more took their place. He could have killed them all in one shot. That wasn’t his goal though. He seemed to enjoy setting them up and knocking them down. It was a game to him. One that might end in bloodshed.

  I saw Hanna scoop a broken chair leg from the floor. While the others kept Arys busy, she slipped around behind him, watching for an opening. And then she got one.

  Bastian managed to sink fangs into Arys’s forearm, stopping his next attack. Hanna took the brief opportunity to use the stake she held. Coming up behind him, she aimed for the heart and swung.

  There was no way of knowing if she would’ve landed that shot. It was a clumsy swing anyway. No way of being able to determine whether or not she would have succeeded or if Arys would have killed her for trying. Because I was there to stop her.

  My hand closed on her forearm, and she gaped up at me in surprise. I ripped the stake from her hand and flung it before turning to slam my fist into Bastian’s temple. A few more to the jaw, and he went down like a KOed MMA fighter.

  “Shaz, what the—?” Hanna never got to finish.

  Together Arys and I fought off the rest of them. Once they realized I was fighting with him and not with them, they targeted me too.

  Side by side the two of us took the wolves on. Fists flew, bones crunched and tables broke. The floor was littered with upset tables and chairs. Snarls and growls filled the air.

  Seconds after taking a punch in the mouth that snapped my head to the side, Hanna’s shout rang out. “Everybody get the fuck out!”

  We all froze, even Arys. A few of the wolves exchanged looks, like they weren’t sure how to react. Hanna was trembling. Her mascara-smudged eyes were wide and all wolf. An angry vein stood out on her forehead. This was really not her night.

  “What the fuck are you all looking at?” she demanded, voice echoing through the near silent room. The only sound was that of labored breathing. “I said get out. All of you. Now.”

  People all started moving at once. Some headed for the back door, others for the front, but everyone obeyed. Arys eyed her with intrigue, as if he considered defying her order.

  “Hanna, I’m sorry,” I said, trying to keep Arys in my line of sight while I approached her. “Let me stay and clean this shit up.”

  “No.” She shut me down with one snarled word. “Just go. I’ll call you when I’m ready to talk to you.” Looking past me to Arys, she added, “Please get the fuck out of my bar. I still want to work shit out with Alexa, if that’s even possible now.” Hanna turned her back on us and staggered back toward the office.

  Arys took a step like he might go after her.

  I caught his arm. “Let’s go.” I pulled him along to the front entry. I felt shitty about leaving the place in such disarray, but if Hanna wanted me out, then I’d go.

  Arys scowled and jerked away. “I’m not done here.”

  “Fuck yes, you are.” I was about to shove him but thought better of it. Put it to the test?

  Like I had so many times with Lex, I grabbed his hand. I wasn’t real thrilled about it. And like I did with Lex, I thought about how I wanted him to calm the fuck down.

  Arys’s scowl became a frown and then a snicker. “Whatcha doin’, pup? Since when do you want to hold hands? You nearly crawl out of your skin every time I touch you.”

  We stepped into the parking lot, and I pulled away, having to give a good tug when he held tight. “Just testing a theory.”

  “And the results?” Arys quirked a dark brow, curious now rather than murderous.

  “I’ll let you know when I figure that out.” Even though I really did want an answer to the questions I’d taken to Brogan, I couldn’t help the punch that came next. Smacking him in the face was starting to come naturally, like a kneejerk reaction. “Stay the hell away from this place, Arys.”

  Arys’s nose was swollen and bloody. Both of his eyes were bruised, one more so than the other. I didn’t feel bad for him. His wounds would heal faster than mine.

  I started to walk away, headed for my car with every intention of leaving the city and heading for home. I was done with tonight.

  “I saw what you did there, Shaz,” Arys called after me. “You stopped Hanna from taking a shot at me. It wouldn’t have landed, of course, but don’t think I don’t appreciate it. I think maybe you like me a little after all. You must hate that.”

  I grinned to myself before casting a glance back at him over my shoulder. Shrugging it off, I said, “Don’t make it out to mean more than it does. If something happens to you, Lex might not survive it. I did it for her.”

  “Sure you did. Something is up with you, pup, and I’m going to figure out what it is.” He stood there watching me walk away, looking so damn sure of himself.

  Opening the car door, I paused. “Sure you will.”


  Arys shook his head. I imagined he wanted to throttle me. “Are we even now?”

  “Even?” I repeated.

  “For what happened at Shya’s. In case you didn’t notice, I took more hits from you than I threw just now. Thought you needed to get it out of your system.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and ambled toward his car, never taking his eyes off me.

  “Oh, we’ll never be even for that.” I taunted him with a cocky smirk to rival those he wielded so well. “And I definitely owe you at least another round before we’re even for the crap you pulled tonight. You’ve got to stop making decisions for other people, Arys. I’m starting to suspect you have control issues.”

  “Better watch yourself,” he warned. “I’ve tasted wolf tonight, and you’re just walking, talking temptation right now.”

  Probably best not to tease the vampire. It was just so damn easy though. “Hey, like I said, no Alexa, no touching.” I got into the car laughing to myself.

  Arys’s eyes narrowed. He gave a sharp nod and smiled, an eerie, fang revealing twist of his lips. “As you wish.”

  That was enough of that. Arys had a mischievous glint in his eyes. I liked to pick at him, but I knew when to stop.

  I shut the door, started the car, and thought to check my phone before driving away. There was a voicemail from Brogan.

  “Hey, Shaz. I took a look at my mom’s notes again and found something else on keystones. They can be created as a patch of sorts, to hold something broken together. Twin flames don’t normally have a keystone, so someone decided to create one for Arys and Alexa. It could’ve been anything really, a gem, a weapon. Hell, even a frickin’ plant. But they chose you. Someone did this to you, Shaz. And that means, if anything were to happen to you, it could be detrimental to Alexa and Arys. I’m going to bed, but call me back when you can.”

  Again and again I replayed her message. It shook me to the core to think someone had orchestrated this. It sounded like something done in an effort to help the A-team, but who did it and why me?