He stumbled back with a growl as I sprang up, my dagger angled for his stomach. He tipped to the side, spinning around until he was almost behind me, his arms circling me. With a cry, my body was tossed into the air, then collided painfully with the ground, rolling off the lawn onto the gravel. The dagger slid across the path, hitting a rock at the edge of the bluff, out of my reach. The crashing of waves only a few feet from my head sprayed water over the top of the cliff, misting my skin. The space was deceiving, the fog hiding places that dropped off down a sheer precipice.
He darted for me. Waiting until the last moment, I kicked out, my foot striking his crotch with force. A roar dropped him to the ground, and I jumped up, my fist rolling up, knocking into his windpipe. Grayson fell to the side gasping for air, his hand still on his groin. Where they might overpower us with height or muscle mass, men had a weakness, which could drop any male, human or Sup, instantly. I hated when people said “get some balls” in equivalence to “get tougher.” Really? That’s what you think is stronger? Are you kidding? Balls were so fragile. Weak. Simply a squeeze and you had them crying and begging for mercy.
I quickly moved for the dagger.
“You like playing dirty, Red?” Grayson’s nose wrinkled in a deep snarl, his bone structure altering, the wolf dancing very close to his skin, claws growing from his hands. “Just how I like it. Dirty and penetrating.” He lunged for my legs. Twisting, I vaulted to the side, but one arm caught me, wrapping around my ankle as he yanked me forward. My spine hit the gravel, my head slamming back, tearing the air from my lungs, robbing my body of movement.
Get up, Riley! I screamed, hearing him rise, prowling for me.
Grunting, I rolled up, blocking his hands from reaching me. I wrapped my fingers around his elbows, and a yell tore from my throat. Using all my body weight and legs, I flung him over my head, his bones cracking as he struck the ground with a surprised huff.
My strength was no longer a human’s. Being a hunter gave me extra skills and strength to fight my enemy. All hunters had to be a witch or wizard, but not all witches or wizards were true huntsmen. Grandma had told me every coven had at least one hunter protecting a parish from werewolves.
Our coven was lucky two hunters had fallen in love. Two hunters protecting our village. My parents. Hunters passed their power down to next of kin or someone they chose. Only when the previous hunter died, did the magic transfer. Since I was an only child from two gifted hunters, all their powers passed to me. The more children you had, the more it was spread out, watering down the magic. Since I was the sole recipient of both my parents’ magic, it made me more powerful than most.
But Grayson was an alpha, an old one. I was still technically a baby in the Sup world.
As I got to my feet, he rolled over, coming at me on all fours, his teeth bared. I hated wearing a dress while fighting, but the slit up the leg gave me enough liberty to leap away, the fabric flexible, bending with my body. The wolf barreled toward me, his teeth nipping at my hipbone, his fangs feeling like ice picks stabbing through my flesh.
“Ahhhh!” A cry broke from my lips, but I shoveled back the pain. It stung like crazy. A werewolf’s saliva was poison to humans, but to other Sups, it just weakened us.
He stood, his body hunched, his teeth long, irises glowing with hunger. We started circling again; our eyes locked on each other, my gaze slyly drifting to the side, seeing my dagger perched dangerously close to the ledge.
“Are you really here to kill me, Riley?” He rubbed at his beard, his body low while we continued to move around each other. He was trying to move me away from the dagger. “Even though your parents were the ones who broke the law. Slaughtered innocent children…skinned them.”
“Shut up,” I sneered. “Stop lying.”
“Am I?” He tilted his head, rolling his shoulders back. “I was at your home. Those furs hanging on the mantel? Those were my nieces’…” Torment rolled through his eyes like a storm. “I took them back. Let my sister and brother-in-law mourn their children properly.”
My head shook, but my mind went back to my house before Grayson burned it to the ground. To all the furs around my house, ones I didn’t even notice after a while, blending in with furniture. I knew they were trophies. Kills of my parents. But I never gave them a face or a voice. Never thought of the life that lived inside them before they were used as blankets and decorations.
Bile rose in my throat.
My hand went to my stomach. Did I simply not want to know? I hadn’t even asked, but I did remember thinking the skins were tiny compared to all the others. It seemed so clear now. They were babies. Children.
How could my parents do this? They were so kind, loving. How could they do something so monstrous?
“I know you miss them, Rosu. You are in pain.” Grandma brushed my hair back, my head in her lap, my skin still scorched from escaping the fire. My parents and my home were gone. “But some deeds can go unpunished.”
“He needs to die.” Tears ran down my face, my nails digging into the sofa. “I will avenge them.”
“My Rosu, revenge is why they are gone. It’s a never-ending cycle. A disease. Revenge should die with them.”
I sat up, staring at her in horror. “How can you say that? A werewolf just brutally murdered my parents! I will kill him if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Your parents lost their way, Rosu. They were far from innocent.”
“What are you talking about? They protected this coven. Innocent humans. They did not deserve this!” I spat, rising to my feet, rage giving me purpose, my new powers flooding me.
“You are blind to their faults.”
“Grayson Bloodstone is the evil one. He took everything from me. Avenging them is all I have left.” I bent down in front of her, scooping her hands in mine. “Please, train me. I can feel their magic in my bones now. I want to become a great huntress.”
“Rosu…” She stared back at me.
“Please, Grandma. I am a hunter now. With or without you, I will do this. But with your guidance I have a chance.” My gaze pleaded with her. “Please.”
Grandma nodded, her lips pursed.
“Okay, Rosu. I will train you because I know when you set your mind to something it doesn’t budge.” She sighed. “And if he finds out about you, he might come after you. You need to defend yourself. You are not your parents’ mistakes.”
The memory sat heavy on my heart, her words fitting with what Grayson was telling me. Did she know and not tell me?
Images of my parents, laughing and being silly, ran through my mind. How much they loved each other and me. We were so close. How could I not fully realize how deeply prejudiced they were? To not simply break the laws with the wolves, but the Supernatural laws, without remorse? Little six-year-old girls?
No. No! My heart refused to listen. They helped everyone in the village, happy and smiling, and our home was always open to everyone in our coven.
“I don’t believe you.” I gritted my teeth, eyeing the dagger. “They were good people.”
“To your kind maybe.”
I inched back toward the cliff, nearing the knife. “You are trying to distract me. I came here to kill you. I will fulfill my promise to them.”
“And what would happen if you didn’t?” He watched me, blood trickling from scratches over his arms and face, his eyes merely brightening more, challenging the glow of the moon. “Everything you are, everything you have been living for is based on a lie. Killing me will not bring them back or make you feel better. Believe me. The loss of my nieces didn’t go away. You think killing me will bring you happiness?”
“I’ll give it a go.”
He chuckled, his head bobbing. “Fair enough.” He opened his arms, challenging me. “Okay, little Red. Come get me.”
Eyeing him skeptically, I didn’t move, trying to ignore my aching bones and blood dripping from my wounds.
“I’m not a fool.” I sidestepped to the ledge. “And only a fool misc
alculates their enemy because of ego.”
“Oh, I’m brilliantly aware of that, Riley.” His gaze flamed, intensely roaming over me. The way his accent kept stroking my name sent a bolt of desire up my spine. “I haven’t fought anyone who put me on my back in a long, long time. I’ll confess, I’m finding this a lot more fun than I should.”
I couldn’t stop the smile lifting the side of my mouth. “Come closer, and I’ll put you on your back again.”
“Is that a promise?” He lifted an eyebrow, licking his mouth, lapping up the blood spilling from his broken lip, desire filling the air between us. I knew I had the same wild look on my features. I had stepped into the party appearing impeccable. A lady. Now I was just as much a wild animal as the man across from me. My dress was ripped and dirty, my hair mussed; blood dripped from my hip, arm, and temple, and gravel and grass covered me.
Disheveled. Savage. Feral.
Hot searing blood zoomed up my veins, flushing my chest, my gaze latched on his tongue. His smirk grew, knowing what he did to me.
Combat got my blood boiling. My hunter loved the rush, my heart pounding from fighting. Most nights I went to the bar for more “training” because my sparring sessions with Thomas, who loved stepping into the ring with me, had me antsy and needing an outlet. I never wanted to cross that line with him, give him the wrong idea, so I would take it out on a guy at the pub.
“You want this.” Grayson motioned to himself. “Come get it.”
Hell’s teeth, something was wrong with me. After everything, even the reason I was here, I craved him. My skin pulsed with the need of his touch, but that only fueled my hate. I lunged for my dagger, a burst of adrenaline slamming into me as my fingers wrapped around it.
Bam.
Grayson’s body collided with mine, taking us both to the ground with crunching force, gutting my lungs of air as his ripped physique squashed me under his weight, pinning me to the ground. He seized my wrists, grasping the one holding the weapon, pushing down on muscle, trying to grab it.
A cry choked my throat, my fingers going limp under the stressed pressure point. The sound of the metal falling on the gravel caused terror to climb up my throat.
Grayson peered down at me, a malicious smile curving his face. Picking up the knife, he slowly drew the blade up my chest, the sharp point digging in enough to leave a mark, but he didn’t break the skin. He twisted it, pushing the blade into my neck.
Hell.
“It would be so easy,” he whispered hoarsely. “One flick and you would cease to exist. My wolves free of one more huntsman.”
The pulse in my neck thudded with terror. Grandma was right. I had been a fool and too much in a hurry, my anger and pain controlling my need to act, to seek revenge. Now I was going to die by the very man who had killed my family.
“It’s tempting, little huntress.” He glided the blade across my neck, taunting me.
“Do it,” I ordered, looking him straight in the eyes. “Come on. You’ll be revered. Killing the Red Huntress, last of the Vanator line. They’ll make you a god of the werewolves.” I pushed my neck into the blade. If I was going to die, I would do it proudly. “What are you waiting for?”
“You think of me as a man, not a wolf.” His knee forced my legs apart, and he settled tighter against my frame, causing my breath to hitch. “Humans want to be gods. To be worshiped like that. I don’t need a reason for my kind to revere me. They already do. I am their alpha.” He said it like a fact, not bragging. “Plus, I only want one to fall to her knees in reverence.”
My lids narrowed. “Is that the kind of king you are? To force a woman to her knees?”
A deep chuckle came from him, vibrating through my body. I clamped my teeth together to stop a soft moan from escaping. I felt him press into me, the threat of death spiking through my veins; every nerve in my body was alive.
“Your two questions, Red… I kill men for fewer reasons than that. Not all your precious humans are innocent, and I take great pleasure in gutting the ones who think women are their playthings.” His upper lip rose in disgust. “And second, since I was young, I’ve never even needed to coax a woman into my bed or on her knees. They come very willingly. Sup women can be very aggressive in what they want. And all of them return for more.”
I scowled, trying to fight the rush of lust at his words. Purely by his sexual aura, I had no doubt he had women fighting to be in his bed.
Riley… I growled at myself. He’s about to slice your throat, and you’re thinking about ripping off his pants.
“This turn you on?” I spat, tilting my hips roughly into him. “The kill gets you off?”
“Yes. Just like it does you.” His grip tightened on me. “But I warn you…stop doing that.”
Something in me wanted to provoke him. I rubbed against him harder.
“Stop.” His eyes flared.
“Why?” I taunted, repeating my movements. His hips rolled with me, his cock hard and pulsing against me.
“Riley. I. Said. Stop.”
I laughed, sounding menacing and wild. I didn’t stop.
“I am warning you.” He growled, carving the knife deeper into my flesh; a warm trickle of blood leaked down my neck. I was demented because it simply seemed to turn me on more. “I am about to do something reckless.”
“What? Kill me?” I bucked my body against his, glaring at him.
“No, this.” He flung the blade out over the cliff, his free hands curling around my face as his mouth crashed down on mine. Ferocious and ruthless.
This was so wrong, but desire exploded in my chest as if nothing else in the world had been right until now. Fire engulfed me, his lips searing into mine, and I grabbed his shirt, not knowing if I was trying to shove him off or pull him closer.
A deep growl hummed in Grayson’s throat, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip.
Everything became muddled in my mind. Want took over my body. Clutching him closer, my mouth fiercely met his, deepening our kiss, my tongue flicking in his mouth. It was odd, the excitement of kissing someone new, but with a strange familiarity, like we both knew exactly what the other liked. My thighs spread apart, and I heard the sound of my dress tearing farther up the slit which allowed him closer between my legs. I wrapped them around his hips, tugging him against me.
“Bollocks,” he muttered against my mouth. “What is happening?”
I could not answer that. There was no logic. Only need. Desire. A desperation that if I didn’t feel him inside me, I would combust.
His hands moved down my ass, rolling us over, relieving me of his weight, though I had liked it. A lot.
You have the upper hand, Riley. This is when you should be running away. The voice came into my head and was promptly shoved back out. Leaving was the last thing I wanted to do. An ache so strong came over me that I pressed deeper into him, our hips rocking together, making the few layers of clothing between us irritate my skin. I wanted to feel him naked and bare against me. My entire body trembled with need.
What are you doing? This is wrong. Stop!
But it was like I was spelled, lust controlling me instead of my head. My knees dug into the grass, using the steady ground to move against him, hands moving up his torn T-shirt, greedily exploring his unbelievably powerful and ripped torso.
The music from the ball drifted out of the castle, colliding against the waves crashing below us. Guests stirred near the exits, talking and laughing, the fog doing very little to disguise us. We could be caught at any moment.
A thrill had me biting down on my bottom lip as his hands gliding over my ass and moving around, noticed the split tearing higher along the seam of my dress.
“Fuuuuck.” He grabbed the back of my head with one hand, gripping my hair roughly. “You aren’t wearing knickers.”
“This dress shows every curve.” I leaned in, tugging on his lip with a smirk.
“Yes, it bloody does.” He wrenched my hair tighter, yanking my head back, giving him access to my neck,
his mouth working down, his sharp teeth scraping along my throat. Pleasure curled my toes into the blades of grass.
“What are we doing?” I gasped, loving how his painful grip sent pleasure down my spine in waves, how his mouth nipped at my throat. “We’re enemies.”
“I don’t know.” He huffed as his canines nipped the sensitive part behind my ear, commanding my lids to squeeze together. “But from the moment I saw you, I was drawn to you. And bloody hell… I wanted to shag you.”
“But this is wrong,” I breathed, losing myself to his touch, my fingers tugging at the buttons on his jeans. Oh hell’s teeth, he didn’t wear underwear either. “We hate each other. I exist to kill you.”
“It might still happen if you decide to stop this.” He tipped my head, kissing me deeply; I lost all understanding of myself.
A picture of a forest swept through my mind. A beautiful woman with long dark hair and hazel eyes wore a long brown skirt and white blouse like they did in centuries past. She held a set of bow and arrows. In my gut, I knew she was a hunter. I could feel her lungs gasping for air as she ran through the trees, excitement of the hunt causing her adrenaline to spike. She glanced back through the shadows, and through the streaks of moonlight, I could see a massive werewolf bounding toward her. She darted around a tree, hiding behind it.
After a beat, she glanced around. The wolf leaped on her from the other side, shifting into a naked man as their bodies crashed to the forest floor, rolling her over to face him, pinning her arms to the earth, his legs straddling hers. I watched in horror as the wolf bared his teeth, going for her neck and biting down. But instead of the woman fighting or screaming, her back curved into him; her neck tipped to give him more access, and a moan came from her. He leaned back; only a red mark from his teeth showed on her neck. He stared down at her, and this time I noticed his look was not hateful or menacing. It was love. He leaned over, their mouths crashing together. She wiggled from his grip, pulling up her skirt as he untied the front of her blouse.
The Monster Ball: A Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 11
