End Game (Bad Boy Football Romance) (Cocky Bastards & Motorcycles Book 6)

by Faye, Amy

  The shewolf attacks with a bark, snapping her pointy teeth at me, and in an instant I transform, sprinting away from her. In my wolf form, my heart pumps blood faster and my mind races, showing me the fastest path out of their territory. I follow it, ignoring the barks and growls coming from behind me.

  If I look back, my paws will slow and she will catch me. I have to push myself forward if I don't want to be devoured.

  Following a lightly trodden path through Nymfi Forest, I pass a pile of rabbit carcasses, a sure sign of Aimar's pack. Rabbit bones offered to Hukka, our shewolf goddess of the hunt. The vibrations from our paws cause the pile to stir, a few bones skittering down the pile. If I could, I would grimace at defiling Her offerings.

  The shewolf chasing me lets off well before I hit the last tree out of the forest, but watches me as I run, once again, to a small house with a man in a garden.

  Grant sits outside, his phone in his lap and perplexed look on his face, but Alice is nowhere to be seen. I run up to him, forgetting altogether that I'm a wolf. It's not until I see his shock and disgust that it dawns on me, and again without thinking I transform in front of him.

  I stand nude in his garden while his mouth hangs open. Mortified, I cover my face. “Oh, god, I fucked this all up.”

  “Did – did you just transform from a wolf into yourself?” Grant asks, his eyes flicking up and down my body to figure out the trick. He's desperately looking for a normal explanation.

  “So that settles it, then. You grandfather taught you nothing.” I cross my arms over my bare chest. “Would you mind getting me a towel or something?”

  Grant opens his mouth to say something, but then turns bright red and marches inside. Susi follows him. “Don't you need permission to enter?” He asks, gruff.

  “No. That's a myth for vampires, too.” I smile, but the situation is grim. Though he might be safe for me to be around, since his grandfather clearly neglected teaching Grant his art, I suspect he's about to kick me out of his life. Just when I was beginning to warm up to him. “So, uh… why did you call?”

  Grant hands me one of his t-shirts, which is long with a Metallica logo on it. Well-faded and over worn. It feels comfortable against my skin. Grant leans against the wall as I slip the shirt over my head. It goes down well past my knees.

  “I wanted to ask you to dinner. Now I think you're dangerous, and I want you out of my house. Alice is already sick enough, I don't need some… some werewolf making things worse.” He stops, and then his eyes grow wider. “Was the wolf that bit her… was that a werewolf, Susi?”

  I nod, and he shivers. “Get out of my house.”

  “Wait,” I say. “Elette gave me herbs to help Alice. I have to go back to the forest to get it.”

  “No.”

  I look at Grant, wishing so hard for him to see that I'm sincere.

  He waves my look off. “Don't give me that look, I just meant that you're not going alone. The forest isn't safe, even for a werewolf. You're still a woman. I'm coming with you.”

  I laugh, then flip my arms up in defeat. “Whatever you say, Grant North.”

  “Cargill,” he corrects me. “My last name is Cargill. I will not be called by that monster's last name. Come on, let's go get this medicine. Not because I trust you, but because I trust Elette.”

  That stings. “You're like to run into more werewolves while we're out there.”

  “There are more of you?” He asks, raising an eyebrow. “How many more?”

  “Hundreds, probably. When 'that monster' died, our numbers grew fairly quickly. But we'll save the history lesson for later, do you have anything to protect yourself?”

  Grant thinks for a moment, his hand on his hip. If he weren't angry with me, I might jump on him right now, because when the man looks serious it gives me a chill right up my spine. The way he sets his big shoulders straight, juts his jaw out a bit. His eyes light up, and then he turns and leaves me to wait for him.

  Coming back into the room, he brings with him a scabbard made of cordovan. “This was my grandfather's. If he used it to kill werewolves, since clearly those things are real as much as I don't want to believe it, then it should be good enough now.”

  He draws out the sword, its shining silver enough to sting my eyes. Germanic runes cover it, singing an ancient blessing for the user of the weapon. I grit my teeth.

  “I suppose that will do.”

  “So, do you live out here?”

  This is the first thing Grant says to me after we leave his house. He's stewing, fuming, and trying to wrap his head around the idea of werewolves being, you know… real.

  “Not here, but a little more to the East. I had to take my own land, after...”

  Grant glances at me before nearly tripping on a root. “Before what?” He asks, through gritted teeth as he rights himself.

  “Never mind. Well, okay, I'll tell you. I divorced my husband, and I could have stayed with the pack but they would have torn me to pieces.”

  Grant says nothing, walking slightly behind me as I search for my own scent in the forest. It's getting stronger, but I still lose it easily while we're walking.

  “He was abusive. And paranoid. He beat me if I didn't play to his superstitions, like leaving every rabbit bone in a pile by our den for Hukka.”

  “Hukka?”

  “A deity, Grant. Goddess of the hunt. A shewolf. I don't know if other packs worship her, but we do, and Aimar was a fanatic. Shh!” I crouch low to the ground as something in front of us snaps twigs underfoot. Grant stands still behind me.

  The same wolf from before walks out from the trees, but this time as a human with blonde hair. Her blue eyes are more gray in the moonlight. She's nude, her hipbones protruding from her body like knives. Malnourished. Aimar must not be taking care of his women.

  “Aada,” I whisper. “Do you remember me? Please don't attack, we're here to get medicine that I dropped. Once I get that –”

  “Be quiet, bitch,” she snarls. “You're looking for this, right?” She holds out the pouch with the herbs that Elette gave me. My clothes are in her other hand.

  “Yes, Aada,” I say, stepping closer. She snarls and steps back, her bare feet slipping into a puddle. I realize now that we're near the lake. “I don't want to hurt you.”

  “I want to hurt you, though. You cursed us. You cursed us, and now the prophecies are going to come true!” She lunges, transforming suddenly into a wolf. Her teeth latch onto my neck, but not hard enough to push through. She's trying, though.

  I struggle to push her off, but I can't even transform when I'm in this much pain. I gurgle, choking and trying to breathe. I feel something slice through the air, and then Aada's jaw suddenly goes loose. She drops me to the ground, and falls after me. Her body is in two halves.

  I leap up to grab the herbs and my clothes from the rapidly growing puddle of blood, then look to Grant. He's breathing fast, his eyes wild. They flash to me, and I can see it, sense it: he's changing.

  In an instant, he's on me, his mouth latched to mine and his hands holding me against him. Viciously, he kisses me, searches my body as new blood surges through him. He's had his first werewolf kill, and he's experiencing the blood lust. Similar to the blood lust. werewolves experience.

  He doesn't try to kill me, though. No, he just slams me against the tree and forces me to drop what I'm holding. His leg spreads mine wide. By the time he's hard and struggling against his pants, even I want him to be inside of me. I unleash him, and he picks me up, holding me against a smooth tree.

  Gods, he's hard. The bite still stings, but my focus is much lower. He presses up against my slit, and again I feel him inside of me. I swoon, leaning my head against his shoulder, but he's not interested in being romantic. Slamming into me, he forces a gasp from my mouth.

  He fucks me, rough, against the tree, slamming into me over and over again. Tugging at my hair and biting my breasts, rubbing my clit with his thumb. I tighten my thighs around him, pulling him in deeper.
>
  I beg him to cum in me. I pant for it, drool for it. My lips press into his, and he reciprocates, kissing me furiously as he spills inside of me. My fingers and toes point and flex, my own orgasm rolling through my body and flexing my inner muscles to milk him even more.

  He helps me down, and the fury is gone. For a second, he looks disgusted, and I realize I never want to see that look on his face again. I don't know how it happened, but I feel so attached to this man. I reach up, touching his cheek. He doesn't stop me.

  “I didn't mean to endanger you, or your child, Grant.”

  “I know. You found us by accident. Why were you chasing the other wolf?”

  “He attacked me on my own land. I later found out that Aimar sent him to kill me and take my heart.”

  He grimaces, then pauses before taking my hand. “Is he going to leave you alone now?”

  “He's dead.”

  Grant's eyes grow wide with understanding. He doesn't take his hand away, though. He holds it as I gather my clothes and the herbs, and he leads me back out of the forest. He's a changed man. He's realized his family's destiny.

  Will he end up killing me for it?

  I don't want to think about that, but I have to. What am I to do if he tries to attack me? I know that I won't be able to kill him. I… like him too much.

  Can't use the other L word.

  “Where's Alice, anyway?”

  “With my mom. She's a nurse, but she has overnights tonight so Alice will be back...” he checks his watch. “Shit! 10 minutes ago!”

  We run the rest of the way back to his house. Alice and an older woman are waiting for us there. The older woman has silver and gold hair, and deep lines on her face. I can tell that the hunter blood isn't carried by her. My shoulder slump with relief.

  “Grant, really? I might be late for work!” She smooths down her pink scrubs, and gives me a hard look. “Were you acting like a teenager out in the forest?”

  “Mom!” Grant yells, motioning for her to shut up. His mom laughs, then slaps his shoulder.

  “Just kidding! Anyway, Alice isn't looking too good. If she throws up, you need to take her to the emergency room.”

  Grant looks at his daughter, her eyes dark with lack of sleep and her bitten arm limp at her side. My heart aches for the little girl.

  “You'll have to introduce me to your girlfriend another time. For now, I have to go.” She waves and gets into her sedan, driving off as Grant picks Alice up into his arms.

  “Hey, honey. Your friend is going to help make you feel all better!”

  Alice's eyes are dull, her head nodding slowly and lethargically. Shit, this isn't good. “These herbs aren't going to be good enough. We have to go see Elette.”

  “What can Elette do?” He kneels down and looks at his daughter, shaking her slightly to get her to snap out of her trance.

  “You should have guessed by now. Elette is a powerful witch.”

  The look on his face tells me that he hadn't guessed that. Naive man.

  The tea shop is eerie at night, with a purple light streaming in from the streets. Strange shadows cast across the floor as I take the key hidden beneath an angel statue and open the door.

  “Wait here,” I say, walking through the familiar building towards the back. Down a hall and through a red door, Elette is sleeping on her plush bed. She looks as old as she truly is, with her glamour washed away.

  I pick up the pot that holds her mixture and stand next to her bed, tapping her shoulder lightly. Her eyes flutter open, looking to me with fear, and then understanding. She takes her glamour mixture from me, and I leave the room as she puts on her face.

  Grant looks behind me as I walk back in. “She'll be here in a moment.”

  Elette, looking much more beautiful now, steps out of the shadows and stoops down next to Alice. “We've let you suffer for far too long, little one. Come with me.”

  With a snap of her fingers, the lights in the shop turn on. “Susi, I can only subdue her pain. She's been cursed, and I can't break it without the caster...”

  “I know.”

  “It was probably –”

  “I know, Elette,” I say sharply, looking out the window at the stars. “I'll take care of it.”

  Elette waves her hands over the wound, the skin around it black and flaking. The girl's knees go weak, but Elette catches her before she falls. “She will be safe here. No one would dare to attack me. Go.”

  I grab Grant's hand, pulling him out of the shop with tears stinging at my eyes. Time to face the one person I want to avoid for the rest of my life.

  “Who was she talking about?” Grant asks. He holds my hand so gently, as if I might break if he grips me too hard. The tenderness makes me feel truly frail, and I hate it. I jut my jaw out and stamp my feet as we go back to the forest. The damned forest.

  “Aimar,” I answer. “I have to kill my ex-husband.”

  Grant says nothing, just squeezes my hand.

  “I understand if you don't want to come with me. It's my problem. He's my problem.”

  “No way in hell, Susi.”

  “If you get killed, it will be my fault.”

  “I won't get killed. And neither will you.” He pulls me back to him, forcing me to look into his green eyes. “We're going to save Alice.”

  Chapter 7

  When we step into the forest, Grant's strength seems to falter for a second. His fear sends a sick thrill through me, a response from the wolf within me.

  Koirankoppi Forest is home to many monsters, people, and mythical beasts. From vampires, werewolves, Druids, and so much more, you can never be sure who or what you'll run into. I'm used to this, but Grant isn't. He has no idea what to expect.

  "You're kind of cute when you're scared," I say, poking my elbow into his ribs. He rolls his eyes, but still chuckles.

  "Yeah, and you're beautiful when you're in your element. And in general. I hope I get to see you like this more often," he says. He looks at me, his face blushing. I grin.

  "Me too," I say.

  I try to hide it, but my heart is swelling. Werewolf men are not exactly known for being very romantic, or sweet. In fact, most of them are just kind of assholes. Grant is kind, and he knows how to talk to a girl. I'm not used to that, so it's working on me.

  He stops me, and touches his lips to mine again. Without his blood thirst it lacks the biting power and rage from our last kiss, I prefer this one. I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. I pull him in closer and slip my tongue into his mouth.

  He pulls away, but I don't let him leave. He tries to mumble that we should keep moving even though my mouth is still pressed against his. I'm too engrossed in the kiss to hear the snapping twigs behind me, to notice the smell of a wolf approaching.

  A white wolf, glowing blue under the moon runs between us and tackles me to the ground. I roll, sending the wolf flying off to the side. Stabbing pain hits me, and when I touch my hand to my face I realize that my eyebrow has been split open. Blood drips down the side of my nose and past the corner of my mouth.

  I attack the wolf, but I don't transform. I push into the ground, straddling him and watch as he transforms into a man with pure white hair and a scar down the right of his face. I gave him that scar when I left.

  "Aimar," I snarl, wrapping my hand around his throat and squeezing hard. His throat is too large for me to really strangle him, but I do my best.

  Aimar chuckles and wiggles his hips. "This is almost how I remember our last time in bed," he says, turning to look at Grant. "Is this how she fucks you too?"

  I press my hand down against his throat even harder, wishing that he would just die already. He presses both of his hands up against my chest and pushes hard, throwing me up in the air as he escapes from below me.

  "Why are you trying to kill me?" I ask, standing up but staying low to the ground so that I am ready to move if Aimar tries to attack again. “And why did you curse a little girl that you've never even met?”


  “Don't know what you're talking about,” Aimar says. “Erkki, the damned fool, was only meant to curse you. Did he bite a child? Not my problem. I sent him to get your heart, and then when I tried to kill him for failing he got away. Good thing you managed to find him.” He grins, his human teeth sharp as a wolf's. “You always were so bloodthirsty.”

  “Shut up,” I say, taking a step forward. Grant points his sword at Aimar, who just cackles. “Why are you trying to kill me?”

  “You know why. I want your power. Hukka tells us that any wolf that devours another wolf's heart gains that wolf's power. You're the most powerful werewolf I know, Susi, even more powerful than I am.”

  I snort, crossing my arms. Aimar shrugs, his lips quirked up in a smug smile.

  “That's fucked up, Aimar. There's not even any point to that, you already run the biggest pack in Michigan. Hell, maybe it's the biggest pack in the country at this point.”

  “That's not the point, you stupid bitch!” He barks. I grimace, shutting my eyes. When he yells at me, images of being beaten by him flash before my eyes. My hands start to shake, my forehead going sweaty. “I don't care about growing my pack! I care about stopping the Druids!”

  “The Druids?” Grant asks, cocking his head.

  Aimar points to the lake, its strange lanterns glowing now with lunar power from the full moon. “The Druids, the foul beasts that worship around this lake. The foul beasts that massacred the hippies that settled in the homes that the Druids built in the 1960s. Do you really not know of them? Do you really not know of their goals? I sensed that you were a werewolf hunter. Was I wrong?” Aimar looks from me, to Grant.

  “No, you weren't wrong,” Grant says.

  “Geraldo North was his grandfather,” I tell him. Grant winces at the name, but I step forward because Aimar winced too. “And he's going to kill you.”

  “If you kill me, the Druids will raise The Lady of Lakes!” Aimar screams, putting his hands up to stop me from pressing closer to him still. “She'll destroy us all, Susi! Not just the werewolves, but humans too! Koirankoppi Forest will be decimated, and the world will bend to them! The prophecies –”