Humans used to hunt us on full moons, pitchforks in hand, decapitating and burning us, along with witches. But after centuries, my father changed the narrative of the tale, and it became more of a fairy tale.
It was anything but.
Riley could have easily killed me tonight. Anyone could have. But hardly anyone in the present day knew how vulnerable we were on full moons.
The woman now rubbed the stone, spewing her hateful hex on it, gleeful loathing pumping into the stone.
“On this day, I curse all werewolves. On a full moon, you will be susceptible to any blade by even the non-magical. Death will be painful and cruel,” she gritted through her teeth, clutching the stone over the pot. “And from this day forth, hunters and werewolves will be enemies. Our sole reason to exist will be to kill the other. Mates will become adversaries, even in the afterlife they cannot be together in peace, separated in their true form for eternity,” she sneered. “Only on a full moon, by one powerful enough to love the enemy, can it be broken.” The woman dropped the stone inside the cauldron, the fire bursting underneath as though she poured gasoline on it.
In a blink she was gone; we were standing back in the forest with the old woman and the wolf. I stared at them with a newfound understanding, my gaze going to the wolf.
“You can’t shift into your human form.” It wasn’t really a question.
“No. He cannot.” The woman shook her head. “Century after century, we have wandered the afterlife together, but excruciatingly, we are kept apart.” The woman’s lids fluttered; the wolf nudged his head in her hand, a low growl coming from him. “Imagine being this close to her.” The woman nodded to Riley. “And never being able to be with her. Truly touch her. Laugh. Talk. Be at peace.”
Hell. Torture. Agony.
The woman smiled, seeing something in my face. “And you have known each other for a moment. With time that feeling only grows.”
“You said we could break the curse.” Red’s shoulder brushed mine.
“It’s you, Riley. You are the one we have been waiting for.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You are the only one we know strong enough to possibly break the curse, feel the bond instead of the hate.”
Riley looked up at me. I reached over, sliding my fingers down the side of her face. “Guess shagging me instead of killing me was the right choice.”
“Still have time.” She smirked back, her eyes glistening with humor. Fuck. I was completely arse over tits for this woman. How the hell did that happen?
Riley faced the woman. “But didn’t I already break it?”
“You have to know it, girl. Feel it in your bones,” the woman said. “Give over to it.”
“What do you mean?” Riley swallowed, her nervous energy running up my arm.
The woman smiled, twisting back into the forest, the wolf at her side.
“Wait. What do I have to feel?” Riley stepped after her, but they vanished in the shadows.
Like a punch to the gut, I was tossed back, the forest around me disappearing.
I gasped for breath, my vision clearing around me. I lay on the ground, the cobblestone digging into my back. Riley straddled me, connected, our bodies still responding to our release. Her fingers dug into my arms, her lungs grappling for oxygen. Music pulsed around us, the noise and smells of the party bulldozing my senses, bringing me back to earth.
“Hell’s teeth…” Riley heaved out, her wide eyes meeting mine. “What just happened?”
“Think we were just shanghaied by dead mates of the past.” I struggled to regain my breath, my muscles spasming from the intensity of the affair, leaving me shattered. “That was seriously fucked up.”
“I hope you’re not talking about the sex.” Riley grinned down at me.
“Oh, hell no, Red.” I shook my head, gripping her back and pulling her down, my lips brushing hers. “That was everything right. Even without being dragged into a strange field trip, I think I blacked out there for a bit.”
“It was intense.” She brushed her mouth over mine.
I chuckled, brushing a loose strand off her face. That was an understatement. “You bit me.”
“Yeah, I don’t know where it came from. I just had this need.” It was how wolves claimed each other. It was another way to mark. She didn’t even realize what she had done.
“Need?”
She sat back, biting her lip.
“Tell me.”
“To claim you.” She shrugged a shoulder.
Fuuuuccckkk.
She was twisting me around her finger even more. I was done. I came here tonight to have a little fun, relax, drink and get pissed, and have random sex. Instead I was leaving with my arse completely owned.
By the Red Huntress.
“Riley.” I spoke her name slowly, sitting up, taking her with me. “There is nothing I want more than to claim you back.” I cleared my throat, wanting her to understand the severity of this. “If I bite you, draw blood, there’s no going back. To a wolf, that is final. Having my mark on you is a signal to us. You are mine. My mate.”
She breathed in, her throat rolling with anxiety. She stayed silent for a full minute, spiking fear through me. What if she said no? I was already barking mad for this girl. A bleeding wanker.
She inhaled, lifting her chin, expression void of apprehension.
“Okay.”
“What?” I gaped. “Are you sure?”
“Bite me, asshole.”
Chapter Eight
Riley
I was never one to believe in love at first sight or any of that soulmate crap. That was a fairy tale to me. I was a realist. A hunter. Love was never even a blip on my radar. I was so focused on training and revenge; love seemed like a silly thing for young girls.
My limbs covered in my parents’ blood, I wailed over their bodies, the smell of smoke, searing up my nostrils, knowing I only had a moment to say goodbye and to hold them before I’d be joining them in their permanent grave. In one night I had grown up fast. Watching my parents gutted, my house burn down, and knowing the magic I felt creeping into my bones was because they were dead. One year, and I went from an innocent girl to the ruthless Red Huntress.
I liked being her. There was no way I’d stop. She was who I was now. But I realized, staring at the sexy rugged man underneath me, I’d been covering up so much pain and loneliness. His golden eyes flamed with affection, feeling like home. He was the warm fire guiding me back. It was like a light was turned on. The connection I felt in my bones to him was deep and profound, as if it had been inside the whole time, waiting for us to meet.
It had been as if what we both experienced through the vision was true. It had seemed to run in our families. Hunter and alpha being together. Soulmates.
It was crazy to think wolves and hunters used to be allies. Lovers. Family. But I knew it in my bones. The lies washed away, leaving the truth. A sense that I had finally come home.
It wasn’t merely the sex, which felt like the world had ended and begun at the same time. There were no words to explain it. Unbelievable or mind-blowing seemed cliché and didn’t even come close to how we came together. It changed me. Altered everything.
Did I forgive him for my parents? Not exactly. That would take some time. But being connected to him so profoundly, I could feel that he told the truth. The skins hanging on the walls were proof. By law, he was in the right. If the werewolves had done this to the hunters’ children, there would have been genocide on the packs. I’d be a hypocrite if I accepted what my parents did but wouldn’t endure the wolves slaughtering our children on the same biased hate.
My world had been flipped upside down in a matter of hours, and I knew I had a lot to work out. But if the sensation in my chest, the butterflies looping around in a whirlwind in my stomach, told me anything, soulmates might be real. It didn’t matter if I technically knew him a few hours; in my blood I had known him forever.
“Last time I ask, Riley.” He gripped my
back, his eyes dancing between mine, searching. My thumb skated over Grayson’s bottom lip as I straddled him on the floor of the decomposing castle, and nothing was more perfect. Could you love someone so quickly?
“The woman said it was up to me to break the curse.” My other hand stroked up his jaw. “Marking me is my way of giving over to it. Letting you in.” Anxiety started to slither up my throat, and my heart skipped at what I was saying to him…laying my heart out on the table, giving up control, allowing someone close enough to hurt me.
“You’re scared.” His hand went to my heart. “I can feel, smell, and taste your panic.”
“Of course I’m scared.” A huffed laugh twirled off my tongue. “You’re not?”
“No.” He replied with such strength and conviction, it wrapped around me like a blanket. “Did I come here tonight thinking I would walk out with my mate? Hell, no. I liked my life. Loved the freedom of having different women when I wanted. No strings or commitments.”
“Is this supposed to be helpful?” I pulled my hands back, frowning.
“Let me finish.” A bad-boy grin hinted on his mouth, his hands cupping my face. “I feel like I finally woke up. Everything is brilliant now. I thought what I had before was great…until you came along, and now all that came before is mediocre and empty at best.” His fingers gripped firmer into my jaw. “You can wait, walk away tonight. Your choice. But this will happen, Riley. I know it in my gut we are meant to be together. We will bring in the new reign of hunters and werewolves. Restore the harmony between our groups. You and I will lead as equals.” His mouth skimmed up my throat. “And then we’ll go back to our house, and I will fuck you every night…morning…afternoon. Let’s just say it will be a lot.”
A snicker puffed my chest, my shoulders relaxing. I saw it too. Felt the same in my gut; it was still hard to let go. Fear was a strong opponent. But I understood being “claimed” wasn’t losing myself to a man. It was merely strengthening our bond, making us a unified front. I would still be me. Still be a huntress.
I understood what the older woman said. I needed to feel this in every fiber of my being, be willing to give myself over to it.
To love.
It was the most terrifying thing I had ever faced, but peering at Grayson, I knew it was right.
“Mark me,” I whispered, tipping my head. “Claim me, Grayson.” I had already left my sign on the curve of his neck. He was mine. Now it was time to let down the walls and let us be equals. I wasn’t solely doing it for the past wolves and hunters, being kept apart by the curse or for either of our clans. I was doing it for me. For us.
He didn’t hesitate or ask again. He palmed my neck, cradling my head as his mouth moved to my ear, nipping down my neck. I could feel his canine teeth lengthen, his nails curving into claws, his excitement pressing against my thigh. He took his time, kissing my throat and chest. Heat tingled through my nerves, my breath coming quicker. A touch of his mouth and I was like a raging fire again, shaking with lust. Was this what it would always be like between us? If so, I was all in.
“Grayson,” I whimpered, my body starting to move against him. I had no idea how I was already eager again after just a few minutes, but I was. Inching up, I joined us, creating a deep growl from him. If it was possible, it felt even better than last time. This time I picked up more on our combined pleasure, escalating every sensation. We lost ourselves, not caring about the world still going on around us. Our movements frantic and violent, walking the cusp.
“I love you.” The moment I uttered the revelation, letting the last morsel of my fear go, he bit down on my shoulder, both his bottom and top teeth sinking into my flesh, breaking my skin. I screamed as we fell off the precipice together.
Like a burst of power exploded outside us, the weight of the curse I didn’t even know I could feel snapped inside, my head filling with images.
The old woman opened her arms as the wolf shifted into an older gentleman, both running for each other, kissing passionately. More snapshots of others I didn’t recognize but knew were spirits of cursed mates ran for their beloved, crying with happiness. The woman who had created it stood on the far end, staring at me. A slow smile turned up her mouth; she gave me a nod then turned into the forest and disappeared.
“Thank you, Riley. Grayson.” The old woman nodded at us, still hugging the man she was denied for so long. Peace settled on her features.
Grayson took my hand, both of us smiling back, before their world vanished again, and we were pushed out into nothing, tumbling into space where only pure bliss greeted us.
Reality came hurtling back, the cry still on my lips, my heart pummeling my ribs. I inhaled sharply, peering down at Grayson. He looked as dazed and spent as I.
We couldn’t speak, regaining our breaths, but he tipped his head into mine, his hands running up and down my back gently.
“If this is what shagging you is going to always be like, I’m truly going to be rubbish at being king.” He nuzzled into my neck, kissing the bite mark he left. Blood still trickled from the crescent-moon-shaped bite, but being a Sup, I healed fast. “I can tell you are going to be an addiction I’m never going to want to stop overdosing on.”
“Same.” I pressed my mouth to his quickly, feeling light and happy.
“Good thing since you’re now stuck with me.” He nodded at the bleeding mark he left. “It will heal but will always be there. A silver scar letting everyone know you’re mine.”
His statement didn’t frighten me at all. My finger went to his neck, caressing the wound I left on him. It was right above the collar of his T-shirt, and I liked that it would be out for all to see. Mine.
He shifted me off his lap, both of us standing, straightening ourselves out. I started to laugh. My appearance coming to the castle was composed, elegant, and sexy, every move confident and controlled. Now I was a mess. My dress was in tatters, and I was covered in blood, scrapes, dirt, my hair a rat’s nest, and my heels long gone.
“You look fucking sexy.” He moved up to me, clutching my hips. “Even lovelier than before.”
I snorted, my head shaking, snaking my hands up his biceps. “I’m a disaster, but I’m okay with that.”
“Me too.” He leaned over, kissing me.
“We did it. We broke the curse. A hex I didn’t even know existed.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe hunters and werewolves used to be comrades, but now, maybe because the spell is gone, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. We really are a perfect match. What the hunter lacks, the werewolf excels at, and vice versa.”
“I agree.” Grayson nodded. “But we still will have a lot of work to do. Curse or not, there are decades of hate and prejudice to overcome. It won’t happen overnight. But I think with you and I, as mated alphas, we’ll at least start to change things.”
I grinned up at him, knowing there was nowhere else I wanted to be but by his side, bringing understanding and respect between the two foes, while working together to protect humans from the real monsters. Even if that was other humans.
A shift in the music floated down the passage, the singer from earlier was back on stage. Her sultry vocals coiled around us.
“Would you like to dance, huntress?” He held out his palm to me with a cheeky grin.
“It would be my pleasure, werewolf.” I clasped my hand over his. Threading our fingers, he turned us down the hall, the magic from the ballroom prancing on my skin like show horses. We stepped out into the ballroom, hand in hand. I felt like a different person from when I stood with him before. Was it only a few hours ago? He chuckled, jerking his head at his two personal guards stopping short, their eyes bugging out, mouths parting in shock as they took us in.
“You are going to make things very interesting, Red.” He circled me around, pulling me against him, one hand on my back, the other twined with my fingers, his mouth splitting in a smile. “And I’m going to love every second of it.”
Gorgeous women, men, and monsters in exquisit
e attire glided over the dance floor around us, giving us strange looks at our ragged appearance, my bare feet squeaking over the wood floor. Grayson nodded at a good-looking man in a designer tux moving in next to us like he knew him, his partner looking stunning and impeccable in a long black dress, her wings fluttering behind, long black-and-blue hair shimmering in the light. Being next to them, our bedraggled appearance stood out even more. But I couldn’t care less. It strangely fits us. We weren’t elegant or glamorous. We were raw and physical.
Hunter and werewolf.
I stared up, seeing nothing but him. Us. Our future. Happiness glowed around us, our grins almost painful. But neither of us could stop. Smiling, laughing, touching, or staring.
“This is the best ball. Ever.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, our bodies swaying to the music.
“Ehh.” He shrugged a shoulder. “There’s been better. Need to talk to whoever runs this shindig…going downhill. They let anyone in now.”
“Shut up.” I laughed as he grinned, his mouth finding mine.
Grayson was right. We would have a lot of wars to fight on our terrain, but in my heart I knew together we could do anything.
They call me Red.
I am a hunter.
And now I will hunt with my werewolf by my side.
The End
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Kiss
of Death
By Heather Hildenbrand
Chapter One
“Gemini Hawkins, please report to the staging area for briefing.”
The voice over the loudspeaker echoed throughout the building—and inside every cell of my body. When the announcement was finished, I shared a tight smile with Starla, our wardrobe consultant.
“Gem, you’re ready,” she assured me. “That dress is stunning.”
The Monster Ball: A Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 13
