Page 43 of Into the Night

With a hard shove, he pushes me back to a lying position and looms over me, menacingly. Dipping his head, he trails his snout over me, touching every inch of exposed skin, letting his breath and his tongue skim over my flesh.

Squirming, I’m angry when my body reacts, anticipation building deep in my core, as he drinks in my scent. When he nuzzles my hip, his snout moving lower to the apex of my thighs, and growls, it’s a dark, possessive sound.

Giving his head a shove away from my intimate bits, I’m about to snarl at him when he grips the edge of the blanket in his jaws and yanks it up and over my body. Turning away abruptly with a sharp flick of his tail, he leaves me lying there, flustered, confused, and mad as hell.

I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know this beast is an asshole.

“Fine. Be a dick. But I still need food.”

Covering all but my head, I stubbornly twist onto my side to face the wall rather than having to look at him… Or think too hard about why I just had such a visceral reaction to a beast I should hate.

25

GRIFFIN

Ben hasn’t let me out of his sight since morning. We’ve traipsed through valleys and riverbeds, and covered vast areas of the forest. Nothing. There’s no sign of her anywhere.

“It has to be one of them. We should be up there searching for her. Not here.” I snap, frustrated at being back in Sutton after another day of fruitless searching in the forests around Kali’s home and leading up into the mountains.

According to Ben, Henry went to Zora Hills to find Jed and establish whether his alibi for the time of the kidnapping stands up. He’s also going to pay some of the local elders in town a visit and encourage them to de-escalate any crazy plans anyone might have.

“Well, if you could be trusted not to say anything else fucking stupid that could get my cousin killed, maybe you could have. But you clearly have no clue about the prophecy, about beasts in general, or about Kali. So, you’re staying right fucking here.”

Jack blabbed when it became clear my little visit to the diner might have made Kali’s situation worse. He told them that he had to escort me from the bar, and that I’d been completely out of control earlier that day at the gas station. He’s also on Ben’s shit list, but he got to escape and go with Henry due to his extensive knowledge of the region.

“I’m her mate.” I grit out. “I can feel her. She’s still alive. If I was close enough, maybe I could tell…”

Ben rounds on me, eyes glowing and his sharp teeth descending past his top lip.

We’re wet, exhausted, and have been on the go for twelve hours straight. The sun is dipping below the horizon now, and most of the other search parties have called it a night.

“So, you say, Griffin. But conveniently, Kali’s not around to back you up. You have no mating mark, and the only interaction anyone has seen you have with her was Kali telling you to leave her alone! Not to mention, the police are looking for you in connection with another assault.” With a furious roar, he spins away with his chest heaving, and his hands clenched by his sides. “So, for the love of god, shut the fuck up. Because between John, Evan being in jail, and now Kali, I’m a man on the fucking edge.”

I know the feeling. Yet my beast remains calm in the face of Ben’s anger.

Before coming to Sutton, he would have wanted to challenge anyone who spoke to me like that. Is it more subdued because he knows Ben is his equal in terms of strength? Is it because he’s related to Kali? I can’t work out why he’s not more agitated, but I’m grateful. The last thing I need is to support Jack’s assessment of me being a loose cannon.

“Let’s get some food and call Henry, see what he can tell us,” Ben says wearily, his anger replaced now by despondency.

It’s not an apology, and he’s not saying he believes me, but I’ll take it.

We drive most of the way in silence, Ben only speaking up as we get closer to Sutton Main Street. “It’s exactly like John. Well, apart from the attack before. But disappearing without a trace, it makes no sense. We’re a town full of super sniffers, for god’s sake. How does someone just vanish?”

As we roll to a stop outside the cafe, which has stayed open to feed the search parties returning to town at dusk, I wait to see if Ben’s finished before climbing out.

“Why was she pissed off with you?”

I’m surprised it took this long for him to ask. Although maybe he figured I’d lie, and so he didn’t even bother.

Shifting in my seat, I’m uncomfortable talking to her family about this. It’s not going to improve their first impression of me.

“I snuck out, in the middle of night, after we met.” Clearing my throat, I ignore his scowl and continue. “This beast stuff is new to me. I don’t understand most of it. My other side is wild, hard to control, and I was afraid I’d hurt her and freaked out.”

Ben turns in his seat to face me, waiting for the rest.

“Of course, I regretted it immediately. I went to see her at the bar, but she wasn’t exactly keen to talk. Rightly so, she told me to get lost. That’s when Jack arrived.” I look him straight in the face as I admit the next part. “Even if she was furious with me, I shouldn’t have left. Should have followed her home.”

Ben raises his eyebrows. “I know you think that now, but that’s just the guilt talking. If nothing had happened to her, she’d be mad as hell at you for sleeping in her garden.” Pushing open the door, Ben’s phone starts ringing the second his boots hit the road. “Believe me, sometimes, no matter what you do, it’s the wrong thing. You can’t beat yourself up over it.”

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