Page 10 of Defiant
It is suspicious. What woman goes into the woods alone at nightfall? Wolf or not, it’s not fucking safe. And who goes alone? My gut starts to churn and my eyes dart to either side, checking the shadows for hostiles just like I did back in my military days. I don’t see anyone, but this entire situation doesn’t feel right. It feels too damned perfect. Would fate just let me come upon a mouth-wateringly gorgeous shifter? Unlikely. Especially since Elena’s long, lean legs-for-days figure is exactly my type. It has to be a setup. Has to be.
But if she’s a Dark Night…would she just lay up there in that tree while I took out one of her packmates? If so, her loyalty to them is questionable.
Unless … their little Trojan Horse had been instructed to play her role no matter what.
In which case, her sanity is questionable and I should be on the lookout.
Crap. My thoughts go in circles and make me irritated. I yank Elena’s arm harder than I should and she stumbles. I catch her before she falls, not because I like the excuse to rub my hands along that trim waist, but because I don’t want her fucking scent all over the place. As it is, I’m gonna have to make my guys light up that tree in the forest. That branch she’d perched on smelled like a goddamned body lotion explosion and would make us easy as fuck to track if she is innocent. Which she’s probably not.
But until I know for sure … I can’t treat her as guilty.
God, part of me hopes she is though, because if I can prove she’s a Dark Night and that she was sent to fuck with me, then our treaty with that fucking pack will go to shit, and instead of just getting out our anger in fringe battles in disputed territory, we could attack them outright. I could gain a huge swathe of land to the southeast and eliminate the main threat to my own pack.
Visions of expansion are smudged away when the wind blows just right and Elena’s scent hits me again. Briefly, I consider rubbing my skin against hers to dull it and mask our trail, but then immediately cut that thought off when it comes with a lot of salacious fantasies. I’m not driving down that road to ruin.
I let her go abruptly and turn, pointing toward the road, where I can hear the car idling. Pluto’s waiting for us.
Elena narrows her eyes at me, those thick lashes of hers dramatic with her eyeliner.
“After you, princess,” I tell her.
Her nostrils flare, but she doesn’t argue. The girl’s learning at least. But with an attitude like that, I’ll be glad to get her out of my hair. There are plenty of beta women who’ll bow to my every whim. I don’t need her, despite my dick’s protests. I’ll solve this little mystery, call her out, and get rid of this sassy female wolf complication ASAP.
Elena climbs over a fallen, moss-covered log, straddling it for just a moment, her hands extended in front of her and her back arched—every thought I just had flies out the window. My wolf and I are both struck dumb by the sight—which I’m pretty certain my mind is engraving permanently on my skull right now. I’m going to forever have that image burned into my memory, a naked Elena, her back arched and nipples out just begging to be taken. What is goddamned wrong with me? Why is every second thought I have around her about fucking sex?
She did that on purpose. Itisa setup.I snarl and her eyes widen as she glances back at me.
Elena must read the truth on my face. She must realize she’s been found out. Her shoulders come up to her ears and I can see the hair rise on her arms in response to my alpha fury. She turns and scurries through the trees, her braid flying as I hop the log and kick it with my foot, dislodging the thing and causing it to roll behind me.
Elena leaps as she runs, those long legs flexing, perfectly synchronized. My eyes track her. And just like the first time she fled from me, all the blood rushes to my dick. My wolf likes when they run. He likes it a lot. Hell,I likewhen they run. Usually, it’s consensual chasing. But tonight, we can make an exception.
I lick my lips.Alright, little Dark Knight she-wolf. This is the kind of game I like to play.
Elena looks back and her expression is nothing short of terrified. I laugh and let out a wild howl before I start to chase her through the woods.
4
Elena
Black Maddox is crazy.There’s no other explanation other than certifiable insanity for why he literally just growled at me and then started to chase me like an ax murderer. He flipped a switch.
I find myself caught in a horror movie as the shadowy trees stretch their fingers out to snatch at me and a madman laughs in low tones behind me while I streak forward until the silhouettes of the forest around me are nothing but blurs.
I try to focus on my footfalls instead of him; I strike hard with my foot and push off fast. A lot of people think that a taller person will always win a race, but I know that’s not true. Having the proper footstrike is pivotal. I blow out a breath and try to imagine I’m driving a railroad spike into the ground each time my feet hit the dirt. The fact that I’m not wearing shoes quickly takes its toll on the balls of my feet and I grind my teeth together as I try not to notice.
I don’t glance backward. Not when I hear Black call out, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” Not when I hear him curse and the thwack through a bush behind me.
Go, I urge myself as we come upon a rise.Just go.The trees look like they’re getting thinner, not quite so dense. The moonlight’s painting a couple of the trunks silver. Maybe we’re getting close to civilization again and I’ll find someone who can help me.
My ankle rolls on some stupid leaf matter that slides under my foot and a twinge of pain shoots up my leg. I bite down on a cry as I crash around the edge of a bush. I force myself to keep moving. My eyes dart around in the dark and I send up a silent prayer to the moon goddess—hoping she’ll send a miracle my way. I leap another scraggly bush like it’s a hurdle on the track, silently thanking my hard-ass coach, Ben Trask, for kicking my ass and forcing me to enter what I’d thought was a stupid event.
But now that I’m being hunted, I wish I’d spent even more hours on the crappy willow obstacles. The forest presents one hurdle after another. A large stone. A dead branch. Another bush. I jump them all and my senses scream at me while I pant, my chest heaving as I push harder still. My concentration cracks when my foot finds a divot in the ground and my fucking ankle twists again.
“When I catch you, I’m going to eat you all up.” Black’s voice is way too close.
His words are cold and dark but somehow they send heat rushing through my aching limbs.
No, you idiot,I scold. My body took that comment sexually, but I’m pretty fucking sure he meant literally. He wants to rip my throat out just like he did that other wolf. But why? Why would he save me from them only to go mad himself?
