Page 41 of Hunted
My pulse roared in my ears.
A shadow shifted at the edge of the courtyard.I didn’t need to look.I knew who it was.I could sense the subtle darkening of the air around me and the hint of unease as the hair on the back of my neck stood on end, warning me of a potential threat.
Dusek stepped forward, silent as always.He wore his usual black long-sleeved t-shirt, dark jeans tucked into worn boots.His long midnight hair was tied back, and his eyes gleamed silver in the moonlight with an otherworldly glow.
“You broke the dummy,” he said, his deep voice casual and unconcerned in the face of my raging lack of control.Again.
Gammas.Never half as cowed by an alpha as they should be.But then, sometimes it was good to have someone around who wasn’t afraid to push back when you needed it.
I shrugged.“It wasn’t hitting back,”I signed as the solar lights around the courtyard kicked on, triggered by the fading daylight and the shadows Dusek always seemed to darken with his mere presence.
I had never met a bubak in person before I came to this court, was barely even aware of their existence as some sidenote in an old book about rare paranormal races.If I weren’t so busy being angry over Josh and distracted by the true mate who hovered at the edges of my awareness every waking moment of every day, I would have devoted more energy to learning about this fascinating creature by now.
Unaware of my wandering thoughts, Dusek raised a brow at my statement.“Wantmeto hit you, then?”
I didn’t answer.Not with words.Grinning, I stepped into the center of the ring.He followed.
We didn’t bow.We didn’t speak.We justmoved.
The first clash was infinitely satisfying to the primal thing coiled inside me.Dusek’s block was clean, his counter faster than I expected.Some magic-users relied on their magic alone to save them in a fight.Clearly, Dusek was better trained than that.He was capable.But he pulled his punches, not giving it his all.Not yet.So, I pushed harder.
We circled.Hit.Deflected.Failed to slip past each other’s defenses.He let his aura flare—just enough to rattle the edges of my control.I released a bit of the control I kept over my alpha aura in return.Alpha dominance met shadows and death.Rage met the utter silence of complete soul-ending darkness.
Then he landed a hit.
A low sweep, unexpected, calculated.I stumbled.Recovered.I threw a punch that he dodged with a flicker of shadows that said he had gone incorporeal for a second there.“Cheater!”I called out, careful to keep my guard up.I felt my smile grow manic as I let some of my own magic flow through me, enhancing my speed, lengthening my fangs.
Our magics clashed, unseen but tangible to all my other senses.He was still holding back.I could sense it.There was something trulymassiveinside him, a darkness and terror not even the strongest alpha in the world could withstand.
I snarled.I was physically and magically strong.Growing up, I had been trained by the best fighters in weapons and hand-to-hand combat.I wasn’t used to being on the losing end of a sparring match.
And somehow, the idea that I might lose was exhilarating.
He caught my next blow andheld it, his fingers wrapped around my fist, his dark aura wrapping around my own in a similar fashion.Engulfing me.
Our eyes locked.He didn’t speak.He didn’t have to.The air crackled with tension.
I ripped free and shoved him.He didn’t budge, his tall, lean frame barely swaying amidst the deep shadows that surrounded us.
“Damn it,” I growled.“I can’t best you.”The frustration hit me fast and hard, followed by a surge of underlying fear and helplessness.“What kind of alpha am I?I can’t beat one little gamma in a fight.I can’t protect my beta.”
And then, as I lunged, ducked and weaved around his rapid attack the real cause of my pain spilled out.“I can’t fix him!”I shouted suddenly.
Dusek blinked.But still, he didn’t speak.
I was as surprised by my words as he was.But once the raw declaration escaped my lips, I felt the truth of it.The way it twisted through my chest like a barbed parasite.Yes, I was furious that I couldn’t save Josh from Acacia’s influence over his mind.Yes, I was pissed off we were being forced to do her bidding and play her games.But it was more than that.
Under all that, in the quiet, wounded recesses of my soul, was the thing I refused to think about and kept hidden under my rage.Josh—myJosh, my best friend, most loyal attendant, and the man I had loved nearly all my life—had been forever changed.And there was nothing I could do about it.
Even if we managed to sever his bond with Acacia.Even once the evil vampire queen was dead and gone...Josh would never be human again.When I looked into his beautiful hazel eyes, the gentle, perceptive, caring man I’d known was hidden under the gaze of a predator.And that was never going to change.
Josh.My hands shook as I lifted them to sign, my throat too tight to attempt to vocalize.“I can’t reach him.I can’t help him.I can’tsavehim!”
Dusek stepped closer.His eerie gaze swept over me, studied my face intently, as if he were reading an open book.“He’s not gone—not out of reach.You haven’t lost him.”
“You don’t know that,”I signed violently.
“I know what it’s like to think you’re a monster,” he said slowly, giving me time to read what he was saying.“I don’t knowyourstruggle.But I understand a little of what Josh might be feeling.Unlovable.A danger to those he cares for.”His chest expanded and deflated with a sigh, as if being forced to admit something he loathed saying out loud.“And...I know what it’s like to be wrong.”
