Page 37 of Jesse
Aiden stoodin the middle of the fairground, the cheering crowd oblivious to the predator in their midst.
He hid a grin behind the rim of his coffee cup as the announcer called the name of the next truck moving forward in the competition.
“Brisket Delight!”
The crowd roared. Aiden’s eyes didn’t leave the stage, not because of the announcement, but because of the two figures embracing near the back of the crowd.
There he was. His prey. Beck.
The little chef looked flushed with excitement, his smile bright, pressed against the chest of that broad-shouldered wolf from Pecan Pines. Jesse, if Aiden remembered correctly.
The one who always looked protective around Beck.
Aiden’s fingers tightened around the cup. It cracked audibly in his grip, coffee leaking down his knuckles. He didn’t even notice until a drop hit the ground.
The Pecan Pines wolf. He was new. A recent complication.
His smile faded. That wolf was protective. Dangerous, maybe.
But Aiden had dealt with worse. When the time came and the Pecan Pines mutt got in the way, because they always got in the way, he’d handle him.
Just like he handled the others.
Still, Aiden’s gaze stayed locked on them. Beck was laughing now, rubbing a hand over his eyes like he couldn’t believe it.
Jesse leaned in to say something, their shoulders brushing. Too close. Too familiar. Aiden’s pulse ticked up.
His beast stirred under his skin. It wasn’t rage. Not exactly. It was hunger.
Hot, dark, and coiling around his ribs like smoke. It had been days since his last release. Since he’d given it something to chase, something to end.
The last one had barely satisfied the itch, and now, with Beck so close, his scent drifting faintly on the wind, the hunger was turning into something sharp.
Something desperate.
He wanted to take.
To tear.
To feel that warmth spilling across his hands again, sticky and red and right.
Aiden closed his eyes, forcing a long, slow breath through his nose.
No.
Not yet.
He wasn’t some mindless thing lashing out in the dark. He had rules. A system. He planned. Normally, he picked easy targets. Drifters, loners, people no one would miss.
He picked two, before moving onto the next town. He could satisfy the need that way, keep it fed just enough to maintain control.
But this?
Beck was different.
This kill was personal.
Aiden opened his eyes, watching Beck reach out and squeeze Jesse’s arm before they turned toward their truck again. Aiden shifted his stance, rolling his shoulders back.
