Hunting (My Winter Wolf Book 3)

by Arizona Tape

  Just a dream... But that was a hard no to sharing...

  "You okay?"

  I turned my head towards the direction of the whisper. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness as I tried to identify the voice. Danny or Cece?

  "You were groaning loudly. Are you alright?"

  Cece... Definitely Cece. Danny always slept like a rock. And I could hear the soft snoring that had become almost familiar and soothing.

  "Yes... Just a nightmare..." I whispered back, as I let myself fall down on my furs. Just a dream...

  "Want to catch some fresh air?" Cece softly proposed and from the muffled sounds, I could hear she was getting out from underneath her fur.

  "Sure..." I muttered, pushing my own away as I slid away from the cuddly twins. Getting out from their embrace was probably not a bad thing.

  The air outside was cool and refreshing on my skin. The full moon gave the trees a long, dark shadow that would've scared me if I hadn't grown up at the border of a forest.

  "Do you want to talk about it?"

  I turned around as Cece emerged from the cave, her long hairs shimmering in the moonlight. She was wearing a slightly skimpy dress that barely covered up her chest. Not that I noticed.

  I shook my head, loving the cold wind grazing over my bare skin and blowing through my legs and arms. It almost washed away the memory of hard fingers and nails digging into them. Even though it has been a dream, I could swear I felt the marks they had left behind.

  "Full moons are always bad news," Cece muttered from behind me, suddenly standing surprisingly close to me. Her one hand gently touched my hip, while the other snaked around my waist.

  A little alarm bell should've gone off in the back of my head, but for some reason, the sound barely registered.

  "Are you hurting?" the Puma whispered in my ear, her hand gliding from my stomach down to my thighs.

  I knew I should've said no, but I could feel my head shake yes.

  "Want me to make you feel all better?" Cece purred, her fingers pulling the fabric away as they grazed over my bare skin.

  This time, the alarm was loud enough. I knew this was wrong. I needed to stop her. I didn't want this.

  But even with that thought in my head, I barely managed to move my pinky. I was frozen. Frozen to the spot. All the while, Cece's fingertips gently ran over the soft skin of my inner thigh, her breath hot on my neck.

  "Relax... This won't hurt... Much."

  Stop.

  "You might even enjoy this, Akira."

  Ashleigh...

  "Who knew you were so easy to manipulate?"

  Aspen...

  "Helping out strangers, tsk tsk tsk, not the smartest thing. Didn't your parents teach you better?"

  Help.

  She let out a hoarse, breathy chuckle that despite everything, sent a twinge down to my core. What was happening to me?

  "Oh wait, silly me. Your parents didn't teach you anything. They didn't want you," Cece darkly grinned, her tongue toying with my earlobe.

  I could feel her soft hand slip between my thighs. She was so close to touching my core. And I should be stopping her. But I didn't want to... It felt so nice... So soft. I wanted her to touch me. I wanted her to... Stop... I should stop her. But maybe just a little... No... I... Stop...

  ...Ash.

  A loud howl echoed out of the cave and then suddenly everything happened in a flash. A whirlwind of black fur shot before my eyes as I felt my body snap out of the spell I had been under. A high-pitched scream filled the cold winter's night but was quickly drowned out by the loud growls and snarls from wolf attacking her.

  Ashleigh.

  She came. She came for me.

  By the time I managed to turn my body and look at the fight happening in front of me, the Puma was clawing furiously at my mate, while the black wolf was angrily biting down on the girl. Both Cece and Ashleigh were covered in blood, but I couldn't tell whose it was. They were both so badly wounded, I wasn't sure if that could've happened in what I thought was only ten seconds. How long had I just been standing here? Why was my body so sluggish?

  Come on, Akira. Move. Move!

  I dug deep into myself, panic arising when I felt my empty chest. What was this? Where was my wolf? She was always here. She had been here for as long as I could remember. Where was she?

  Where was my wolf?

  I felt around again, panic crashing over me like the waves of the untamed ocean. Why was my chest empty? Where was my wolf?

  No, this couldn't be... This couldn't be right. This couldn't be true either. How could she be gone? Could Cece...?

  Mate.

  As if someone suddenly turned all the sound of the world back on, the real noises of Ashleigh's fight suddenly attacked my eardrums. An ice-cold howl froze the blood running through my veins as I saw the blood pouring out of her side.

  Ashleigh.

  The black wolf bared her teeth and as the moonlight reflected on her razor sharp canine teeth, suddenly everything moved in slow motion. I trailed Ashleigh's deranged look in her eyes and ended on Cece's bare neck. I suddenly felt myself move like I still wasn't in control of my body.

  My arms snaked around the warm pelt of the wolf and with a strength that wasn't my own, I pulled Ashleigh off of Cece.

  She snarled and howled as she knew well enough I had just ruined her kill. But I didn't care. As much as I was disgusted and shocked by Cece, I couldn't let my mate taint her soul by killing someone, even if it was to protect me. Especially not to protect me.

  "Ash, please calm down!" I called out to the wolf thrashing in my arms, her blood hot as it splattered against my cold skin.

  Right in front of our eyes, Cece jumped up on all fours as her eyes had turned into slits. She hissed loudly as she circled us, waiting for the perfect moment to attack the wounded wolf. The dress that barely covered anything up before the fight, was now torn to shreds. Blood was pouring out of a gash on her chest as it drew red lines on the forest floor.

  The sound of multiple running footsteps found my ears and without even having to look, I knew that the rest of the group had come to my aid.

  They were here so suddenly, Cece didn't have time to flee. I didn't even have time to wonder who would reach me first, as the second wolf this evening flashed in front of my eyes.

  Aspen.

  A loud howl and a cry mixed in the night as more blood splattered over me. This time the blood was Chesca's. Aspen had torn out her throat without the slightest hint of hesitation.

  As the coppery smell of her blood finally seemed to hit my nose, I felt my stomach churn as I stared at the lifeless body in front of me. His kill had been so swift and efficient, she wasn't even twitching anymore.

  She was gone. Dead. Cece was dead. Aspen killed her.

  This time, my stomach did more than churn as for the third time, bodily fluids splattered against my skin. Bile. My own bile.

  Aspen killed Cece.

  I tried to catch my breath, but that one thought kept running through my head. Even if it was to protect me, he had just killed someone.

  I caught his dark eyes and as they bore deep into mine, I remembered seeing that same darkness the night before when he had attacked Chesca for the first time. And as that moment replayed in my mind, a thought crept up on me that I couldn't seem to shake.

  What if it wasn't just to protect me...?

  "She had it coming," Regan muttered, his words almost lost in the eery wind blowing through the group of people.

  The blood still fresh on the cold ground, the smell of a kill wafting through the night. I felt goosebumps on every inch of my skin as I stared in front of me. The wolf had disappeared and a man standing in his stead. A man I hardly recognised.

  Aspen's hands were balled into hard fists, veins popping from his arms. His breathing hard and shallow, like he had just run a marathon. Sweat was dripping from his forehead to his cheeks, where it mixed with the splatters of blood. His hair was wild, his body tense, his eyes
deranged.

  This was not the man I knew.

  I felt myself crawl back, mostly out of fear. Two soft arms wrapped themselves around my torso and a chin rested on my shoulder. A soothing voice murmured in my ear. "I'm here... Don't freak out."

  Ashleigh.

  She alost must've shifted back. I hadn't even heard it. Cece's last scream blocked it all out.

  I stared appalled at the lifeless body in front of me, the last of her blood gushing out of her mangled throat. Another wave of nausea hit me as I saw her dead eyes glazed over and without meaning too, I puked again.

  I had never seen a dead person like this.

  No, that wasn't right. I had seen dead people before. At funerals, in suits and coffins. I had never seen a killed person before.

  I stared back at Aspen. His teeth were grit and the hard lines on his face had completely wiped away his young and carefree look. He was every bit as terrifying as you'd expect an outraged Alpha to be.

  Danny carefully broke the invisible circle we had all made and briefly touched his shoulder. Like she was zapped by electricity, she yanked her hand back and took a couple of steps back.

  She turned towards all of us, a saddened look on her face as she gently shook her head.

  I looked at the rest of the group, only now truly registering that there were more people here than Cece, me and Aspen.

  Danny's reaction was clear. Compassion. But I wasn't sure for whom. Regan's face was emotionless. I couldn't tell if he was disgusted, or appalled, or even happy or proud. Darren's face was equally as hard to read, but he couldn't hide what was in his eyes. They looked empty, but behind the glaze, I saw a shimmer. He was relieved. I turned to J.P. and was almost glad when I saw how shocked he was. At least one of them felt the same as I did.

  Ashleigh's embrace had turned into a gentle caress, but as comforting as she felt, I didn't dare look back, afraid of what I would find in her eyes. I had already lost one twin tonight, I didn't want to lose another.

  I looked back at the man standing in a pool of blood. He was almost frozen to the spot, blood trickling down his arms as it fell in drops from his fingers. The wind blowing through his hair was the only thing that convinced me he hadn't turned to stone.

  A voice caught my attention. Danny.

  "Help him. Please."

  She must've seen the confusion in my eyes as she nudged towards Aspen. "He'll lose himself. Please, help him."

  "H..." My voice wasn't working. How do you talk?

  I cleared my throat, drawing in a breath of cold air. "H-How?" I managed to stutter.

  "Pull him out of his trance. You are his mate, you should be able to do it."

  "I..."

  She impatiently cut me off. "There is no time to explain, please. The wolf will take him. You need to get up and snap him out of it."

  Not caring what I would find in Ashleigh's eyes, I finally dared to turn around and meet her gaze. To my relief, her piercing blues were unchanged and with a reassuring nod, she gently helped me up.

  "You can do it," she gloomily whispered in my ear, nudging me towards her brother.

  I felt the whole group's eyes on me as an unknown kind of desperation hung in the air. What if I couldn't help Aspen?

  What would happen to him?