Page 24 of Prey

He’s the Gods damned President of the Club too, and acting like this?

What am I doing?

I’m not going to be some wilting flower and just lay down and take this bullshit from him.

Standing, I wipe the rest of the tears from my face and start walking. Kadi is probably going to be upset with me for not waiting, but I don’t care right now. I’m not waiting patiently for Ethan to decide to make it over here. I need to work out a little frustration anyway and a nice brisk walk will help.

The night is quiet. I can feel my magic crackling inside of me in anticipation as my anger rises. Who does he think he is?

I’m about two blocks from the clubhouse when I hear a motorcycle. I can’t tell if it’s Kadi or Ethan though, when it comes around the corner, but it does look like it's Kadi’s bike. The helmet isn’t, though. It’s Ethan’s helmet with the skull face and demon horns. I remember it from the coffee shop that first day.

The bike pulls to a stop next to me and he holds out a helmet with bunny ears. Bunny ears? Seriously? Okaaaaayyy then. I throw my hair up in a bun and take the helmet. Putting it on, I climb on the back, unsure what to do with my hands. Ethan grabs them and puts them around his waist, though I can tell he isn’t quite happy about it.

I give him a little jolt with my magic, and I’m satisfied when I hear his grunt of pain. Two can play this game, and you’re getting ‘pissed off Shasta’ now, you dick.

We take off. Ethan doesn’t ride the same way Kadi does. He rides like a bat out of hell, taking corners like a maniac and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t give two shits if he has his second accident of the day. We are almost to the outskirts of town when the rain comes.

He’s going to get us killed if he keeps riding this way in the rain, so I tap his shoulder and yell for him to pull over somewhere. He shakes his head and holds up three fingers. What does that even mean? Three miles? Three minutes?

Sighing, I just keep my magic ready in case I need to do some emergency anti-wreck stuff. He’s going to get a piece of my mind when we stop though. We are soaked, the road is slick, and I have no idea where we are going.

After a few more miles we pull off the road and down a narrow gravel lane. Ah so three more miles it was. We finally slow in front of a field and Ethan drives into it slowly, feet on either side of the bike close to the ground in case he needs to balance it.

There’s a huge tree in the middle of the field with a large canopy that seems relatively dry underneath and he pulls the bike under it and shuts it off. I climb off and pull off my helmet. He does the same and looks at me with nothing but violence in his eyes.

So, we are just going to duke it out here then, and he wants no witnesses.

“Get it all out now. If you think I’m going down without a fight you’re crazy,” I say with venom in my voice.

He looks at me in surprise. Then throws his helmet and shakes his head. “I didn’t bring you out here to kill you, Shasta. That would kill all of us. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Uh, the kind who hates his mate and so far, has done nothing to show me otherwise?” I say snarkily.

“That’s fair. But you’re wrong. I don’t hate you specifically, just witches in general. My parents were killed by the Society. I was eight,” he begins. I gasp in shock. “They took their body parts for spells and then burned the place down around them with them still barely alive. I watched from the escape tunnel under the floor until I couldn't stay anymore because of the fire. The tunnel led to Kadi’s parents’ house, which was always our plan in case something ever happened.”

“Ethan, I’m…,” I start to say but he cuts me off with a swipe of his hand through the air.

“Don’t,” he says through his teeth. “You didn’t do it, but I can’t reconcile what happened to them, with having a mate that’s a witch. I’ve hated your kind for so many years that I don’t know how to let it go.”

“Well, not to be insensitive, but you need to figure it the fuck out or you’re going to kill all three of us. Is that what you want? You’re going to let your hatred kill your best friend and your mate? That’s fucking selfish,” I yell at him. I start pacing angrily. I’m vibrating with anger at this point.

His story is terrible, it is. But to blame all witches just because of a few bad ones? “You need to grow up,” I snarl at him.

He rears his head back in shock. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“Grow. The. Fuck. Up. I didn’t stutter.” Pulling my magic through my body, I ready it in the palm of my hands. I want him to come after me so I can blast his dumb ass. He lunges for me, and I hit him hard with a taste of my magic. He flies back into the tree and I keep stalking towards him. He rights himself and goes to lunge at me again. Again, I hit him with my magic.

It’s just a little electricity, which goes well with his wet clothes.

His hair has come loose from its bun and is flowing around his head like a real lion's mane. Why does he have to be so damn mouthwateringly sexy? I want to hate him, I do. But I see the pain, and I can’t fault him for it. It’s the prejudice I won’t abide by.

“Am I hurting you? Are you afraid for your life right now, Ethan?”

I zap him again. And again, and once more before he lunges at me, yanking me towards him and smashes his lips down on mine. What the hell? He lifts me, wrapping my legs around his waist and slams my back into the tree and continues savagely kissing me like he’s trying to drink the life from my body.

Lacing my fingers through his hair I kiss him back. He is my mate after all.

Lifting his head, I look at his eyes and see that they are pure molten gold. Swirling eddies of liquid full of anger, pain, and lust. I bite my lip. They’re already swollen from how hard he was brutalizing them with his kisses. He reaches down and grabs my tank top, ripping it down the middle and exposing my bra. He lifts each breast out of the cups of my bra and my nipples tighten in pleasure and from the chill in the air. He growls; like a full-on growl, not human.

---