Page 76 of Wild Wolf

“What else shall I call you then? Young whipper snapper? Little bud? Tiny bro?” I suggested, marching off through the crowd so he was forced to follow.

“None of those things,” he hissed.

Little bro had the grumps, but I didn’t know why.

“Rosalie told you not to wander,” Ethan’s voice carried to me as he followed too.

“Meh meh meh meh whipped-bitch meh,” I mimicked his voice perfectly then started up the tunnel we’d entered through, weaving between the Fae still walking in and making Max chase after me.

A giggle left me as I picked up the pace and Max swore at me as the magic between us kept him on my heels. “Slow down. Where the hell are you going?”

“I have places to be and stuff to do,” I sang. “Come on, chase me!” I ran faster and Max sprinted after me while Ethan fought to keep up, my feet taking me in diagonal lines through the crowd.

Fresh air hit my lungs outside and I went skipping down the hillside, my gaze locking on a gang of posturing dicks wearing tank tops, their muscles shining with tattoos loitering around a black SUV. They were the unsavoury flavour of Fae I’d often been around in Darkmore, and the biggest one didn’t see me coming as I leapt at him, headbutting him in the face and breaking his nose.

“Ah!” he cried, fire magic exploding from him in defence, but I was a far stronger creature of flames and I quickly caught hold of them, sending fire bursting towards his friends, urged on by my own magic. They ran for their lives, splitting apart like ducklings lost on a raging river and I snatched the keys of the black SUV from Mr Breaky-nose and hurried into the driver’s seat.

“Stop!” Max cried, but I just smiled my most twisted smile, dropped the back window and used air to snatch both him and Ethan, dragging them inside so they fell in a tangled heap on the back seats.

Max’s Siren powers exploded over me and I gritted my teeth against the tsunami of strength spilling from him. He was trying to capture my emotions, make me feel all submissive and nicey-nice, but I didn’t have the usual kind of mind to master. His Siren powers lashed onto me but my emotions danced and jumbled, taking him on a tailspin.

“What’s with you?” Max called, giving up on trying to get hold of my emotions as his Siren powers fell away.

“He’s Sin Wilder, there’s no controlling him,” Ethan answered for me and I bared my teeth at my brother in the rear-view mirror.

“That’s right, baby bro,” I said keenly. “I’m as wild as my name. Did you ever feel like something was missing all these years? Something full of mayhem, sweet bedlam to shake up your candy cane of a life? Well I’m back, crumble cakes and I’m here to stay. We’ll rule the world, me and you. Brothers and bros, besties and baddies, am I right?”

“Watch where you’re going!” Max yelled and the car bumped up in the air as we hit a ridge on the hill.

“There’s gotta be a road around here somewhere,” I muttered as Ethan clipped his seatbelt into place. Ever the worry worm.

“It’s back that way,” Ethan said firmly. “Where are you going?”

“To the past, my friend. To the middle of it all, not the beginning but the centre. Where my story pressed pause before I was snatched away to Darkmore by a hundred Fae in uniform.”

“I highly doubt it took a hundred Fae to capture you,” Max scoffed.

“Oh-ho, he wants to challenge me already, are you feeling threatened, smalls?”

“Threatened?” he laughed and there it was, the beautiful insanity in him too. Yes indeed, he was powerful alright, just like me, and that wasn’t where the similarities ended. I’d bet if I could tempt out the madman in him, he’d be up for playing with me in the dark. “I’m an Heir, I’ve faced bigger threats than you and seen the whole world change before my eyes. You don’t scare me, Whitney.”

“Whhhhhhitney he calls me!” I laughed, howled really, then smacked the steering wheel to set the horn a-blaring. “Damn he has good comebacks. But oh Maximus, you’re not an Heir anymore, I heard.”

He shrugged, but maybe it bothered him, maybe it didn’t. Hard to tell when you were driving a hundred miles an hour across terrain so dark you couldn’t see your butt from your ankle. Oh headlights. Right. I switched them on along with the windscreen wipers and found me a road, turning onto it with a crack that fucked up the front of Mr Breaky Nose’s car real good.

I got my bearings then sailed off into the night, taking my stowaways with me and singing a ditty at the top of my lungs, making up the words as I went. “There once was a mutt who put things up his butt and he liked it more than he would say.”

“Shut it,” Ethan barked, but I just sang louder.

“He liked things round, grown from the ground, as big as a tree or as small as a flea, and shoved them up, up, up his butt, butt, butt.”

“Sin!” Ethan snapped and Max gave him the side-eye.

“What?” I smirked. “I never said it was about you, Wolf boy, you must just relate to the lyrics.”

Ethan pouted and I continued my song at full-volume, taking roads at high speed and finally arriving in the nearby town where I had once planned on putting down roots. It was surrounded by trees, the birdsong here like no other place I’d ever found.

I pulled onto my land, following the drive through the woodland and coming to a halt in front of the cabin that belonged to me. It wasn’t much, but it had once been everything.

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