by Marian Tee
When I looked up at him, I saw that he was staring at my breasts. Again. I should be mad. But I wasn’t. If I had to be honest, I was…turned on. It was the strangest feeling, something I had never experienced before. But I wasn’t so innocent I didn’t recognize the feelings of lust that had taken over my body. The men I trained with talked about it all the time. They would say how the urge to have sex could be so uncontrollable all thoughts of common sense were thrown out of the window, that the thought of it was enough to make them gasp, to make them groan, to make them ache…
When The Masked Wolf bent his head, I didn’t even think of resisting. To deny one’s feelings would be to lie, and warriors never lied. A whimper escaped me when I felt him sniffing my neck. I could feel his lips forming a smile against my skin at the sound of my whimper. His smile oozed of sexiness and cockiness. It embarrassed me, but it turned me on even more.
“You’re human.” As he spoke, his hot breath tickled my skin, making my nipples harden. My body’s reaction had me biting my lip. This close, I knew he would feel my nipples pricking his chest.
“I’d never have thought Little Leatherface would be human.”
My heart leapt at hearing him say the name I used while fighting. He really did recognize me!
“And you’re a woman.” He murmured the words as if marveling the fact. “You intrigue me very much, my beauty. There are a lot of questions I want to ask, but right now all I can think about is how beautiful your body is. And how sensitive.” He paused. When he spoke again, his voice was a sensual purr. “Does that mean you want me very badly?”
When he lifted his head to look at me, I immediately twisted my head away to avoid his gaze. If he looked into my eyes, he’d have the mortifying answer to his question. I did want him, badly.
“Look at me, little kitty.”
The seductive invitation in those words was irresistible. The endearment was just as hypnotizing. It made me want to curl and rub my body against him, just like a little kitty. “I’m not your little kitty.” I said the words even as I found myself following his command. It was a pathetic comeback, I know. But it was all I had.
“Oh, but you are,” he countered silkily. “You may not want to admit it, but your body knows the truth.” As if proving his words, he traced my lips with his own and just like that, my body jerked as if lighting had struck it. Such a simple soft touch and yet I felt like I had been burned.
“Passionate and fierce.” I could feel his smile turning possessive. “Definitely a girl after my own cock.”
The way he had twisted the simple phrase and made it sound so wicked had me choking. How could he so easily say something like that?
My surprise had his lips twitching slightly. “You amaze me.” I could tell he meant it. He pushed closer towards me, his head bending close again. “You’re a mass of contradictions.” His whisper tickled my ears. Goosebumps popped all over my skin, and it was all I could do not to shiver.
“Do you know I loved watching you fight?”
“Y-you do?” The words came out as a gasp. It was hard not to when he was whispering his words into my ear and making my body melt as he did.
“I admired the way you didn’t let your size handicap you but instead used it to your own advantage. Of course, now that I know you’re Little Leatherface, I don’t know if I approve of you fighting—”
“It isn’t for you to approve,” I cut him off stiffly.
He only smiled in response before saying huskily, “But I have to admit, little kitty, now that I know it was you fighting…I find your skills in the cage damn hot.”
The words had me starting in surprise, causing my body to press against him, my nipples brushing against his chest. I would never have expected him to say something like that. Most shifters were chauvinistic to the core. I had honestly expected The Masked Wolf to be that way. I would have even forgiven him if he had undermined my skills. He was a shifter, after all. He was born chauvinistic.
But instead, The Masked Wolf had openly admitted he admired the way I fought.
Maybe he was my superhero after all.
When I looked up, intending to thank him, I realized he was staring at my breasts again.
Oh crap. How the heck had I forgotten I was still half-naked in his arms? And what the heck did I have to do to make my nipples behave? They were so proudly erect it was as if they were begging to be touched.
By the time The Masked Wolf’s gaze returned to my face, I was a bag of nerves and I wetted my lips—
“You shouldn’t have done that.” It was my only warning.
My mouth parted in surprise at his cryptic words. “What did I—”
His lips closed over mine.
Oh…wow.
The Masked Wolf. Was. Kissing. Me.
His tongue sliding into my mouth had me gasping. Every sense I possessed came alive as he kissed me more deeply. Even as all my inhibitions tried to hold me back, it was impossible to resist the lure of his kiss.
This kiss felt like it was meant to be mine alone. This kiss felt like it could only be beautiful because he was kissing me. So tell me, how could I resist that? How could I not have my tongue tangle with his, shyly at the beginning then more boldly when I heard him groan in pleasure at the contact? How could I keep my body from writhing with each kiss, my breasts rubbing against him, my nipples turning harder and harder?
He pulled away with a rough expletive. He was breathing hard, and I tried to catch my breath even as confusion filled me. What now?
The Masked Wolf looked down at me with green eyes that glittered with passion and possessiveness. I had never been on the receiving end of such a look. Normally, when men looked at me with passion, it was because they wanted to kill me.
“Tell me why you’re fighting here.”
I had heard The Masked Wolf speak when he was being interviewed after winning a fight. He had a dulcet and languid way of speaking. He spoke like how I imagined a prince would speak. But the way he spoke now was different. His words were clipped, his tone harsh. He spoke like an alpha used to command.
I was an alpha myself, but there was something about his voice that made me want to submit. It was as if…as if he was my alpha. The only alpha who could command me.
And so I spoke the truth. “I am looking for a Cavaliere.”
Chapter Two
A Cavaliere, in English, loosely translated to ‘champion’. By the look in The Masked Wolf’s eyes, I knew he recognized the word. Shifter packs rarely needed one because a Cavaliere only served a female pack leader. As far as I knew, I was the only female officially in line to inherit pack leadership.
The Masked Wolf was looking at me closely. For once, he wasn’t looking at my breasts. Reminded again of my situation, I tried to wriggle free. “Aren’t you going to let me go?”
He said briefly, “Never.”
I blinked at his answer. When he didn’t look like he was going to take it back, I yelped, “Are you serious?”
He answered simply, “Yes.” Before I could ponder that, he continued on with a question, “Why do you need a Cavaliere?”
“The normal reasons.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Then you are about to be a pack leader?”
I said stiffly, “Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t lead a pack.”
“I’m sure it doesn’t, but you will have a damn hard time doing so, little kitty.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Is it too un-alpha-like?” he asked with a smirk. “Perhaps you prefer hellcat?”
“I don’t want you to call me anything,” I said exasperatedly. “All I want is—”
“Another kiss?”
“Stop putting words in my mouth.”
“Gladly, princess. I have something much better to put inside your mouth.” And then he promptly put his tongue inside my mouth with another heated kiss.
His kiss felt even more addictive, but this time I tried to resist. Now that I had broached the
topic, I realized that I had indeed hit upon the perfect solution to my problems. The Masked Wolf would make an ideal Cavaliere. And the fact that I, err, enjoyed his kisses was a bonus. Maybe someday, he could be my consort, too.
The thought had me blushing, but it also had my toes curling. I managed to pull away, breaking off the kiss by twisting my head.
“What?” His voice was rough, and he was breathing hard.
“W-would you be my Cavaliere?” I asked breathlessly.
“That depends. Does it mean I get to fuck you?”
The question stunned me. “What?”
He repeated the question patiently. “Does being your Cavaliere mean I get to fuck you?”
I did hear him right! “How can you ask me that?” I couldn’t decide whether I was flattered or disappointed by his question. A moment later, I decided that disappointment won over flattery by the slightest margin. “Do you really mean it?”
His voice had a note of genuine surprise when he asked in return, “Are you truly dismayed by my condition?”
I would have thrown my hands up if they weren’t already over my head. Yes, he still had me in that position. Yes, it was still quite a turn on. But I couldn’t – shouldn’t – think about that right now. “I can’t believe you would only accept being my Cavaliere j-just for that. I truly need your help, and as a superhero you’re—” Oh crap. What did I just say?
The Masked Wolf blinked at me. Twice. Thrice.
And then he drawled, “Is it just me, or did you actually call me a superhero?”
Craaaap.
Before I could even think of a way out of that one, we both heard it. The sound of footsteps. A lot of footsteps.
Double crap.
I looked at him in panic. I couldn’t let anyone know I was here – and certainly not in this condition. The Masked Wolf must have understood my concern. In a burst of inhuman speed, he had whisked both of us behind a metal beam and even had the presence of mind to swipe my clothes and hide them under one of the tables.
I sighed in relief, unaware of how this caused my breasts to shake with each deep breath I took.
I looked up, intending to thank him for saving us from having both our covers busted. But no words came out from my mouth when I saw where he was staring at. I quickly covered my breasts, face flaming.
His face became solemn. He pressed a finger to his lips. Don’t make a sound.
Oh, good. He finally remembered we were in trouble and this was no time to think of…breasts. I nodded in understanding. Yes, sir. We definitely didn’t want the other shifters to know we were here.
A second later, I realized I totally got it wrong.
In a blur of movement, he had again pushed me against the wall, taken my hands off my body, and took one pouting nipple into his mouth. This was what he wanted me to be quiet about.
The pleasure was…unimaginable. Indescribable. The Masked Wolf was sucking my nipple, and he was sucking it hard. He was practically a stranger, and he had his mouth on my breast. Was this really happening?
A part of me tried to struggle. This wasn’t right. We didn’t know each other. I had to save my body for my future mate, my consort. I tried to push him away, but he simply responded by sucking harder. My body jerked, my toes curled, and my eyes squeezed shut.
Oh God, God, oh God…it was so good. My hands, which had curled against his chest, started to move on their own accord. By the time I realized what I was doing, I was already gripping his hair, pulling his head towards me. More. I wanted more.
He looked up.
And smiled.
God, that smile. It frustrated me. It turned me on. It confused the heck out of me.
He bent his head again, this time moving to my other breast to suck that nipple. He started soft and gentle and then he started sucking deep and hard. I ended up pulling his head towards me again. I would have completely forgotten the world if not for the thudding sound of a body being thrown to the ground.
My eyes flew open. The Masked Wolf was even swifter to react. In the next moment, he had already rolled my tank top down and pushed me behind his back. Tiptoeing to see over his shoulder, I caught a glimpse of a short wiry man curled on the floor, a few feet away from us.
He was bloody and beaten, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was…us. I stiffened, knowing he could point us out to whoever was attacking him. We could be a distraction for him to save his life.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he looked away, as if not wanting his approaching attackers to even suspect there were other people here.
My heart overflowed with gratitude. What an honorable man! I pulled on the back of The Masked Wolf’s shirt. When he looked at me, I mouthed, We must help him.
He shook his head, mouthing back, This is not our fight.
I almost gasped. How could he say that? He was The Masked Wolf! Of course he had to do something!
But before I could mouth back an answer, someone else had spoken.
“We’re not through with you yet.” The voice was lined with disgust, and when the speaker came into view, my lip turned down. It was none other than Butcher, the leader of the small pack of hyenas that often frequented The Den. Butcher was tall and built like an ox, characteristics that were unusual for his kind and which I suspected the other man didn’t hesitate to use to bully others.
When Butcher kicked the man on the ground, I bit my lip hard. It was the only way to keep me from crying out and rushing in to help him.
“You know the problem with ya birdies? You see and talk too much. You shoulda fucking mind your own shit!”
When Butcher kicked him again, I shook The Masked Wolf. Hard. Several times.
He only shook his head at me. I couldn’t believe it. He was The Masked Wolf! He was stronger than most people! It was therefore his duty to protect the weak! Didn’t he know that?
“Please, please stop,” the man begged, but he only received another kick in response, which crushed the other side of his ribs.
And then it was silent, the bird shifter having passed out in pain. I tasted blood at the sight. My lip had started to bleed. Tears slipped out of my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. Righteous fury set my heart on fire. I had no choice now. My honor was at stake. If The Masked Wolf was not going to do anything, then it was up to me to make those men pay.
“Let’s be done with him,” Butcher said. “Ain’t no one gonna look for him here anyway.”
“Crush him in one?” a third man asked.
Butcher’s grin revealed a mix of yellowed and blackened teeth. “Hell yeah. Been some time since I got myself some brain splatter to grease my boots.”
Ten boots were raised in the air—
“STOP!” I rushed past The Masked Wolf and forced my way into the circle of hyenas. The evil on their faces sickened me. They were doing this simply for fun, I realized. But why? I just didn’t get it. How could causing others pain be something fun?
Something inside me flamed into life. It was black, terrifying, and powerful, a monster that lived in the depths of my soul, waking only when I was in distress. Like now. I wanted to lash out. I wanted to kill every one of them because they didn’t deserve to live. But I did my best to calm myself down. My father always told me that violence was never the best answer, and it should never be the first answer to any problem either. In times of conflict, a good alpha would always be the first to offer an olive branch. And so I said in a controlled voice, “If you promise not to do this again, I will forget about this.”
There was a moment of silence before the hyenas cackled in laughter.
“You sure are good at making jokes, pretty lady. I gotta give you that.” Butcher licked his lips. “It pleases me, so whatdya say about me makin’ you happy, too?”
Butcher unzipped his pants to show me his…thing. It was the last thing he did. It was the last thing any one of the hyenas did before hell came for them.
Chapter Three
When I was four
years old, I came upon a hunter while playing in the forest. He had been the first human I had met. He had been on his knees, mutilating a deer while it was still alive.
The last thing I remembered was the excruciating pain shining in the deer’s eyes. Everything else was shrouded in blackness. When I woke up, the hunter was dead, mutilated in the same way the deer was.
Three more memories would be forever lost to me by the time people finally realized what was going on. In all those instances, I remembered seeing something bad and passing out after. And when I woke up, the only clues I’d have to those missing minutes of my life would be the dead bodies around me.
The worst of those incidents happened when I was seven. My father had thrown a party to celebrate my birthday. One of the guests’ younger sons had tried to rape one of our house servants. I never saw the boy again after that day.
****
A part of me was not surprised when I heard the knock on the door and then my father coming in. I sat up on my bed as he sat next to me.
“How you doing, cub?” His voice was gruff. I could tell he was still worried about the older boy that went missing in the party.
“I’m sorry, Papa.” I looked down at my clenched fists. I was trying very hard not to cry. It was my fault all those men were angry at Papa. I wished I could tell them where the boy went. I knew a part of me would know where that boy was. But I just couldn’t remember.
“You did nothing wrong.”
I looked up at his harsh words. “But Papa—”
He shook his head. “Listen to me. Have you ever known me to lie?”
“No, Papa.”
“Then you know I am telling you the truth when I tell you that you have done nothing wrong.”
My heart eased at his words. Warriors never lied, and since Papa was the greatest warrior of all then it must be true. I had done nothing wrong.
My father cleared his throat. “I have something for you.” My eyes widened when I saw Stefano’s prized comics in his hands. “Do you know what these are?”
