Page 2 of Wilder Obsessions

We’re the largest and most lethal shifter clan on this side of the mountain range, but no matter how strong and ruthless a person appears, their heart is never impervious from the inevitable breakdown of being vulnerable.When that person isn’t human, but a shifter who’s lost everything, they’re not just vulnerable but also become something darker—a wrathful storm brewed from the ashes of love and despair.And that’s what I’m about to become—dangerous.

Tonight, I am reborn from heartbreak’s ashes, birthed anew like a terrible phoenix ready to unleash hell upon a world that has stolen my brightest light.Their cries, the pain of their lost souls, will be my anthem, for I am a shifter—transformed by love, transfigured by loss.

Danger will become my essence, and in the dark, I will dance with sorrow, powerful, relentless, and alive.

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As my mind returnsto the present, I realize the ceremony ended and I’ve been left alone at her graveside.The rain weeps from the heavens, a torrent of grief that mirrors the tumult within my heart.I stand staring off at the mountains of Colorado, their once-majestic peaks now shrouded in clouds, a gray pallor that steals the vibrance from the landscape.

It no longer feels like home.

The storm of rage and grief within me is relentless, a tempest that threatens to consume everything in its path.Every step I take away from her grave feels heavier, as if the very ground is pulling me back, demanding I face the torment that gnaws at my soul.

The rain continues to pour, soaking through my clothes and seeping into my bones, but I barely feel it.My thoughts are a chaotic swirl of memories and pain, interspersed with flashes of uncontrollable anger.I clench my fists, feeling my nails bite into my palms, grounding me just enough to keep moving.

My mind drifts and I question everything, perhaps that’s what devastation does to you.It eats at your soul until there’s nothing left but a shell of the person you once were.In the corners of my memory, I can still hear her laughter, the tinkling sound like wind chimes dancing in the summer air, but now it feels miles away—a ghost echoing within the caverns of my shattered heart.

Hope is a distant, fragile thing, nearly suffocated by the searing rage that consumes me.The loss of my wife has awakened something dark within me, a fury that claws at my insides, demanding an outlet.My muscles ache not from grief alone, but from the sheer effort of keeping my puma at bay.He’s restless, dangerous, and I feel his anger coursing through my veins.

“I just hope my rage won’t be the end of me,” I mutter under my breath, a bitter acknowledgment of the darkness festering inside.I’ve seen what unchecked fury can do—it destroys lives, ruins relationships, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake.Yet here I am, teetering on the edge, my puma restless and dangerous, pushing me toward a path I might not return from.

I need to get away, to find some semblance of peace before my anger consumes me whole.The mountains of Colorado, once a place of solace and familiarity, now feel like a prison, their towering peaks casting long, dark shadows over my life.I can no longer find comfort in their embrace, instead, they mock my pain, a constant reminder of everything I’ve lost.

As I begin my journey into the unknown, I can only hope that somewhere along the way, I find a means to tame the beast within.To channel my rage into something other than destruction.Because if I don’t, I fear there will be nothing left of the man I once was.

Chapter One

Wilder

Present Time

New York City bustles with an electric energy that has my insides fighting to be released.Why I ever thought I could live in a city and coexist with humans is beyond me.My patience is tested every day, leaving me feral.The bell over the door chimes, making me grit my teeth.If I have to deal with another dumb fuck today, I can’t be held accountable for my actions.

“Wilder, my man!”Kody booms from behind the counter.At least it’s not a human.He found me when I first moved to the city and introduced me to an underground shifter fight club below the exclusive bar, The Gin Room.Shifters can seek out other like-minded individuals so I instantly knew he wasn’t human.Being a dragon shifter, he knows the difficulties in keeping a lid on his aggression, hence the illegal fighting scene.

“Haven’t seen you around in a while,” I mention, throwing back a glass of whiskey.It’s basically closing time and with the day I’ve had, I needed something to take the edge off.

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