by Ava Benton
I waved as I walked around to the back of the tent. The paw prints were big and deep. A good-sized bear must have made them.
I shuddered when I imagined Daniela facing down an animal of that size. She was brave and maybe a little too headstrong—she would do something stupid like try to attack it. I just knew she would.
Should I shift? I couldn’t decide.
My senses were sharper when I did, but I couldn’t have a conversation that way—and I didn’t feel like standing naked in front of anybody, either. But if I wanted to track, I would have to.
I took off my clothes behind the tent, where nobody could see, and let the change flow through me.
It was so weird. How long would it take to get used to being a dire wolf instead of a tiger?
I had been a tiger all my life. Mom used to laugh at my cat’s reflexes. I didn’t have those reflexes anymore. Just another thing those bastards took from me, to go with an entire missing year of my life.
I saw more as a wolf, though. My vision stretched further. I could see deep into the dark woods, much deeper than before.
I could pick up scents more easily. And I was larger, even though I made a pretty big cat.
I wonder if that was all because of what they did to me at that laboratory. If that made my senses so much better.
I looked back and forth, scanning slowly. I touched my nose to the ground, closing my eyes to concentrate on the scent of the bear. Where did he go?
I let my instincts take over as I trotted out into the woods. The scent grew stronger little by little.
There was a broken sapling in my path—he must have knocked it down in his hurry to get away from the camp.
I jumped over it and kept moving, faster.
He had hung a left just before stepping out into the clearing around the lake. There had been dozens of people out there. He clearly had wanted to stay hidden.
I sniffed the ground to confirm that I was moving in the right direction. I lost him at one point and had to double back and find where he changed course.
Pretty soon I was so deep in the woods I could hardly see in front of me. I was at a loss.
“I knew you would try to find me.”
I jumped at the sound of his voice.
No wonder I had lost the trail.
He had shifted back already.
We stood at an overhang which he had been using as a den.
He stepped out of the inky blackness and lifted a lantern to show me his face. I thought I might recognize the long, thin features, the reddish-brown eyes.
I couldn’t talk to him as a wolf, so I shifted back. So what if I wasn’t wearing clothes? He had tried to sneak into my tent.
I rose to my feet, never taking my eyes off him. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“You don’t remember me?”
“I’m afraid I don’t,” I admitted.
“You saw me that night. At Bradford’s office. I was the one who let you in, escorted you back to him. Guarded the door to make sure you didn’t try to break and run.” He laughed—a high-pitched, almost crazy laugh.
“What are you doing all the way out here?” I asked, looking around, suddenly wondering if he had brought himself some backup.
I hadn’t smelled more than one of them, but they might not have shifted yet. They could’ve been waiting for me in the darkness. I kept my guard up.
“Relax, heartthrob. That’s what Bradford used to call you. It was your code name. Heartthrob, because he could tell you thought you were hot shit.” He laughed again, and there was more craziness in it.
“I had the feeling you were one of them,” I said, fists clenched.
“And smart, too,” he murmured.
“What do you want? Didn’t we wipe your clan out? Are you here to make sure we finish the job?” I asked.
“We? Oh, you mean those two Everglade assholes. They’re leaving soon. I’m not worried about them.”
Some instinct told me to keep my mouth shut about them staying around. If he thought they were leaving, he would be more likely to make a mistake.
“What do you actually want?” I asked again. “Why would you come all this way when your clan is virtually nonexistent?”
“I came to get my information,” he hissed.
My stomach flipped. “Your what?”
“Information. The information you were supposed to deliver to my boss a year ago.”
“You’re crazy,” I whispered. “That’s all over. He’s dead, they told me so. I was kidnapped. You must have heard.”
“I heard. How do you think I ended up here?” he asked. “As for my boss being dead, you’re right about that, too. But the clan’s not dead. They got absorbed into your clan.”
“Right, right, the guys told me all about that. So what is this, then? Why would you come for the information?”
“Because, smart guy, you made a deal. If you delivered what you promised, nobody needed to know what you did. Remember what you did? Remember what Bradford found out about you?”
I forced myself to take a deep breath, to keep myself calm. “What difference does it make now that there’s peace?”
“Let’s just say there’s more than a few of us who never agreed with the consolidation of the clans, but we had to go along or else face getting kicked out. Nobody wants to go rogue. It’s dangerous.”
“True.”
“I want you to give me the info you collected.”
“I don’t have it anymore,” I said, shaking my head. “Kidnapping, remember?”
“You weren’t in human form when they took you, smart guy. Don’t think I don’t know how it went down. I did my homework, and I’ve been listening in on some of your conversations. Like the one you had at the picnic table yesterday. And the one you had in your tent last night.” He snorted. “Cape and tights? Is that the best you could come up with? But she was already in the bag, so I guess you didn’t have to try too hard.”
“Shut up,” I snarled.
He didn’t back down—if anything, he seemed pleased that he was getting under my skin.
His nasty smile widened. “I know your clan went to the hotel you were staying at and claimed your stuff. I know your phone had to be in there, and you were recording what you found on it. I want that phone. I want everything on it.”
“Fuck you.” I spat at him. “That’s all you’ll get from me. Don’t you know how serious what you’re asking me to do is? Not for me, but for you? You’re trying to betray members of your own clan now. We’re all together—us and what’s left of you,” I added with a growl. “It’s better for you to keep your head down and fly under the radar. Maybe I won’t tell Vincent what you just asked me to do.”
“I’m not asking—I’m telling,” he snarled. “And why don’t you tell Vincent? Yeah. Tell him why you were in Chicago. Tell him what my boss wanted you to do, and why. Especially why. Just do me a favor and make sure I’m there to see it happen, because I would love to watch that snide son of a bitch get what’s coming to him.”
“What’s coming to him? God, you’re twisted,” I whispered.
“Maybe that’s what happens when you lose everything that mattered to you,” he snapped.
“Everything that mattered? That can’t be true. Even if it is, do you think you’ll get anything back by—what? Waging another war?”
“I don’t care. You’re right. I won’t get anything back. But I’ll know he suffered. I’ll know members of his clan suffered and died and it’ll tear him the hell apart. And when I die—and I know I will, because he’ll see to it, I won’t care. Because I’ll still know that I caused his pain. He’ll see what it’s like to lose his family, his clan. He’ll know how it feels to be at the mercy of another, to have to do what they say, to not have a choice.”
His words chilled me to the bone. So did the crazy look in his eyes whenever the light from the lantern fell on them.
“You want me to get the phone,” I repeated.
“
That’s right, smart guy. Bring it to me. Make sure I know how to get into it and that the information is on the phone when you hand it over. No tricks.”
“Or else what?” I asked, raising my chin.
“Or else I go straight to Vincent and tell him what you did. That you had this information on members of your own clan. That you were gonna give it to Bradford so he could go after these guys and their families. That’s what I’ll do. And what’ll happen to you then?” He laughed. “You might as well have died in that lab. You’ll wish you had by the time he’s done with you.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
“Grant?”
We both turned when we heard Daniela’s voice.
“Get out of here,” I warned him. “Go. Now. Don’t you touch her or even come near her.”
His smile curdled my blood. “Maybe. Or maybe she’ll make my acquaintance before I go back to Florida.”
“You touch her and I swear I’ll kill you,” I promised.
“Eh. You might try. But I’ll make sure she never forgets me.”
The lantern went out. He disappeared into the darkness.
“Daniela? Stay where you are,” I called out.
“What are you doing all the way out here?” she asked.
“I’m serious. Just stay there. I’ll come to you.” I followed the sound of her voice, the scent of her. I had already committed her to memory. “Why did you come out here?”
“I wanted to know where you went. I tracked you.”
“Why? I can’t take a walk now?” I tried to keep humor in my voice, but it didn’t go well. Even I could hear how tight and stressed it sounded.
“Sure, you can take a walk. Just not when I’m naked in your bed. I mean, a girl could get a complex about herself if she knows a man is willing to leave her like that just to take a walk.”
“What if I told you I always feel more energized after a good walk?” I reached her side and she turned to me.
I could feel her, even if I couldn’t see her.
“Oh, my goodness,” she whispered, running her fingertips over my chest, then down to my waist. “You’re still naked.”
“You’re very perceptive.” My heart wasn’t in it. My heart wasn’t anywhere near it.
But as long as I could keep her thinking along those lines, feeling playful, it meant we didn’t have to talk about who I had just met up with. I took her hand.
“Come on. Let’s go back to the tent. I think I just got my second wind.”
11
DANIELA
I ran full-out, pumping my legs faster and harder, determined to keep up with him. I wouldn’t let him beat me. I might let him take control in bed—I loved it when he did—but I wouldn’t let him beat me on the hunt. Nobody ever had.
But he was just in front of me, edging further and further away. Slow down!
No way! You getting tired? His voice was full of mirth.
I heard the laughter in his mind as he pulled ahead and put even more distance between us.
I snarled and snapped my teeth in his general direction, then decided to take another route.
The rabbit had cut down a little path between two lines of trees—he took the path, while I cut through the trees and tried to cut them both off.
I came back out on the path, but this time I was way in front of Grant.
I laughed to myself and put on more speed—I was getting tired, my ribs were starting to hurt from breathing so hard and fast, but it was more fun than I had had in ages. Especially since he was frustrated because I was beating him.
No fair! he called out in his mind.
I heard the thudding of his paws against the ground but I could see the rabbit just ahead, too—its red tail bobbed up and down as it ran. I was so close. So close!
I cried out in surprise when a pair of paws caught my back and the weight of a full-grown dire wolf took me down.
We rolled over and over until we came to a stop against a fallen tree with me on my back under him.
I shifted.
So did he.
The two of us panted hard.
“What was that all about?” I asked, pushing him up by his shoulders. I sat partway up, leaning back on my palms, while he knelt over me.
“I’m sorry. I got a little too competitive, I guess.”
“You guess?” I asked. I wanted to knee him in the balls. “You ruined the hunt because you couldn’t stand me catching the rabbit before you did.” I tilted my head back, looking up at the sky, still breathing in hard gasps. “Thanks a lot. Now I don’t even get to eat.”
“We’ll find something bigger,” he promised. “A rabbit isn’t big enough, anyway.”
“No, but it would’ve been better than nothing. And I was maybe ten seconds away from catching it.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m not good with competition.”
“I could tell.”
“I should’ve been more considerate.”
“Yes. You should have.” I looked at him—it was obvious that he felt embarrassed and angry with himself, and my heart softened. I touched his slightly sweaty face with a gentle hand. “It’s okay. Just get used to the idea that I’m gonna beat you on the hunt sometimes.”
“Not if you don’t learn to run a little faster,” he grinned, leaning in, catching the corner of my mouth with his.
Maybe it was because the wolf was still so close to the surface, or because my heart was already pounding and adrenaline was already racing through my veins, but the touch of his lips against mine set off an explosion deep inside.
I reached for him, clawing at him, pulling him down on top of me.
He grunted in surprise but didn’t stop kissing me—if anything, his lips were rougher, harder, more demanding.
My entire body responded right away, almost violently. I rolled us over until he was on his back and I was on top.
“What’s this?” he whispered, but the way his hands slid over my skin and the hard, thick erection between us told me he didn’t mind.
“Sometimes I have to win,” I whispered back with a smile, raising myself up just enough to guide him inside.
I didn’t take it slow. I didn’t want to make love. I wanted to see what it was like when I let that other side of myself take over. I wanted it to take me away.
“Oh, God,” I grunted, closing my eyes, letting the urges control me. The urge to move up and down, grinding my hips, letting the friction build a sweet, delicious fire in me. His fingers hooked into claws as they raked down my back, then over my breasts. He took them in his hands, squeezing and playing with me. I rode faster in response, looking down at him through half-closed eyes, my mouth open so I could breathe.
“Yes… just like that…” I moaned, throwing my head back.
He ran his thumbs over my nipples before sliding further down. One of his hands found my hip and dug in until I winced, but I wouldn’t tell him to stop.
I loved how he wanted to possess me, how my body made him crazy.
He grunted louder every time our bodies came together.
The other had slid down my stomach, then around to my butt.
His hard, sharp slap made me yelp in surprise—but I rode even harder, faster, completely lost by then.
It was better than I could ever have imagined.
I dragged my nails over his chest, arching backward as an orgasm built.
I knew it was coming and I knew it would be big, and loud, and I wished it would last forever.
“Yes. Grant. Now. Please, fuck me…” I moaned, rolling my head from side to side as he thrust from under me and doubled the intensity.
He groaned, digging his fingers into my hips until it almost hurt, but I loved that, too. I loved it all.
The wolf howled in me and I let it out, screaming into the darkness. I thought I would shatter into a million pieces.
When I finished, I fell across him. His heavy breathing in my ear and the way his hands still roamed ov
er my sweat-slick skin told me he wasn’t finished—and when the pulsing of my muscles slowed down, I still felt him inside me.
“It’s my turn,” he growled, and I was on my back again before I knew it.
He didn’t try to be sweet or romantic or even gentle. Instead, he drove me into the dirt with every thrust, growling in my ear, faster and harder and with no apologies. He took what he wanted the way I had, and I gave it to him. I was never so happy to give anything.
“Daniela, Daniela. Oh, fuccck…” He thrust once more, going stiff and still just before he let go. I smiled over his shoulder.
“Almost better than a hunt,” I whispered with a soft giggle.
He chuckled against my neck before kissing it.
“Except now I’m hungrier than ever,” he groaned.
My stomach growled in response, and I giggled again.
“This time, let’s work together, okay? We can catch something bigger that way.”
12
GRANT
“I have to be honest with you. It’s been eating at me all day.”
Daniela rolled onto her side, sitting halfway up.
We had given up the cot and made a bed on the floor of the tent instead. “Oh, thank God. I knew there was something on your mind. I knew there had to be more to that bullshit out in the woods than competitiveness.”
“You’re right. I mean, I’m sort of a dick when it comes to competition, but still. I wouldn’t have tackled you if I wasn’t already frazzled.” I ran my hand over my face. “I wish there was an easy way to tell you about this.”
“Just tell me. Please.” She placed one hand on my chest, over my heart. Telling me she believed in me, that she still trusted my heart. It gave me a little bit of comfort.
“I found the bear.”
“I knew you did. I knew it. You can’t lie to me. Don’t you know that by now?”
I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, he’s an Eastwing. And he wants the information I gathered for Bradford.”
“What? Why?” She sat up, breathing heavy, eyes wide.
“Calm down.” I imagined him out there, listening. I would never tell her about that part. I didn’t want her to be afraid that he was out there somewhere, listening to us, watching us. I would worry about that for the both of us.
