Page 28 of Hunted By Darkness

Nika beamed like the two shared secrets I’d never understand, and my hold on her tightened. My thoughts ran rampant as I watched them share smile after smile, sure to destroy me. Her gentle touch roused me from the spiraling nonsense in my head with a jerk.

“You doing okay? Were you injured tonight?” she asked, concern lacing every word.

And suddenly, I felt like the worst bastard in the room.

“No, love. It’s kind of you to worry, but tonight was hardly a challenge worth it.” I brushed my knuckles along her cheek. Her pale skin was quickly colored by a faint red. For all her venom, Nika still fell under the spell of my attention and touch.

“If you’re sure…” she breathed, her soft smile calming the rage weaving its way through my body. “I still think you need to rest.” Her nose scrunched in that adorable way that made me desperate to snog her face off. “And shower,” she added, eyeing the sullied clothes I wore still drenched in the blood of her tormentors.

“Only if you join me,” I goaded, earning myself an elbow to the stomach.

Worth it.

Finally, her focus was solely on me. It felt as if I’d won.

I tossed the wolf bastard a wink, and the scowl he sent my way only served to amuse me. If he was head over heels for my little rebel, he’d find out soon enough how little chance he stood to sway her. I’d make bloody sure of it, even if it meant him hearing how good I gave it to her.

Nika stood from her seat, glaring when I tried to keep her. “We can talk more in the morning. There’s only two rooms here, so I’m afraid you’ll have to take the couch, but I’ll grab you a few things to keep comfortable and warm.”

The bastard was a damn animal. He could sleep outside, but the look she sent demanded I didn’t voice my obvious complaints. For once, I listened. I didn’t plan to sleep while he was here, anyway. I’d talk to the lad about taking shifts, he the day and I the night.

Bear Claw was on his feet, so I was instantly on mine.

The man and I weren’t far off in height. He was a tall bastard, I’d give him that. Powerful, too. Covered in tribal paint the way he was, he’d make anyone second-guess their ability next to his.

I squared him up with a look, but his eyes never left Nika. Crossing my arms, I nodded an agreement she didn’t need. Nika was already moving about the room to grab a pillow and blankets for the wolf bastard who not only didn’t need them, but didn’t deserve them. I stole what she’d grabbed before she could hand them off, or worse, make the bed for him. Her sigh was full of irritation as I haphazardly tossed the bundle onto the couch.

He could make his own bloody bed.

“Well, good night,” Nika said to Bear Claw before she turned to the lad. “You and I will go through the book in the morning.”

Lev snuck a look at Bear Claw before nodding.

“Tometi might have a way to track down Rilas,” the tribesman said out of nowhere.

I glared at the bastard.

He’d only just said he woke up in that forest and didn’t know what happened, so how would the bear know Rilas’s scent without shifting around him first? What, did this wanker think I’d miss that after all this time? What a load of bollocks.

Nika tossed me a little look, one that said I wasn’t allowed to be stupid and speak my mind. She knew me a little too well, because that was exactly what I planned to do.

“How? I thought he couldn’t catch a scent without shifting, and you woke up in the forest with no memory of how it happened, right?” she asked, speaking my thoughts for me, just in a prettier voice and putting it far nicer than I would’ve.

Bear Claw chose that moment to stare at me, the bear in his eyes, gleaming as if speaking for him. Even his voice dropped into a guttural, growling tone. “He caught his scent somehow and thinks he can find him if we can get close enough.” The bastard crossed his arms, and the confidence he’d do just that radiated off him like a goddamn scent. “I’ve got a few contacts I can use. When you haveaway, I’ll havetheway.”

“You can’t trust—”

Bear Claw cut me off, his eyes set on mine. “I think you’re a two-faced bastard. I’ve never liked you. You’re shameless and always convinced you’re right.” Nika opened her mouth to interject, angry on my behalf, the sweet darling, but he went on as if she hadn’t. Just another reason to despise the overconfident alpha-hole. “I’m not asking you to trust me. I don’t trust you either, but I trust her. I’ll do it for her. I vow it on my ancestors and my tribes’ souls that whatever is within my power to do, I’ll do it to protect her,” his eyes jerked over to Nika, the bear’s soft amber glow inside them.

It was with great displeasure I admitted this was the first time I’d ever heard Bear Claw vow anything on the family he’d lost. In all the years we worked together, he never once talked about the past he’d left behind when he joined the Brotherhood.

Little was known about the man who was more beast than anyone I’d met in my long life. But what I did know was that whatever happened to his tribe, whatever he left behind, it’d blackened his heart. And if anything, that was something I could understand. Not enough to forgive him for trying to kill my goddess, but enough to know how fierce the vow he made was.

Bear Claw stared at Nika, enunciating every word with a growl. “I meant it when I said I wouldn’t leave you to deal with him alone. I always keep the vows I make, woman. That’s something even this possessive asshole can’t argue isn’t true.”

For fuck’s sake…

It’d be easier if he was our enemy. It’d give me a reason to send him back to the After. If I’d thought for a second he might hurt her, I wouldn’t apologize for doing what needed to be done. But what I got from him was worse.

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