by Ruby Brooks
“No.”
“No?”
Hayley was watching with narrowed eyes as Nathan stalked towards me. If he was a shifter, there was no doubt in my mind he could have been an alpha.
Sucks to be him.
“Remember your promise, Cole. No need to be brash.”
“Hayley can take care of herself now,” I said, sliding my gaze to hers. She flushed from the compliment and cracked her knuckles. This wasn’t her fight though, it was mine.
“It’ll take me a minute to get the protection from her removed,” Nathan was aiming for cold and cruel, but Hayley had begun sliding up behind him. She snatched the phone out of his pocket and smashed it under her boot.
“You don’t have a minute,” I smiled as I watched the hope leave his face. He was mine now, whether he liked it or not.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” she said, giving me a pointed look.
“Stay close,” I mouthed. Nathan was furious and tried grabbing for her. She snarled, ripping her arm out of his grip with ease. Her eyes were subtly shifting to amber and, I had to admit, it was hot as fuck. I hoped this independent Hayley was here to stay when we got home.
When the door clicked behind her, I turned my attention back to Nathan.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re playing at—”
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and forced him into one of the chairs, my face inches from his. “I’m not playing at anything. Tell me everything you have on her.”
“Why? You aren’t going to like any of it.”
“I don’t give a shit.” I braced my hands on the handles of the chair, and there was a faint whiff of his fear in the air. My wolf was relishing in it. He couldn’t wait for the kill.
“Hayley’s parents,” Nathan got out at last, with a gasp when he saw the murderous look in my eyes. “They were incredible; both of them. But they weren’t born shifters. They were made.”
“Bitten?”
“No. I mean artificially made. My dad, he had some of the shifters blood… Rose was a willing participant, honestly, and when they injected her, she possessed the alpha gene. I have been trying to study it ever since because it wasn’t in the blood that was used to inject her.”
“And Hayley?”
“She wasn’t born yet. When she was, they took her away. They refused to join a pack; God knows why, a pack would have protected her, but they took her away from here.”
“Hayley’s grandmother was a shifter though.”
“From her father’s side. Another experiment.”
“Fuck’s sake,” I pulled back, but kept my senses on alert for any movement from him. He let out a breath and relaxed. It pissed me off. “I’m not done with you yet. What about Andrew?”
“He was made, too,” Nathan admitted. Shame flooded his face. “It was a mistake; one I keep paying for.”
“That’s why you want my blood. You want to see if you can turn him into an alpha, too.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Exactly that.”
“Well, you don’t need to worry about that anymore.” He gave me a puzzled look so I continued. “He’s going to be dead by the end of the night.”
“W— what?” he sputtered. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will. Do not think for one second I have forgotten about what he did to Hayley.”
“That was a mistake. He won’t do again. Please, Cole. Don’t hurt him.”
“Tough shit,” I shrugged, bored of the conversation now. “Tell me where you keep all of the blood and the research notes you have. None of the researchers are going to make it out of here either.”
“The top floor has storage rooms.”
“Perfect. Any backups?”
“With other hunter bases, yes. None of my work is backed-up though.”
“Why not?” It was almost too easy, but I couldn’t detect any lies coming from him.
“Because… I shouldn’t be doing it. It’s not part of the hunter code.”
“What, pray tell, is the hunter code exactly?”
“Take out the loners, the ones who hurt humans.”
I nodded. “That’s a good code.”
“Can I go now?” he asked, pushing himself out of the chair. The arrogant Nathan was back and I let him have his glory for the moment. “Our defences have been breached, so I will be needed by my team. Thanks to your girlfriend and her little stunt with my phone earlier, I need to find them myself.” He spat your girlfriend at me and I pursed my lips.
My patience had gone.
“You are exactly where you need to be,” I shoved him back into the chair, enjoying the smell of his fear in the room. I knew he was seeing my eyes change colour and I pulled off my outer layer of clothes. I didn’t fancy running around the base after this shift completely naked.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked, gulping. “Are you going to… you know?”
“You’ll see.”
✽✽✽
Hayley was waiting outside for me, her arms crossed. Her eyebrows raised when she noticed the blood on my skin.
“That room is soundproofed. What did you do?”
“I took care of it.”
“You killed him,” it wasn’t a question and she let out a sigh. “Thank you for not making me see that.”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here, properly.” The kill had satisfied my wolf for the short-term, but I didn’t know much longer it would last. Hayley eyed me suspiciously but changed the subject.
“Who is after us?”
“I don’t know.” A part of me was hoping it wasn’t an attack – I wished it was a rescue. I didn’t want to get Hayley’s hopes up and kept it myself though. “Hales, I know I told you only last night that I wouldn’t have you in my pack unless you were leading it with me, but I won’t be able to find you easily if we get separated.”
“I guess not.”
I stilled. “What’s wrong? Is it about what I did?”
“We can talk about it another time.”
“No, talk to me now. No more secrets, right?”
“I’m scared, okay. I’m scared I’ll be lost again and I don’t think I could survive it if that happens.”
“It won’t happen – I won’t let it.”
She took the knife out of my hand that I took from Nathan. Wordlessly, she sliced open her palm, then she did the same to me. When our blood mingled – and my wolf’s influence flooded her veins – she gasped. I kissed her, pressing her against the wall. Fucking hell, I didn’t think it would feel this good to know I could have her submit to me.
No, I snapped at my wolf. We don’t do that.
“Please, don’t do anything reckless,” I said, out loud to Hayley. Her lips were puffy and it took her a moment to recover, making me grin with pride.
“Come find me this time,” she countered. “Is Tristan’s pack here?”
Her question was answered as we approached the training room. There were hunters everywhere fighting off the shifters, but the shifters were too quick.
“Kian,” Hayley breathed. “Over there.”
As though hearing us, Kian shoved a man off him and ran over to us.
“I was hoping you two would show up. Come here, Hayley,” Kian held out his arms and Hayley threw herself into them. Jealously reared its head. When I came here to see Hayley, she wasn’t exactly ecstatic, the way she was with Kian right now.
“Is this all you got?” I asked instead, smirking. The shifters had overtaken the hunters and bodies littered the ground. The hunters remaining were fighting to their deaths – literally.
“You should see outside,” he grinned over Hayley’s head, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “You found a new pack.”
“Since we are stating the obvious, it’s good to see you as the alpha finally. Where is Tristan though?”
Hayley pulled out of Kian’s arms as I spoke and they fell limp by his sides. “He’s dead.”
I met Hayley’s eyes for a moment before looking back a
t Kian. She bowed her head, no doubt thinking about losing her own parents. Fucking hell, we didn’t exactly strike it lucky in our little group.
“What happened?”
“Yeah, let’s talk about it later. Wait until you see outside,” Kian shrugged off our pity and Hayley gave me a pleading look with her eyes. I didn’t exactly end our last meeting on the best of terms, but Tristan was like a father figure to me. I was going to grieve later; right now I had my mate to protect.
We hopped out of the broken window of the training room and onto the grass outside. Hayley inhaled the air and gave me a secret smile when we were outside.
“We’ll be home soon, baby,” I promised. “You can be outside as much as you want.”
It was a bloodbath outside, spilling into the woods. As soon as I smelt it – smelt blood from my own pack – I lost control. I shifted immediately, hearing Hayley and Kian swear.
“Cole,” Hayley crouched in front of me. “Don’t do this. You’re better than this.”
I shook my head, running at the crowd.
She didn’t understand. I wasn’t in control anymore, my wolf was.
He wanted blood.
Chapter 23
Hayley
“Well don’t just stand there,” I yelled at Kian. “Go after him.”
Kian shook his head, his hair flopping over his eyes as usual, watching as Cole tore into people. “No.”
“No?” I cried. I tried to go after him, but Kian stepped in my way. I couldn’t let Cole do this, he’d never forgive himself. But if I went over there… I would only make things worse. He will look at everyone who even breathed in my direction as a direct threat and the slaughter would only increase.
“Right now, I’m getting you out of here whether you like it or not. Cole will be fine and he will calm down faster if you aren’t around distracting him.”
“Kian, he has lost his mind. It’s the curse.”
“I know,” he said grabbing my arm and pulling me along to follow him. “Trust me, Hayley. He is going to be okay.”
“You never came for me,” I said, changing tactics. I was hurt, and I was disappointed, but perhaps if I told him then he would let me go long enough for me to turn back. I hated doing nothing.
“Your emotional manipulation isn’t going to work on me. The Hayley I know would be ripping my head off right now. We will have this talk somewhere else, I promise.”
I ground my teeth, but we both stopped when we heard a noise.
“Kian,” I breathed. “Tell me we aren’t surrounded.”
“We aren’t surrounded?” He tried. “Better show me how well Cole trained you.”
“Dickhead.”
Kian grinned and we pressed our backs against each other, watching the forest. Hunters slowly stepped out, knives strapped to their legs, and their fists curled tightly.
“Some of them have tranquilliser guns,” I said quietly. “If they shoot you, don’t panic. Your wolf can protect you from it.”
“Good to know,” he mumbled.
“Hey, you two,” Mia called. “What are you stood there for? Let’s fight.”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her. A clan of cat shifters followed behind her and, although we were outnumbered, they couldn’t match our strength.
“Can you shift, Hayley?” Kian asked.
“I think so.”
“Do it if you need to, we have plenty of spare clothes.”
We were in tandem, taking down the hunters. I missed my friends and the fact that I had people supporting me, not secretly plotting how they would sneak into my room that night to try and kill me. Tears burned in my vision and I took out all my fury on the hunters.
With ease, I grabbed them, and kicked, punched, or shoved them to the ground. Mia and I would take down the hunter, while Kian would kill them. I know it was only going to accelerate his own curse and, with the way he was defending Mia, it wouldn’t be long for him to claim her.
“Ella,” I seethed. “I was hoping to face you.”
“Hayley, I—”
“Save it. You know what I can’t stand? The fact you have no moral compass. No loyalty. Did you enjoy attacking me?”
“No. Hayley, I swear, I didn’t—”
“That’s too bad. I’ll enjoy this,” I didn’t want to hear her excuses.
When Ella collapsed to the ground, she fell the same way my mother did.
Oh, God.
What was I doing?
I was becoming a monster.
“Oh, Hayley. We don’t fight, not anymore.” My mum fussed over my split knuckles. “Let’s go to Nan’s, okay?”
I pouted. I knew going to Nan’s meant only one thing: she was going to train me to take control of my wolf properly.
I felt sick. I feared turning into a wolf one day. Sometimes she would claw at me, begging to be free. My classmates thought I was crazy.
“Look, it’s crazy–Hayley. She is talking to herself again.”
“I’m not talking to myself,” I would cry. “I’m talking to my wolf.”
“Your wolf?” The kids would laugh, doing fake howling noises.
I hated it. I hated being the odd one out. My parents hated it, too. They didn’t want me to have a wolf. They wanted me to normal. What does that mean anyway?
Nan always knew what to say to make me feel better, but she would encourage me.
“You need to talk to your wolf. Soothe her. She doesn’t understand why you are rejecting her.”
“But, Nan, I don’t want to shift.”
“But you will. You don’t have a choice.”
A sharp pain in my leg pulled me out of the memory loop going through my mind. This wasn’t anything like the substances the hunters used on me in the past. They were gone now and Kian was taking out a final one who held a gun.
“You shouldn’t have come,” I panted, as I caught my breath. My leg was burning, the poison running through my veins too quickly for me to combat it. My wolf was disconnecting, harsher than the last time. “What if we don’t make it out?”
Kian wasn’t looking at me as he helped me into some clothes as mine were ripped. “We will. I have more pack here that are lying in wait, ready to bail us out if we need it.”
“What’s happened to your leg?” Mia asked. Kian may not have looked at me, but he was checking her out in the shorts and bra she had found. I noticed her go red under his gaze and I knew I had to question her about it.
If I survived this.
“It’s nothing,” I said, plastering a fake smile on my face.
“That’s not nothing,” Cole growled, lifting me in his arms. “We need some medical help, now.”
The power in his voice made me shudder and he pulled me tighter to his chest. I could smell the shift on him, his eyes were still a blazing amber. Having the weight off my leg was helping a bit and I sank into his touch.
“Cole,” I groaned his name when we were alone. Mia and Kian had run to get help, leaving us with some of Mia’s clan to be our back up. “What if I don’t survive this?”
“You will. I’ll make sure of it.”
✽✽✽
Cole
I tried connecting to Hayley’s wolf, but it was cold. If it wasn’t for the fact I knew she was a shifter, I would have thought she was human. I kept mumbling comforting words in her ear, but as each moment passed, I became more frightened.
“You failed her again,” my wolf roared at me.
Me? You’re the one taking over. If you had left me alone, I’d have been with Hayley. We would have been with her. Stop fucking yelling at me, you’re upsetting her.
Hayley shifted each time my wolf attacked me as I was flinching from the pain. I was losing my mind. My body. My girl.
Again.
“You’ll be okay,” I whispered, kissing her temple. My arms tightened around her. They were taking too long.
“Cole,” she moaned. “I don’t think I’ll make it.”
Sweat appeared on her brow, but I
kissed it anyway. “Yes, you will. You are the strongest woman I have ever met.”
Far stronger than I could ever hope to be.
“I need to tell you something,” she whispered, her throat dry. I wanted to give her my blood, like before, but I worried it wouldn’t work until we got the poison out.
“Rest. It can wait until later,” I sounded more confident than I felt.
“I want to know what it feels like.”
“How what feels like?”
“A claiming,” she said, opening her eyes. “I want you to claim me, Cole. Right now. I want to know what it feels like to be truly, one hundred per cent, yours.”
“Hayley, don’t you dare,” I warned.
“Because what if I don’t make it? Who do you have here to save us? We all knew lives would be lost today.”
I kissed her just to shut her up. I couldn’t do it. It was supposed to be special – intimate and private. Not in the forest, on the same base that had held her captive for the year she was apart from me.
“Please, Cole,” she begged. “Please. I love you.”
My eyes burned. “I love you too. This is why I won’t do it. Not yet. You are going to pull through this and we can go away somewhere, just the two of us. I can spoil you. We have never been alone properly, just the two of us. I want to make it up to you.”
I brushed her braids back, exposing her neck, and the ring that hung around it. It would be so easy for me to let my wolf surface, tear into her sensitive flesh.
No.
“Yes,” my wolf growled, ignoring my own personal thoughts. “We need to save her.”
He increased the pressure on me until it was all I could think about.
“I’m so sorry, Hales,” I said, as my mouth covered her neck. I felt her shiver and I wasn’t sure if it was from me or the poison flowing through her.
“Save her,” I demanded to my wolf.
He took over. As my canines grew, I felt a serum in my saliva that I would use to mark her as mine. The first time I’d felt this was before we slept together for the first time and it was bloody difficult to keep it intact that night.
