by J. K. Jones
Ryu feels happy just to see him again today, even if only for a few short hours.
He finds a vacant spot in the tent and stands near the corner away from prying eyes. It’s early in the morning, most of the wolves are still trickling in. A few minutes later Michael enters the room with several other Alphas flanking him. They all stand on a makeshift stage, with Micah to his right and Randolph and Deryn to his left.
The wolves bow deeply to their Alpha. Michael smiles, his teeth a stunning pearly white.
“Welcome brothers,” he says kindly. “We are now moving into the next phase, and so we will defeat the Filthy Claws once and for all.”
They all cheer.
“I have good news,” Michael smiles proudly. “Micah, my son, your successor has agreed wholeheartedly to a betrothal to Francesca of The Midnight Nightstalker’s.”
All the air is sucked out of the room.
Ryu feels like he’s been punched hard in the gut. No. This has to be some kind of a mistake. Just the other day Micah was saying that he wouldn’t marry her. That he would find a way not to. Did something happen? Did they force him? Ryu’s stomach turns, he feels bile rise in his throat.
Or was it all just some cruel joke? A way he could get Ryu to sleep with him. No, Micah isn’t like that. He wouldn’t do that. Tears sting his eyes, and his body goes taut and tense. He tries to make eye contact with Micah, but he quickly turns away.
There has to be an explanation.
“Alpha.” A man below the stage bows deeply, he’s short and stout, with a large protruding belly and receding hairline. “You honor us with this alliance. The Midnight Nightstalker’s vow to stand by your side and crush the Filthy Claws!”
Michael chuckles. “Rise Berriston, we are practically family now.”
Ryu leaves then, sneaks out the side door with his heart in his throat.
-
Micah doesn’t visit.
Not for days or weeks following their coupling. By then Ryu has fallen into an arousing state of distress. The Māku is strong, it blisters his insides and makes him crave his Alpha’s touch. He feels half-mad with hunger—for Micah—his scent, his touch—everything. The first few nights, he was deep in denial, his mind refusing to believe what just happened. He went to the ravine, pacing back and forth for several hours before he realized that Micah wasn’t coming. He dispatched a letter to him, telling him to meet him there in a few days. Still, Micah did not come.
Not the next day or the day after that.
Ryu has nothing—nobody, his heart is nearly breaking in two from his silence. He doesn’t sleep, he barely eats, his thoughts running wild on why Micah would do this to him. Why would he use him like this?
Unable to take the silence anymore Ryu goes to his tent.
With trembling hands, noticeably gaunt, he walks there purposefully. There is a ring of black circles around his eyes, he knows he looks like hell. The segreant himself singled Ryu out a few days ago for his sloppiness during the drills. All the men had laughed, Alhazred had laughed the hardest and the loudest of them all.
Three weeks of nothing.
Ryu is beyond desperate to hear something—anything. There are wolves everywhere, their eyes haunt his footsteps as he approaches Micah’s tent cautiously.
“State your business,” a sentry asks, he’s large and imposing, no doubt tasked with watching over Micah.
“I—I would—like to see Micah.” Ryu stutters out, realizing too late he hasn’t thought this far ahead. He was an Omega from the Filthy Claws. No better than a servant, little more than a soldier. His victory against Alhazred long since forgotten, nobody here knows who he is.
“Why?”
“I need to speak to him.” Ryu takes a breath trying to calm his nerves.
“Get in line kid.” He snorts. “Come back later. Alpha is in a very important meeting.”
Come back later? He’s already waited weeks. Ryu feels the pounding in his head intensify, his vision swims with angry tears and frustration. To be away from his Alpha weeks after making love is like torture, his heart feels like it is being sliced in two.
Just then the tent opens, Deryn walks out and smirks wildly when he sees Ryu standing there. “I knew I smelled a sewer.” He sneers. “What do you want? Isn’t it bad enough you’re here already, now you have to shame us even more?”
Trmon comes out of the tent soon after, frowning deeply. “What’s your problem?”
“What?” Deryn replies. “It’s not like everybody doesn’t know. He’s a damn Filthy Claw. The faster we are rid of them the better.”
Each word feels like a slap in the face.
Ryu never asked to be here, he didn’t want to be taken from his homeland and brought to the Silvercrest Howlers clan. Yet, he didn’t have a choice. Now he is ridiculed for something so utterly beyond his control.
“Don’t be a jackass,” Trmon admonishes, then turns to Ryu. “Did you need something?”
“He was just leaving,” the sentry replies. “Clear out of here.”
Ryu clenches his teeth and walks away.
“See, those damn Filthy Claws are always trying to get under our noses. If he comes back here again, make sure to never let him in.”
Ryu keeps walking, their laughs and jeers like gunfire to his chest. He gets ten steps when a hand clasps around his wrist. Ryu spins around, ready to punch whoever touched him in the face.
Micah stands behind him, face ashen and forlorn.
They stare at each other for several moments, then Micah gestures to follow him back to his tent. Deryn and Trmon watch him enter, both of them looking perplexed by it. The minute he steps inside he can see that they were having a meeting. Various maps and diagrams sit on the table, along with strategies and battle plans on how they are going to defeat the Filthy Claws.
Micah stares at him, eyes flat black. “Do you need anything?”
Ryu swallows, heart, pounding in his chest. “I haven’t seen you—I thought—after—”
“Yes,” Micah responds, voice devoid of emotions. “About that….it was a mistake.”
Ryu inhales sharply.
“I shouldn’t have been so reckless. I took advantage of you, and for that I am sorry.”
Sorry? Ryu wants to spit the words back at him. He wants to vomit them up and smear them all over Micah’s face. This isn’t happening. Not now. Not when he needs Micah the most.
Ryu feels stupid, explosively so.
Sex—it was all about sex. Micah just wanted someone to bury his cock into. Nothing more and nothing less. The Māku had been a mistake. Now they were eternally bound to each other.
He takes a stuttering breath. “You—”
“A misjudgment on my part. It won’t happen again,” he finishes coldly.
Ryu can’t believe this—he won’t. Micah wants nothing to do with him. After they made passionate love and declared their feelings? It’s insane. It’s surreal. It’s expected.
Micah used him.
That hurts more than anything else. Tears spring from his eyes and his body releases a horrible shudder. It’s over. The one thing in life he always wanted is now gone.
Micah steps forward, hands reaching out before he stops himself. “Ryu—”
Ryu stumbles back, tears falling from his eyes. Goddamn, Micah! Goddamn, this place. Ryu glares at him, his vision swimming and his heart bursting in his rib cage.
“Fuck you!”
He tears out of the tent, his body propelling him forward as tears fall from his eyes. Then suddenly a hand grasps his wrist, jerking his body forward forcefully.
“Stop.”
“Let go!” Ryu raves, trying to break free of his ironclad hold.
Several of the other wolves are watching, they inch forward at all the commotion outside of their tents. “Listen to me,” Micah growls, the deep baritone of his voice sending shockwaves through his core.
He can’t! He won’t! Not now and not ever! Micah used him in the worst way possible and took
advantage of their friendship. Ryu is ruined. No Alpha would ever look at him now, the Māku would forever be branded on his thigh. A horrible reminder of their relationship. He’s mad, explosive anger judders up his spine.
“It’s not what you think,” Micah presses onward, grip tightening, trying to yank Ryu forward.
“Let me go!” Ryu spat, eyes blazing with fury.
“Micah!” Trmon lurches forward, grabbing his shoulders. “What are you doing?!”
“Stay out of it,” Micah grunts. “Ryu I’m sorry—”
“How could you do this to me?” Ryu demands hotly, not caring that he’s sobbing. “How could you?”
“I’m sorry! Forgive me,” Micah responds desperately.
“I hate you! Let me go!” Ryu shouts. “Let go!”
“Wait—I can explain—”
Ryu lashes out, punching Micah hard in the face. The world slows down, Micah’s head snaps back, the impact makes a sickening resounding crunch sound. Ryu twists free, eyes wild and expression savage. “Don’t ever fucking touch me again.”
The other wolves stop in deadly silence. To hurt the Alpha was an offense punishable by death. Ryu glowers at them, abhorrence pulsating in his heart. He hates them all.
Ryu takes off, sprinting into the forest and disappearing into the night.
Chapter 32
Ryu’s misery is infinite and eternal.
He staggers, eyes blurring and face splotchy with tears. He cannot think straight. Everything is wrong. So very wrong. How did he get here? Micah was the only one to show him any semblance of kindness. Besides Amaya, he cared—or at least it seemed so. Ryu fell for it and he fell hard.
It blisters his soul.
How could he have been so stupid? To flay his heart open to an Alpha—a Silvercrest Howler. They were all the same in that worthless clan. So big and grandiose, so fucking inflated they couldn’t even see the ground beneath them. Ryu despises them. No wonder the Filthy Claws fought and bled to be free. If it meant not being under anyone’s thumb. Ryu walks for a long time, he’s deep into the forest and by now he can barely see the trees in front of him.
Ryu relies on his wolf sense, keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings.
It’s nice here. If he treads long enough, maybe he can find shelter and then see if he can find a passage to the Outlands. If he left the Silvercrest Regiment, he wouldn’t have to see Micah ever again. He would finally be free. That alone appeals to him. Micah can marry Francesca and Ryu could travel the world. What about Amaya?
His heart twists at the thought.
Could he shame her like this? Be known forever as a deserter? Her family would never live it down. Even Alhazred would be publicly shunned for association. He should go back. Beg Micah on his knees to forget everything that happened. Ryu could live with it. He would have too. They would be nothing—he could marry, and they could see each other occasionally when the pains got too much.
Oftentimes, mates with the Māku couldn’t go longer than a few days without seeing each other. Something about the bond makes their attachment intensify. Ryu could handle it. They would keep their distance and when he has his heats, they could see each other—in secret of course. Nobody would know.
Micah could marry and then when he grows tired of Ryu, he could throw him away.
Simple. Easy.
Yet, it kills him. How can he bear it? To watch Micah with someone else? Love someone else? It would kill him. A tree branch snaps and Ryu whips around, eyes straining to see the silhouettes in the darkness.
What the fuck is he thinking? To run away from his pack and straight into enemy territory. He ducks down, keeping his body and back against one of the trees. There are voices, low and deep as they pass by him.
Filthy Claw rebels.
Fuck—he must be in their territory. Ryu checks his body, noticing that he has one weapon on him at the moment, a small knife in a sheath calf holder. He runs a hand through his waist-length hair, thinking of ways he can get past them. “Look what we have here.”
Ryu jumps, eyes widening in terror, as a man comes forward.
He’s tall, easily six feet with an equally hulking frame. He’s naked from the waist up, meaning he must have recently just shifted and was watching Ryu in his wolf form.
His tapetum lucidum is a bright yellow.
“My lucky day,” He grins nastily, thin lips pull back against his fangs. “I caught a Silvercrest Omega. The Gods have answered my prayers.”
Ryu steps back, eyes narrowed and body tense. He reaches for his dagger slowly, keeping his eyes on the predator. “I just got lost. Let me go and there won’t be any problems.”
The man laughs. “Do you hear that boys? Those Silver fucks think they can threaten us. I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you a free punch. After that, it’s open season.”
Several other wolves join, they’re in various states of wolf form and human. The wolves themselves are massive silhouettes. Ryu shrinks back, trying to clear his mind so he can think of a way out.
The man steps forward, his grin widens, and then abruptly splits. Wiry black hairs sprout from his nose, elongating into a snout, his teeth turn razor-sharp, and his bones move like mechanical snakes under his skin. There are audible cracks, that crunch, and splinter until he transforms completely, into a misshapen, mythical monster.
He isn’t a wolf.
This man is something else—something insidiously darker and evil. Lycan. Ryu has never seen anything like it. This beast is nothing like a regular wolf, he stands on his hind legs as if he were human, chest muscular and chisel, but his claws are like swords, and limbs are too long.
What the fuck? He will need to shift. If he doesn’t this beast will surely kill him. At least in his wolf form, he will stand half a chance.
Ryu steps back, breath caught in his throat. Dark magic. These people are dabbling in witchcraft. The monster crouches low and there is stillness on both sides, the hatred palpable in the air. Ryu darts forward, he moves quickly, shredding his shirt and pants in record time before bursting into wolf form. The creature digs its claws into the dirt, snarling loudly before it coils, bunches, and leaps after him.
Ryu runs, his wolf moves with swift agility as he tears through the trees.
He isn’t big, for an Omega he stands just under seven feet in wolf form, however, he is fast. Ryu fake darts right and then left, narrowly missing the wide swipe of the beast. He breaks for the treeline, heart pounding in his ribcage. Damn. He couldn’t outrun the creature. His nostrils flare, he looks up just in time to see the beast crashing towards him at lightning speed. It can climb trees?
The impact judders his bones, sending him flying several feet away.
Ryu rams into a tree, he grunts upon impact, before twisting around quickly and facing the enemy. Ryu bares his teeth, lips curling over his protruding canines.
The scoundrel lurches forward, with a wide swipe it slices the black fur on Ryu’s stomach, making him howl in agony. Fuck. It cut through the skin. Since their fur was inches thick, it was very difficult to penetrate, however, this creature was able to do it in a matter of minutes.
He’s in deep trouble.
One more hit like that and it could be fatal. Ryu grinds his teeth, before he wrenches his body forward, smashing headfirst into the creature’s ribcage, sending him sprawling several feet backward, his head slams into a fallen tree. Ryu doesn’t hesitate, the minute the creature is down, he jumps—sharp jaws clamp around his neck, he finds the jugular vein and tears at it.
Only the skin does not rip. It stays—taut and firm—too thick to penetrate. Ryu’s eyes widen, all too late realizing his mistake. The creature lifts his claw, it comes down upon him in a sickening, resounding crack.
Everything fades to black
Chapter 33
Vertigo punches straight through him. Ryu gasps loudly, his eyes shoot open, and his back arched off the ground. What the fuck? He blinks, vision swimming and mind racing.
“Relax litt
le wolf.”
It’s the man from earlier. Ryu looks down in befuddlement, taking in a large breath. He is fully dressed in his clothes from earlier, along with his knife.
