Page 8 of Defiant
I whimper. I can’t help it.
Black extends his hands, reaching up for me. He softens his tone as he murmurs, “Come on, princess. I’ll get you outta here.”
I stare down at the hulking man beneath me, one whose muscles are slathered in moonlight and blood, and realize that I don’t have much choice. It’s him, or the other pack. And I have no illusions about what they’ll do to a Lobo after they’ve found their packmate murdered. Even a shifter whose wolf hasn’t come in yet hears whispers about the pack wars.
I swallow hard before I carefully adjust my grip and let my legs down one side. Faster than I want, due to my crappy arm strength, I’m dangling from the branch.
Alpha Black walks forward and grabs my hips, yanking them against his chest and taking on most of my weight. I release the branch and reach for his shoulders so I can balance, trying not to acknowledge the fact that my alpha’s gripping my naked body against his. My hands find his shoulders and I bear down on them before I realize he still has bite marks that are healing there. I retract my hands with a soft, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
I glance at his face, expecting him to drop my hips so that I land on my feet right in front of him. But he doesn’t drop me.
Black’s deep brown eyes lock onto mine as he slides me slowly down his body. My breath hitches and I can’t even pretend it’s just from fear. As my face comes nearly level with his, I spot a fleck of blood he missed on his cheek. The instinct to wipe it away surges through me, but I resist because we’re strangers, because it’s presumptive, because I just shouldn’t. My broken nails dig into his shoulders instead.
“I can jump down from here,” I offer.
Black doesn’t respond but his eyes narrow a fraction before his hands drop off my hips. I end up sliding down his torso, my stomach and breasts gliding down his pecs before I land on my feet in front of him. When I do, I look up to realize that there’s a break in the trees just behind Black. The moonlight peaks through from behind his shoulders; the moon herself surrounds his head like a halo. But he doesn’t look like an angel surrounded by all that white light. He looks like the epitome of darkness, villany, the devil himself come to tempt me.
I’m not sure why those thoughts roll through my head since Black literally just rescued me from another pack. I should be thinking of him as an angel, a savior. But it’s impossible. Maybe it’s the strength of his alpha, the predator in him so close to the surface. Whatever it is, it’s intense. It makes it hard for me to maintain eye contact even though I’m an alpha wolf myself … it’s clear that my dominance is nowhere near his.
I take a careful breath before my eyes lower, only to realize I never should have glanced down. Because Black is hard as a rock, and I don’t mean his muscles. Fuck, does he get off on murder? Or…
I turn around before I can complete that thought. No. No way. He’s nearly as old as my mother. I start walking through the forest without any plan, driven by the need to get away from the truth that was right in front of my face.
“Elena.”
I freeze. Somehow his voice is a lasso that wraps around my torso and turns me against my will, but I absolutely refuse to make eye contact. Erections happen. We’re both naked. It’s no big deal. We don’t need to talk about it.
“You’re going the wrong way.”
Fuck. I feel my cheeks burn and I glance up to see him pointing to our left. I give a quick nod before stomping in that direction, determined to think about death instead of the strange sparkling sensation I feel inside my chest, like I just downed a glass of champagne. I do not react that way to men saying my name. No. It’s ridiculous to think that’s what’s going on. I’m drunk on horror.
“I’ve called out to the pack. They’ll be here in fifteen minutes or so. But we should get into Lobo territory quickly, just to be safe.”
“You called?” I can’t help glancing backward to see if he’s wearing an Apple Watch. I didn’t recall feeling one. His wrists are clear. And far too close to that thick dick, which still hasn’t gone down. I press my lips together and turn back around.
“Your mother didn’t tell you much about the life, did she?” he asks.
“Everyone always says that you’ll know once you’re in,” I mutter. “Goddamned annoying.”
He chuckles behind me and I try to stay focused on the bush I’m currently wrangling instead of that honeyed sound. “Everyone says that, but follow-through isn’t always the best.”
I don’t mention Mom’s rules or the way she snarls when questioned. Besides, she wasn’t the only one who told me not to worry. “Yeah well, even Jonah won’t tell me, no matter how many … no matter how I bribe him.”
There’s a long stretch of silence after that, though it feels like lasers are burning into my back. I grind my teeth together, but the reality is I want to bite off my own tongue right now. Did I really almost mention my sex life to the alpha? Fuck. I’m an idiot.
Finally, after minutes of silent marching, Black says, “I guess they’ve all taken my decree seriously.”
“What decree?” I ask as I climb over a downed branch. It’s a small one and it doesn’t give me any trouble, but Black’s hand shoots out and grabs my forearm just in case.
“The decree to preserve innocence as long as we can. Until the shift happens and survival trumps innocence, the realities of wolf life shattering it.” His words brush down my hair and along my neck like a caress.
“Oh.” I pull my arm away from his hand like a hot potato as soon as I’m over the branch.
“Reality is an ugly beast,” he adds.
I nod, thinking back to the clearing and the body that still lay there, a body that would now remain a wolf forever.
