Savage Instinct

by Anwar, Celeste

  Malik laughed. “I know, boss. That was underhanded.”

  “Besides, and here’s the kicker, they think they’re going to take over the pack and my women. Force y’all to join or die. You don’t get to be Alpha fighting dirty, and you damned sure aren’t going to force our women to mate with you.”

  “Naw. They’d sooner take their heads off before that. Both of ‘em.”

  Aiden chuckled. It helped hearing his second in command’s voice on the other line. Grounded him back in reality and let him know he wasn’t in this by himself. It also meant he could leave Nydia alone and in peace. Their worlds would soon be separate again. He knew he couldn’t keep up with his charade any longer.

  “These guys are insane. They hardly make any sense at all. Someone lost all their marbles along the way.”

  ***

  After cleaning herself up and redressing, Nydia stood behind the bathroom door and listened to Aiden’s side of the strange phone call. She could hear what Aiden was saying, but his words didn’t make a lot of sense to her. He seemed to be talking gibberish. She wondered if he might be feverish and then blushed remembering that she had just been touching his naked body, and while he was hot, he didn’t seem ill.

  In fact, she hadn’t noticed any large bruises anywhere on his body from her car. Had he healed that quickly or had she just not done the kind of damage that she’d thought she had?

  That left his chest wound, which continued to look fresh despite her ministrations.

  She was beginning to feel like she’d been deceived.

  Heat rushed up her chest and neck to her face, making her cheeks hot with anger.

  Nydia opened the door and walked into the room. Aiden didn’t bother to look up at her.

  Aiden listened to the voice on the other end and then he said, “Okay I’ll meet you out there then. Just be ready to fight the most important fight of your lives when you get here.” Aiden hung the phone up and laid it on top of the bedside table.

  He looked up at Nydia then and his face turned a ruddy color, as if embarrassed or guilty.

  “My friends are finally getting back. You’ll be glad to know I’ll be out of your hair in just a few hours.”

  “What’s this about a fight? Is that what you’ve been covering up all this time?” She snatched at the sheets wrapped around his hips. “Why don’t you have any bruises on your thighs or hips, Aiden? I didn’t hurt you with my car, did I?”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. He cast his eyes downward. “No.”

  “Why did you lie to me? How much of his has been a lie? Is anything real?”

  “I want you. That’s real.”

  She put up a hand to stop him. “Save it. I think after all I’ve done that I deserve to be told the truth. Now. I don’t appreciate feeling like an idiot for taking you in and caring for you when it’s obvious you didn’t need my help. I want to know who attacked you and why.”

  He stood up and angrily pulled his pants back on, jerky with his movements. “That’s typical. Eavesdropping. I’ve never met a woman that didn’t when given the opportunity. You shouldn’t have been listening to my conversation.”

  “Excuse me? Don’t turn this around on me. You know you’re in the wrong and that’s why you’re mad. You’re in my house, using my cell phone, allowing me to think that you’re hurt, and I think that gives me the right to know what is going on.” Nydia placed her hands on her hips and put an attitude in the jut of her chin.

  “You’re right,” he said. Aiden ran a hand through his hair, making it messier than it had been to start with. He paced through the house to the living room, Nydia dogging his steps and not allowing him to escape. Finally, he sighed, his shoulders slumping with defeat.

  “Sit down, and I’ll try to make you understand what happened and why it happened.”

  Nydia sat on the couch, tucking one leg underneath her butt as she sat caddy corner on the sofa.

  He took a deep breath, standing in front of her, then must’ve decided he needed to get down on her level and sat beside her. He put his hand over hers where it rested on her knee.

  “Nydia, I’m going to explain all of this to you, but…I need you to promise not interrupt until I’m finished. What you’re going to hear will be…hard for you to believe. When I’m done, I’ll answer any questions you have. Can you promise to listen first and ask questions later?” he asked, holding her gaze.

  Nervousness fluttered in her belly. She wrapped her free hand around her middle, as if she could still the butterflies inside her tummy. She cleared her throat and nodded. “I promise.”

  He didn’t look away from her. “I’m a werewolf.”

  Nydia started to pull away and as she opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn’t going to listen to childish babble, Aiden reached out and placed his finger on the outside of her lips. “You promised” he reminded her.

  Frowning, Nydia sat back down, and Aiden started to explain.

  “I know that you’re going to have a hard time believing this. Werewolves do exist. They aren’t what the movies have made them out to be, but we’re here. We prefer to be called shape shifters or lycanthropes, since werewolf has gotten a bad name from Hollywood.” Aiden swallowed.

  “When the moon is full we have the ability to change our shapes and become a powerful wolf-like creature. We crave meat and protein more than humans do. Most of us hunt during the full moon cycle, but we try to avoid killing humans, ever. We primarily hunt deer and small game animals just like other wolves would.” Aiden took a moment to catch his breath.

  “We live in secluded areas so that we do not arouse much suspicion from humans. Human beings are our biggest enemy. Not because you are so different but because your kind is prejudiced and quick to condemn others that are different from you. We do everything every other upstanding citizen of the country does. Pay taxes, go to school, work, you name it. We blend in, and you would never know to look at any of us that we’re different.”

  “My pack has lived in this area for hundreds of years. We make certain that when we change there is no chance of a human seeing us change. When we make a kill we’re careful to clean up all of the signs of the kill and dispose of any of the carcass that isn’t eaten so that no one wonders what type of animal is lurking nearby.’

  “I enforce a strict code that prohibits the killing of domestic farm animals so that we don’t draw any unnecessary attention to our presence. We try our best to not get romantically involved with those who aren’t our kind. The males of our species are naturally attracted to human females, but we resist the urge to pursue these attractions because they can only lead to exposure.” Aiden held her hand and tried to keep eye contact between the two of them.

  “We live in packs or clans. We all live in separate homes just like humans do and we have one member of the group that is the alpha male, or leader of the group. The alpha determines how the rest of the pack behaves. He has the responsibility of administering punishment to keep the clan in line and he is looked to for guidance and protection by the rest of the clan. I’m the alpha male in our pack.”

  “A pack is only as strong as their alpha and their integrity. If the alpha is killed then the pack can be taken over by another alpha and forced to do their bidding. This doesn’t happen often in this day and time, but that is what caused me to be stabbed and to wind up with you.”

  “I was stabbed when a rival clan attacked me just before you hit with your car. The blade tip you removed from my chest was meant to render me defenseless so that they could kill me. My rivals aim to take over my clan while the rest of my pack was away at a mating festival.”

  “You surprised them and scared them off before they could finish the job. That’s why I insisted on coming to your home. I knew they would go to my place, and when I returned they would try to finish what they started.” Aiden looked at Nydia and watched her trying to digest what he had said.

  “Do you have questions?” he asked.

  Nydia’s mind reeled wi
th disbelief. She had so many questions she didn’t know what to ask first. She felt like she stood on the edge of a cliff trying with all of her might not to teeter over the edge.

  “I don’t believe you! Werewolves! Shape shifters! Rival packs and silver knives! This is unreal!” Nydia pulled her hands free from Aiden. She jumped to her feet, unable to sit beside him any longer.

  Aiden reached up to his chest and tore off the bandage that she had placed there a couple of hours earlier. He took her hand and laid it on the smooth flesh that the bandage concealed. There was no wound and only a thin line to indicate that there had ever been a wound in that place on his chest.

  “Look, Nydia. As a shape shifter I heal quickly and completely.” As he talked, he took his hand. She watched with a growing sense of horror as one fingernail extended into an ivory claw. He took the claw and dug it into his forearm, drawing blood.

  “My god, Aiden!” she said, gasping and taking a step backward. As she watched, the blood stopped. Aiden swiped at the spot with a finger, clearing the stain off his skin to reveal no wound marred his flesh.

  A wave of dizziness swept over her. She swayed on her feet but caught herself from doing anything as stupid as fainting in front of him.

  She swallowed and took a deep breath. Red hot anger rushed up her skin. “Are you telling me you haven’t been hurt this entire time? That you’ve been faking your injuries to hide out at my house?” She felt like she’d been slapped in the face.

  Aiden looked down. His cheeks turned ruddy with embarrassment. “I’ve been creating a new wound with razor blades each day so you wouldn’t send me home. I had to have a safe place to stay until my pack got back from their outing. The others would have surely killed me if I hadn’t.”

  Nydia stared him in utter disbelief. She shook her head. “You played on my emotions and pretended to be injured? You let me miss work and spend money to buy bandages to care for your wound? You stepped into an argument with Richard that you had no business getting in to? What the hell is wrong with you? You’re a lowlife! You used me! You can’t deny it. You told me so yourself. Sugarcoating it doesn’t make it taste any better.”

  “No, Nydia. When you brought me here I was injured but once you removed the silver from the wound my body automatically went into a healing cycle. After I slept for a few hours the wound was gone. I’ll always have the scar, but I knew that you wouldn’t keep a strange man in your home unless you thought he really needed you so I tricked you into sheltering me.” Aiden looked pleadingly into her eyes.

  She shook with rage and a multitude of other emotions. She couldn’t look at him anymore. She’d been such an idiot! Liar! He was worse than Richard could ever think to be.

  Nydia walked away from him, feeling her anger and hatred all over her face. “Get whatever is yours and go to the car. I don’t want you in my house one…more…minute. I’ll take you wherever you need to go, but that’s it. You’ve lied to me, manipulated me, and made me look like a damned fool. I never want to see you again.”

  Nydia walked to the front door, holding it open for him. She’d meant every single word she’d said.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nydia started the car and headed to the valley. She didn’t trust herself to speak to Aiden. Tears could come just as easily as a fit of rage, and she knew she was torn between feeling both. The urge to rip Aiden’s face off his head was almost too much for her.

  To think, she’d had sex with him and enjoyed it. And what was he? Should she believe him when he said he was a werewolf?

  There had to be some scientific explanation for what he’d shown her—she just wasn’t savvy enough to figure it out.

  She was not going to believe that he was a werewolf. She just wasn’t.

  She’d already demonstrated herself to be the biggest idiot in the county.

  Aiden sat quietly beside her, looking out the window as dusk settled over the verdant mountains. His reflection in the glass looked pensive and troubled. She could practically see the wheels turning in his mind as if he searched for some way out of the hole he’d dug.

  Wasn’t going to happen. Nope. Not this time.

  The sharp line of his jaw set in determination made her belly flutter.

  Nydia frowned and returned her eyes to the road, gripping the steering wheel with a death grip.

  She’d kissed him. She’d let him do dirty nasty things with her. Put his mouth all over her body and in her junk.

  Better to feel anger than anything else. Anger would keep her warm at night when she was all alone in her bed. Anger would keep her from falling into the same trap again.

  Angry tears stung her eyes. She blinked rapidly, scowling at herself.

  All she had ever wanted was to be loved and treated right by a man that was honest and dependable. It seemed that all she ever met were losers who wanted something from her, that wanted her to give and give and give until she had nothing left. She was fed up with being used and she wasn’t going to fall for another sob story as long as she lived.

  Her tender heart had been dried up, set on fire, and blown away.

  ***

  Aiden watched her jaw tighten as she drove. She was really pissed and he couldn’t say that he blamed her. He knew that she didn’t believe his story of shape shifters and rival packs, but he couldn’t tell her anything more than the truth.

  He’d felt guilty as hell the entire time he’d been hiding out at her place. Somehow, he thought unloading the truth on her would make him feel better.

  It hadn’t. Maybe if she’d believed him it would’ve been different. Maybe if she’d accepted his apology he could have lived with himself. But she’d done none of those things.

  And that’s why shifters and humans didn’t mix.

  Turning his mind away from Nydia, Aiden called to his pack, hoping that they were close enough they could come to his aid. The mindspeak of his brethren was not returned, making him worry.

  Aiden tried to form a plan of attack as he rode. He knew the rivals would have found his house and they would be actively searching for him. He would need a plan so that his pack could catch them off guard and avoid too much bloodshed.

  Aiden didn’t want to have to kill all of the members of the rival pack. That’d make a lot of bodies to hide.

  One grave would be enough—for Lee Riker.

  He was pretty confident if they got rid of Riker, the others would scatter. Riker’s illusions of grandeur had gotten them all way in over their heads. The others didn’t seem capable of creating a complicated plan of revenge.

  Anyone could kill. Whipping them and letting them see they’d lost without inflicting permanent damage was the real test of strength.

  As the car pulled into Misty Springs, Nydia asked, “Where do I go from here?”

  “Stay on the main road for the next three miles and then I’ll point the turn out to you. You would never know it’s there if I don’t,” Aiden answered.

  Nydia continued to drive, but Aiden noticed that her jaw wasn’t as tightly clenched now. He surmised some of her anger had dissipated. He wasn’t sure he was lucky enough for her to get over his betrayal, but perhaps she’d begun to consider everything he’d told her.

  She was so beautiful that he had to make himself keep his hands on his side of the car. He wanted to touch her hair and to stroke her cheek bone down to her jawline. He wanted to rub her shoulders and make the tension leave her body.

  He realized he wanted more from her than just sex. He wanted to make her his mate.

  And it wasn’t going to happen unless he could figure out a way to earn her trust and forgiveness.

  Aiden pointed out the window. In the deepening dusk, it was difficult to see the overgrown road. “See that dirt road on the left about 100 yards ahead? Turn there.”

  “Yes, I see it.”

  She made the turn and drove slowly over the bumpy road.

  “It is only about six miles ahead and then you’ll need to let me out. You can see the house fro
m the road, but you can’t drive all the way up to it. And I don’t want to risk anything happening to you.”

  She glanced at him, as if trying to discern the truth.

  He’d created a doubt in her mind. Hell, he didn’t know why she’d believe anything out of his mouth now. He’d fucked everything up royally.

  A break in the tree line marked the end of the road. When she came to a stop and the headlights shone on the house, even from the distance she could see something had happened to his home. Windows were broken and glass littered the ground like glitter catching the light. Flower pots were knocked over and busted. The door to the house hung crazily to the side on one hinge.