Page 3 of Bee's Enraged Beast

“He’s coming for me.” The whisper was more of a reminder to me than a warning to them. They weren’t listening anyway. “He’s coming.” And I needed to stay alive until he got there and helped me get away.

Another hard hit. The strike landing at my temple. Bright lights exploded behind my eyes. Then nothing but darkness.

Chapter Two

~Hannibal~

The men I followed were close. They’d been at the hotel within the last few hours. Their scents were still strong inside the room. The foursome who’d left a wake of devastation in their path. I had basic information on all of them. It was my job to collect all four and see that they paid for the lives they’d destroyed.

Hannibal Craig. That’s me. Though most know me as Beast due to my immense size. Some think I’m rather scary. I guess it’s understandable given my height and muscle, which is massive even by shifter standards. Just shy of seven feet tall and almost three hundred pounds—okay. Over three hundred, but barely. And all of it solid muscle.

My size makes it hard to fit in anywhere. Alphas don’t want a mean motherfucker like me hanging around. Even as muscle. What if I got ideas? Wanted to take the pack for myself. As if I want that headache. All I want is to find my mate. I know she’s out there. I can’t explain it, but I swear there are times I feel her. As if she’s reaching for me, beckoning for me to come find her. And I’m always searching.

I’m a lone wolf for the most part. I spend most of my time traveling around, hunting down rogue wolves who’ve picked the wrong people to fuck with. The four I currently hunted were the worst of the worst. They preyed on women. Story was one of them had been hurt bad. Bad enough his wolf DNA had struggled to heal him. But our genetics are superior, and eventually, they kicked in. Good for him. Not so good for the woman who’d given him shelter while he healed.

Whatever sob story his buddies had given her had been lies. They’d taken an elder wolf and slit her throat. Hell of a way to say thank you. Still, that had been a better outcome than what they’d done to her granddaughter when she’d shown up to check on the older woman. They’d put her through hell, and still, she hadn’t faltered when she’d approached me with her request. She wanted those responsible brought back for her pack to deal with. She wanted to watch them die. I understood that need, but I’d made no promises other than death. Sometimes, situations were out of my hands. Sometimes, wolves preferred to fight to the death rather than be captured, and all too often, I was happy to oblige.

The hotel room had been cleared of any belongings, though they’d left it in complete disrepair. Not messy but torn apart. The picture from the wall was in pieces on the carpet. Bed frame broken. The bathroom was littered with glass.

I hated wolves who thought they were above everything and everyone. These four screamed it. I’d enjoy showing them the folly of their ways. First, I had to find them.

They’d headed back to their old stomping grounds. Rigton County. Once the home of the Rigton Pack, but after their alpha had died in a wreck, they’d been absorbed into a different pack. The James Pack. Bastion James and his band of bastard sons and vagabonds. It was said most had alpha blood running in their veins. Many had been abandoned by their families, with no interference from their packs. It was something I couldn’t fathom. Your family should protect you until you could protect yourself. The way my mother had.

She’d protected me from the day I was conceived. She alone had loved me without expectation. She’d simply loved me because I was hers. I’d towered over her by the time I was ten. By the time I was thirteen, I was the one protecting her. At twenty-seven, I still lived nearby and checked on her often, despite the fact she’d mated now. To a man named Cain Rogers. A human with an equally human daughter six years my junior. They were some of the few who know we exist.

I do what I can to protect the family, though Cain’s daughter sometimes makes that difficult. Cain’s a good man. Better than a lot of wolves I’ve met. In my world, that matters. Plus, I’ll check on my mother until the day I die. She deserves nothing less from the son she left her pack to protect.

Which brought me back to Rigton County, the territory the James Pack currently guarded. Protocol was to let James know I was there and why. And I would. After the fact. Unless I ended up being here longer than I’d anticipated. I hoped for a quick in and out. Snag the scum I hunted and be on my way. If I was still here come morning, I’d reach out to his pack. Or if there were bodies to dispose of. I might need to contact his pack then, as well.

For now, I needed to think like my prey. They wouldn’t want James or his pack to know they were here. That meant avoiding the known wolf hangouts. They’d stick to the fringes. What I couldn’t figure out was why they’d come back here. Everything I knew said this was where the leader of the group had almost been killed. Someone had beaten the hell out of him. Too bad, they hadn’t finished the job. It would have saved me a lot of trouble and changed the life of a female wolf with more courage than I’d seen in too long.

I hoofed it back to my truck and grabbed the folders from the passenger seat, scanning the top one to refresh myself on the information I’d been given. My phone rang, and I thumbed the ignore button with a growl. I didn’t have time for Cici. It rang again, and I hit ignore. Then again. And again. Until I caved with a groan.

“What do you want, Cici?”

“Hey, big brother! Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

I sighed. Heavily. “I’m not your brother.”

“Your mom. My dad. Hello, siblings. I always wanted a big brother. Why would you try to take my dream away from me, Hannibal? I thought you liked me.”

Other than my mom and Cain, Cici was the only person who called me by my name. I’d inherited her when my mother had married her father. She was human. Fully human. But completely fascinated with who and what I was. And defensive of me. It was actually laughable. Cici was maybe five-one in her bare feet. It was comical to see her call someone out if they gave me a weird look when I was around. She felt it was her duty to bust my balls on everything I did, but god forbid anyone else tried.

“Again. What do you want, Cici?”

“To help. I have information for you.”

“Useful information?” I pinched the bridge of my nose as I shook my head. Cici would be the death of me. I’d told her more than once—

I snapped my head up. “Tell me you didn’t follow me here!”

“Well…”

“Damn it, Cici! This isn’t one of your books. Wolves aren’t romantic heroes looking for love. They’re assholes, and they’ll kill you without a care.”

“I’m cute, though. Maybe, they’ll think I’m cute, and that’ll buy me time for them to get to know me.”

I thought of what the four I was chasing had done to a lone female. A wolf. A shudder went through me at what would happen to Cici if they got their hands on her. They’d kill her. She didn’t have advanced biology working in her favor.

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