Page 14 of Wolves in Lust

“I—”

“Have you located her yet? Is it done?”

“No.”

“I should have known better than to trust you. You are not my son. You are not my heir. You are nothing more than an abomination and a thorn into the Shadowed Stars’ side. I hereby disown you and ban you from ever rejoining the pack. Should any of my people come across you… well, let’s just say that the reunion wouldn’t last long.”

Click.

Well, that could have gone better. The only way it could have gone worse was if his father openly declared Anders’s name besides Misti’s on the pack’s hit list.

Knowing his father, that was a distinct possibility.

Exile wasn’t a choice for him. All he could do was flee and try to live until the next sunrise and then sunset and so on.

His life was forfeit, and all because he hadn’t killed Misti Wolventon. Her beauty had blinded him by looks, but her fierceness and now her exile softened his heart toward her. Damn it all, he did want to protect her.

But even she might be willing to kill him on sight. There was nowhere for him to go and no one for him to go to.

He was on his own.

Maybe it was time he started taking matters into his own hands, for him to live his life on his terms. No more taking orders. No more rules. No more obligations. Just him and his wants and needs.

Right now, he needed to satisfy either his lust for a warm body or his lust for a kill.

11

Misti ran until the sky brightened to gray and then piercing yellow and orange as the sun crept up over the horizon. She’d been on the run for hours now. The trickling of water sounded to her right, and she headed for the stream. The water was shockingly cold, and she drank deeply. Her fur had grown dirty during her flight. Her paw dipped into the water. Too cold for her to dunk herself. Maybe if she wadded in…

A twig snapped.

Her head shot up, and her fur bristled as a wolf approached. The wind shifted slightly, and she caught his scent. Misti met his gaze then retreated to a tree so it would hide her nakedness as she assumed her human form. She’d never cared for her cousin, although her father treated him like the son he’d never had.

Xavier moved toward a bush and shifted. Thankfully, the bush was tall enough to hide his groin. That was a sight she did not wish to see. Unbidden, the memory of Anders’s body flashed through her mind. A sexy wolf. He wouldn’t hide his nakedness from anyone, she had a feeling. He was proud of his body and had every right to be.

But he was also a Shadowed Star, so hot or not, the only wolf to be able to boast sleeping with her or not, he could not be allowed to live long. She’d been so weak to flee instead of killing him when she had the chance. Weak. Pathetic. Worthless. All her father had ever thought of her as, and now she was those exact three things.

“Why are you tracking me?” she demanded, breaking the silence. Who knew how long Xavier would have stood there, staring at her. The tree did hide her from him, didn’t it?

“Your father commanded me to.”

Ah, yes. Loyal lapdog, that’s what Xavier was, and that was the main reason why Father threatened to make Xavier over anyone else in the pack his heir if she disappointed him.

“Why did he issue such a command? And to you. Normally you aren’t far from his tail,” she said coldly.

He clasped his hands behind his back. “I take it you are unaware of what has transpired this night.”

Again, her traitorous mind went back to the acrobatics she’d performed with Anders. With humans, she never gave in to that side of her. When she had raked Anders’s back, she’d tapped into a side of her she hadn’t even realized existed. She wanted to be wild and wanton and daring and thrilling in bed. She wanted him again. It was so wrong to be turned on by the enemy, but she was. The moon save her, she was.

“W-what happened?” she asked, wincing at her squeaky tone. Could Xavier see the hickeys on her neck, the marks Anders had gifted her with? By now, her scratches must have faded if not completely healed away. Next time, she’d have to…

There wouldn’t be a next time.

“Are you all right?” Xavier moved to start forward.

She held up her hand. “I’m fine. What happened?”

“It is with great displeasure I inform you that Jason was killed.”

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