Wild Hunt (The Revenant Book 4)

by Kali Argent

  Still, she had to admit she liked that he’d called her baby. It was simple but sweet, and the way he’d said it made her feel special.

  “Mack?”

  She mentally shook herself and focused on the conversation. “I won’t deny that I like some of the freedoms and luxuries. I mean, who wouldn’t?”

  He dipped his head. “True. You won’t hear me complaining about glazed pork chops or all-access sports channels.”

  Chuckling, she brought his hand to her lips and brushed a kiss over the back of it. “But no, Cade, I don’t want to stay. I want no part of what they’re doing here.”

  He’d promised no judgment, and maybe he’d meant it, but his relief at her denouncement of the city was palpable. The tension in his shoulders drained away, his pulse steadied, and the anxiety faded from his scent.

  “Then, why are you so adamant about not leaving until morning?”

  She sighed. “The truth is I’m afraid to be on the road at night. It didn’t work out so well for me last time.” It made her sound weak, and she hated admitting it out loud, but she knew she had to be honest. “Mostly, though, I’m just worried about you.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me.” His tone softened with sympathy and something that sounded too close to pity for her liking. “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re stubborn.” And exasperating. “I thought you were going to die.” Logically, she knew another twelve hours wouldn’t make any significant difference, but logic and fear rarely coexisted.

  “You know, if you keep treating me like I might break, it’s going to give me a complex.”

  “I’m not trying to coddle you. I just…” She trailed off and chewed her bottom lip. “I need you to be okay. I need you to let me take care of you, just for a little bit.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why? Because I’m human? Because I—”

  “No,” she growled. “Because I love you.”

  Well, that shut him up.

  Then, annoyingly, after a heartbeat of stunned silence, he started to laugh. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that. I thought I was going crazy for the longest time.”

  She didn’t know exactly what she’d expected, but that certainly hadn’t been it. “I have no idea what that means.”

  “Come here.” Opening his arms, he wiggled his fingers, encouraging her closer. When she complied, he brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her temple. “I loved you the moment I saw you. It made no sense. I couldn’t explain it, and as you know, I’m not a big fan of things I can’t explain.”

  “Understatement.”

  Other than a quirked eyebrow, he ignored her. “I finally realized that it doesn’t matter if I can explain it or not. Having all the answers wouldn’t change the way I feel.” Taking her by the arms, he dragged her onto his lap until she straddled his thighs, then captured her face between his hands. “I love you, Mackenna, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.”

  Her heart thundered inside her chest, and she couldn’t hold back the tears that gathered in her eyes. “So, you understand why I need to keep you safe, too.”

  “I do get it.” He brushed a tear off her cheek with his thumb. “Don’t cry, baby. I promise I’m just fine.” He gave her a crooked grin and arched up to brush a kiss over her lips. “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

  He brought their mouths together again in a soft, tender kiss that was both arousing and unsatisfying. He was always so careful with her, always stopping just short of giving in to what they both really wanted. At first, she had appreciated his steadiness and restraint, but now, it only frustrated her.

  Desire saturated his scent, and his cock swelled within his cotton sleep pants, lengthening to press against her core. Yet, when she tried to take the kiss deeper, he gently disengaged.

  “Please,” she murmured, following him to nip at his bottom lip.

  “Mackenna, I don’t think—”

  “I do.”

  “But you are—”

  “Not as delicate as you think I am.” If anything, she was the one who would need to be careful with him. “I want this, Cade.” She caught his lip between her teeth again, eliciting a deep groan from him. “I want you.”

  He hesitated for only the briefest moment before tangling both hands in her hair and slanting their mouths together. His tongue plunged between her lips to twine with her own, the kiss dark and full of passion.

  Careful of his injuries, she rested her hands on his bare shoulders to steady herself as she rocked against him, grinding her aching center over his erection. Need sang in her veins, and fire licked at her skin, bringing her animalistic nature closer to the surface. A soft growl built in her chest and rolled up her throat. It was a sound of deep pleasure, the lupine equivalent of a purr, but Cade drew back to stare at her.

  “I’m sorry.” She hadn’t meant to frighten him or make him uneasy.

  “Fuck, that was sexy.”

  Surprised but pleased by his response, she did it again. His cock jerked, and he arched his hips, pressing against her throbbing pussy with a guttural moan. He dipped his hands beneath the hem of her sweater and skimmed his fingers along her sides. She shivered from his touch, but it wasn’t enough.

  Thankfully, Cade seemed to agree, because a moment later, he pushed the material up her torso and helped her remove it before discarding it over the side of the bed. Bared to his gaze, self-consciousness began to creep in, but the feelings of doubt didn’t have time to take root.

  “You are so beautiful.” He spoke huskily, his voice filled with awe and appreciation. He skimmed his fingertips over the tops of her shoulders and down her arms. “You have the softest skin.”

  Basking in his admiration, she wanted to compliment him as well. She wanted to tell him how much she loved his hard, toned muscles, how sexy she found his tight, cobblestone abs. When he leaned in to capture her hard nipple between his lips, however, all that came out was a gasp.

  He lavished attention on the hard bud, circling it with his tongue and dragging his teeth over the peak. His hands roamed her body, stroking down her back and over her ribs before coming up to cup the swell of her breasts.

  Threading her fingers through his hair, she pulled him closer and arched into his mouth. Her head fell back, and a moan spilled from her lips as tiny explosions detonated throughout her body. Her pussy clenched, pulsing in time with her pounding heart as the desire to be filled and stretched became nearly unbearable.

  “Oh, please,” she gasped. “Cade, please. Now.”

  It took a lot of fumbling and maneuvering to remove the clothing from the lower half of their bodies without completely unseating her from his lap. A sigh of relief bubbled up from her lips when she settled over him again, feeling his heated skin against hers with nothing between them.

  Fisting his cock, she slid her hand along the hard length, amazed and a little intimidated by how thick he was. She wanted to take her time and explore every inch. She wanted to experience the weight of him against her tongue, taste the saltiness of the clear drops that beaded from the crown.

  She wanted to, but she didn’t have the patience. Right then, she was too on edge, too desperate to feel him moving inside her. Placing her free hand on his shoulder for balance, she lifted up from his lap and positioned the engorged head at her entrance.

  Their eyes met, and her breath caught in her throat as she sank over him. The pressure was intense as her inner walls stretched to accommodate his size, but she didn’t stop until her ass brushed against his thighs and she’d taken all of him.

  Cade locked one arm around her waist, holding her in a bruising grip as he encouraged her to move. After a few false starts, she finally found a rhythm she liked, rising and falling, undulating against him as she chased the high of release.

  Their lips came together in a searing kiss, and her mate swallowed down her gasps and moans. He touched her everywhere, mapping the lines and curves of her body as if committing them to
memory.

  Pleasure swarmed her, overwhelmed her, driving her to increase the pace. Her entire body coiled tight, and her pussy convulsed around the invading length, causing her careful choreography to turn jerky and uncoordinated as she neared the pinnacle.

  “God, you feel amazing.” Grabbing hold of her hips, Cade moved with her, making it even more difficult to regain her rhythm. “That’s it, baby. Don’t stop. Don’t stop fucking me.”

  “Cade,” she gasped, his words igniting a storm within her. “I can’t. I…I’m going to…”

  “Yes,” he growled. “Come for me, baby.” Their eyes locked, held, and very slowly, he tilted his head to the side, baring his throat to her. “Do it.”

  She saw the glow of her own eyes reflected in the deep brown of his, felt her gums ache as her canines lengthened. Unable to hold back, incapable of ignoring the instinct, she still had the presence of mind to know he couldn’t walk out of the hotel with a mating mark on his neck.

  Instead, she sank her fangs into the crook of his uninjured shoulder, just above his collarbone. Cade cried out her name, his body tensing as his cock jerked within her depths. His reaction, coupled with the knowledge that he was truly and irrevocably hers, sent her spinning into freefall.

  Extracting her canines, she jerked upright and threw her head back, chanting his name as her orgasm slammed into her. Cade cursed, locked his arms around her, and buried his face against her neck as he followed her over the edge.

  “Okay,” he panted a minute later, his warm breath fanning over her skin, “you win. We can stay until morning.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “What are we going to tell everyone?”

  Cade glanced at his mate from the passenger seat of the SUV and frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “About…about me?”

  For days, they’d avoided talking about her immunity and the possible consequences. On one hand, he was thankful that she didn’t have to suffer once a month like her fellow werewolves. On the other hand, the fact that she could shift put an enormous target on her back.

  “I don’t want to be another science experiment.” She bit her lip and shook her head, making her hair bounce around her face. “I won’t do that.”

  If the Coalition discovered her secret, she wouldn’t have a choice. They’d have her locked away in a cage before anyone even knew she was missing. The Revenant would also want to use her immunity to help find a cure, but he didn’t believe they would resort to such extreme measures. His instinct, however, was always to protect her.

  “I think that’s a decision you have to make for yourself.” She could help a lot of people, but she’d also be putting herself at risk. “I think it comes down to if you trust the Revenant.”

  “Our friends,” she mused.

  Cade nodded. He’d been so resistant to the word, but now, it didn’t even feel adequate. The people who waited for them back at the safe house weren’t just friends. They were family.

  “Whatever you decide, I’ll have your back, but honestly, I don’t know how long you can keep a secret like that.”

  The full moon was less than a week away. She could probably hide in the mountains and take refuge there until the morning. With their big takedown of the Hunters planned for that night, he doubted anyone would realize she’d disappeared, but what happened the following month? Or the full moon after that?

  “I guess it would be kind of suspicious if I keep disappearing every full moon,” she mused, giving voice to his concerns.

  “If that’s what you want, we’ll find a way.” Even if they had to separate from the group and head out on their own. Which brought him to something else he’d been wondering about since he’d seen her shift. “What about when you were with the Hunters? How did you hide it from them?”

  Her eyebrows drew together, and she shook her head. “I didn’t.” She swallowed audibly, straining the muscles in her neck. “I’m the reason they started the Wild Hunt. They wanted to find a way to track and fight a fully transitioned wolf.”

  “Baby, I watched you take out an entire pack of Ravagers. Why didn’t you just eat them?”

  “Because they’re skinny, and they taste bad.”

  Caught off guard by her dry humor, Cade fell back in his seat as he let out a bark of laughter. “Fair enough.”

  Mackenna sighed. “At first, they drugged me to keep me docile. Once they realized that made it too easy to follow me through the woods, they started using a tracking chip and a shock collar to keep me from running.” Glancing over at him, she smirked, but the expression held no trace of humor. “Bullets are a pretty effective deterrent well.”

  “But you survived.”

  He could offer platitudes and apologize for something he hadn’t done and couldn’t change, but it wouldn’t mean anything. He couldn’t erase the things that had happened to her, but he could make damn sure that she never had to endure anything like that again.

  “I did, didn’t I?” A little of the confidence she’d regained filtered back into her voice. “They tried to break me, but they didn’t succeed. I’m still here. I’m still fighting.”

  Every survivor had a story, some terrible tragedy they had fought through to become the people they were now. He didn’t think he’d met anyone who had overcome as much as his mate.

  “Hell yeah, you are.” She was beyond amazing, and he was so damn proud of her. “They’re going to pay, Mack. I promise you.”

  She grinned, a genuine smile this time. “Hell yeah, they are.”

  Three electronic beeps sounded from her watch, interrupting the moment. “Oh, you need to take your antibiotic.”

  “You set an alarm?”

  “What? I wanted to make sure we remembered while we were on the road.”

  Christ, she was adorable. “Okay, where are they?”

  “You have to take them with food.”

  Cade rolled his eyes. “It’ll be fine. Where are they?”

  “No, the doctor said to take them with food.”

  “Okay.” He couldn’t help but laugh. Did she really think he was that fragile? “I’ll just take it when we get back to the hospital.”

  “We’re at least an hour away.”

  “And?”

  “You’re supposed to take two pills every day at the same times.”

  Yep, she definitely thought he was that fragile. “Baby, I really don’t think another hour or two is going to make a difference.”

  “The doctor said—”

  “Yeah, okay, I get it.” Her obsessiveness should have annoyed him, but he knew it came from a place of love and concern. “There’s a town just up here. We can stop and see if they have a convenience store or something.”

  “You really should eat something nutritious.”

  “Or a diner,” he amended, turning his head toward the window to hide his smile.

  They’d both agreed the world was too messed up to bring kids into, which was a damn shame because she would have made an excellent mother.

  As it turned out, the little mountain town had exactly one diner, which offered only breakfast and lunch, and closed every weekday at four o’clock. When they’d arrived at a quarter to the hour, he’d thought Mackenna was going to have a nuclear meltdown.

  The owners of the diner—an elderly werewolf couple with silver hair and matching red shirts—hadn’t turned them away. Once Mackenna had explained the situation, complete with the lie about non-existent Raiders, they’d seemed just as worried as she had been that Cade take his medication on schedule following a well-balanced meal.

  They’d been kind to him, treating him like a member of their own family rather than an animal they simply tolerated. So, he hadn’t complained. He’d eaten everything on his plate, even the green beans, then taken his antibiotic while everyone watched. It was weird, but his mate seemed happy, and putting that smile on her face hadn’t cost him a damn thing.

  While the Revenant mostly traveled under the cover of darkness, Mackenna had
a real aversion to driving after sundown. Given what had happened to her the last time she’d chanced it, he couldn’t blame her. So, after a lengthy goodbye to the owners—at least on Mackenna’s part—they’d gotten back on the road to complete the last leg of their drive.

  Everything had been fine, right up until it wasn’t.

  Ten miles away from the hospital, a Coalition cruiser pulled onto the highway behind them, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Mackenna eased up on the accelerator and looked over at him, clearly seeking advice. Cade thought it through quickly and nodded. Compliance really was their only option.

  Slowing, Mackenna eased onto the shoulder of the highway. She even used her blinker when she did so, but she looked nervous, something the guard would surely notice. Even if he couldn’t see it in her eyes, he’d be able to smell it in her scent.

  “Relax, baby.” He took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “We haven’t done anything wrong, right? We’re driving back home to Denver after a weekend in Vegas.”

  “Right.” She squeezed his hand again before releasing it, then pasted on an impressively neutral smile. “Make sure your neck is covered.”

  His mating mark was technically on the top of his shoulder near the crook of his neck, easily hidden beneath a simple T-shirt, but he did as she asked and adjusted the collar of his new jacket. Still, it rankled. As much as he understood the need for caution, he hated that he couldn’t wear the mark proudly on his neck for everyone to see.

  Dressed in the standard black uniform of the Coalition, the soldier approached Mackenna’s open window. He looked young-ish, maybe in his late twenties, although it was hard to tell since large-framed aviator sunglasses covered the upper half of his face.

  “Good afternoon, ma’am.”

  “Hello.” Mackenna kept her hands on the steering wheel, her shoulders relaxed, and smiled up at him. “Is there a problem?”

  “Just a routine patrol. We’ve had reports of things going missing from some of the nearby grocers. We think there’s a group of rebels in the area.”