Wild Nights (12 page)

“And you do?” Nox stepped up to Riley, breathing hard and fast

as he coiled his anger into a tight ball that threatened to spear out of

his gut and stab the man standing in front of him. “You didn’t stick

around to see the devastation. You took off the moment you heard I

was appointed by the spirits to be her mate. Had you stayed, you

would’ve learned you’re her
other
mate.” Nox shoved him in the

shoulder. “You would’ve seen what your father did to her parents,

both
her mother and father. You would’ve known that Charles killed

your father to protect
your
future mate.”

Riley looked away, his upper lip quivering and his expression cold

as steel. Nox arched a brow.

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“Aya is ours, Riley. We’re responsible for her well-being. We’re

meant to care for her, protect her with our lives. Instinct led you to do

that when your pack approached.” An icy grin touched his mouth.

“That was your pack, I assume, being that one of Laela’s sisters

headed it. I caught a blip of her telepathic call to you.”

“What?” Riley’s attention flew back to him. Nox nodded. “Eliza

separated from a pack in Colorado. She has no affiliation with Laela.”

“Eliza,” Nox drew out, “smells bitter, just as I remember. Guess

who really holds the leash if she’s leading your pack in your absence.

Not you. I’m willing to bet you’ve been played to get to Aya. I’m sure

the sisters all heard you being appointed to a white. The spirits spoke

shortly before the massacre.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Riley snubbed. He took a short, sharp breath.

His frigid gaze landed on Nox once more. “Don’t think because I

stepped between you and my pack tonight that I’m on your side.” He

looked down at Aya. Nox cast a quick glance over his shoulder just as

Aya lunged back on her haunches, preparing to attack. “Blame the

drug you injected in me for my poor judgment. I’ll be sure it doesn’t

happen again.”

Riley snickered and dove toward the trees, transforming back to

wolf and landing on all four paws. His tawny coat shimmered under

the wintry moonlight as he bounded off.

Aya yipped and sprinted after him. Nox charged behind her.

“Aya! Let him go!” Nox barked.

“No! Let me handle him. Don’t follow me!”

Nox came up short of changing. His fingers and toes had already

begun to shift and thicken. His legs had begun to shorten, and fur had

pressed through his skin. His heels dug into the ground, and he

watched in limbo as Aya’s white figure disappeared into the forest.

The urge to protect pounded at his spirit fiercely. He didn’t trust Riley

enough to leave her unattended in his presence, especially after this

fallout. The man was unstable, his actions unpredictable.

Aya’s demand resonated in his ears.

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And he would not deprive her of retribution.

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Chapter Eight

Aya followed Riley’s potent scent—a toxic mixture of crisp air,

raw power, and dark hunger—through the maze of thick brush and

trees. His path banked this way and that, leading her deeper and

deeper into unknown territory. Every hair on her body bristled, every

cell tingled. She opened her mouth, and the intense, earthy taste of the

forest, of
him
, rolled over her tongue.

He murdered my uncle. He doesn’t deserve my affections.

The brutal memory of the night prior shook her confidence.

Compared to Lenox, she was a new pup in this strange world. She

was young and inexperienced in most of her wolfen ways.

And yet, instinct led her along the path of a brutal, self-centered,

heartbreakingly handsome killer.

He stepped between his own pack and you. There’s more to him

than arctic words and death gazes.

A shaft of moonlight filtered through the dense forest canopy,

casting eerie shadows in an already haunting forest. She paused, ears

pricked to pick up on the slightest movement. An unsettling quiet

surrounded her. The wild was far too silent, especially on an

otherwise perfect evening.

She tipped her nose to the sky and sniffed sharply. Riley’s scent

swam through her body, coating her mind with heady need. Not what

she wanted to experience, but if Lenox’s words rang true, Riley was

her mate as much as he. The news was a shock. With it came a

tangled web of conflicting emotions that ran wild: a fight between the

horror of having her uncle’s murderer appointed as mate and

surrendering herself to a man who despised her.

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A twig snapped to her left. She crouched low to the ground, the

fur along her spine rising. Her nails dug into the organic debris

beneath her paws.

A bush rustled. She sniffed again. The breeze had become

stagnant, hampering her sense of smell from detecting approaching

dangers. Riley’s scent continued to fill her, pushing past the

boundaries of her barrier-forged front. Her blood began to heat, her

pulse sped up.

He was nearby.

Leaves crunched. She tipped her head and focused on the patch of

open area where the sound evolved.

A quick twinkle of nocturnal eyes. She pulled back her lips in a

snarl. A moment later, a raccoon emerged from behind a tree trunk, its

black button nose twitching as it surveyed its current position.

Aya blinked. She straightened up and stared at the creature. If

Riley wasn’t hiding—

“Fool!”

His chide hit her mind the same instant his large body barreled

into hers. Aya yipped, whipping her paws around to gouge at Riley.

Sharp teeth burrowed against her scruff. He dragged her down, his

powerful wolf encasing her between hard muscle, soft fur, and four

agile legs that pinned her own.

Aya snapped her head around and bared her teeth, ignoring the

pinch of his against her tender flesh.

He hadn’t broken skin…yet.

“You’re a fucking fool, Ayasha, for following me here. I can kill

you in a heartbeat.”

To implement his threat, he snagged a bigger chunk of her scruff

between his teeth. The extra flesh constricted around her throat, but he

still didn’t harm her.

“Don’t discount my abilities to face danger. I’m capable of

holding my own.”
Aya swiveled in his tight grip, twisting her scruff

from his teeth with only a consequential scrape. She swatted him

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83

across the face, a very human move, but it made her feel much better.

Until her gaze crashed with his, rocking her spirit and leaving her

hot.

She gulped, struggling to reclaim control of the sudden weakness

that plagued her. The image of this creature standing entirely naked

only minutes before blinded her of sense.

Riley had been the epitome of steel-corded muscle. He was a

powerhouse packed beneath beautiful swells of definition and

chiseled accents of eccentric perfection. His eyes glowed an unusual

amber-gold with infusions of streaming sunshine white.

Despite her rage and disgust with discovering the man she wanted

to nuzzle against earlier was the same man responsible for leaving her

world in shreds while she grappled at the frayed ends of a lifeline, her

curiosity got the best of her. She had glanced—a very quick glance—

at an impressive, and quite intimidating, erection that had been ready

for action.

Riley growled, disrupting her thoughts and the euphoria that

settled over her. He stood in one fluid motion, a paw at her throat. She

watched the wolf transform with rapid precision. Paw turned to a

hand, which left her furry throat in the iron grip of strong fingers. He

lifted her off the ground, choking the air from her lungs as she kicked

at his exposed belly and chest, his hard cock, and muscular thighs.

Each sharp kick squeezed more air from her body, and left not a

single mark on him to show for her struggle.

“Turn back, Ayasha, or you’ll choke to death.”

She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. The idea of being completely naked

in front of Riley would result in a catastrophic mental meltdown.

Riley’s upper lip pulled back to show his still-pointed fangs. A

dangerous sheen coated his breathtaking eyes. His fingers dug deeper

into her throat until silver spots formed at the outer bands of her

vision.

Finally, she gave in to his demand, tugged at the reins of her wolf,

and folded her away. Her body elongated and lightened. The bones

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beneath her skin flowed into their proper human form. The fur that

protected her from a hungry male’s gaze receded, leaving her flesh

exposed.

Riley raked a slow, hot look over her, pausing at her breasts,

heavy with need, and the soft patch of hair at the apex of her thighs.

His nostrils flared, and the light in his eyes smoldered. The flitting

shaft of moonlight cast a soft glow over his waist, and the moisture

beading at the tip of his wide cock glistened like the glassy surface of

a lake.

Aya grabbed his shoulders to ease the pressure off her throat and

try to anchor her sudden abandon. The only thought that permeated

the heady musk around them was Riley impaling her.

“I’m not pleased with feeling the same way,” Riley rumbled, his

voice thicker, deeper than she recalled back at Lenox’s home. The

sexually charged tone sent a shiver of delight down her spine. A wave

of moisture slid from the walls of her pussy.

“Release my throat, you jerk.”

Riley snarled, but his grip on her neck loosened enough for air to

flow freely. He pressed her backward until a tree halted her retreat.

She ducked to run. He threw an arm around her waist, yanked her

back, and encased her between wood and human concrete.

“Don’t you think about it. I’ll catch you, and it’ll be one helluva

catch, baby doll.” Aya shuddered when she heard the slow creak and

groan of the tree trunk being impaled by Riley’s claws. He had her

pinned. “What made you risk my wrath to follow me?”

“I wanted the satisfaction of making you bleed for what you did to

my uncle,” Aya growled. The nails on her right hand stretched and

sharpened. She raked them across his chest. Riley hissed. Blood

welled in the deep gashes over his well-formed left pec. “That

should’ve been your neck, but I’m reluctant to kill my mate, even if

he’s a heartless murderer.”

“You’re a naive fool,” Riley gritted. His gaze shot back to hers,

dark and dangerous. “I don’t give a fucking crap what Lenox said.

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85

Your uncle slaughtered my father.”

“And your father slaughtered my parents,” Aya retorted. Her

anger welled as thick as the blood from his wounds. And still, her

pussy grew slick with arousal. Her skin tingled against the electrical

currents riding persistently between them. Her heart raced in her

chest.

Her wolf knew her mate, smelled his delectable scent of rustic

woods and untamed wilderness.

“I have more reason to hate you and want you dead than you have

of me. I have more reason to curse you to your solitary life of misery.

You took my world from me before I had a chance to learn it.
You
.”

Aya punched him, deliberately digging her knuckles into his open

wounds. He barked. “And you call me a fool because I followed you.

You had your parents, your friends, your pack. You had a childhood,

teenage years, and all the activities that come with it. You had a

brother in Lenox and a future handed to you. And what did you do?

Shunned it all. You turned your back on everything that filled your

life because of what? A speculation of what happened in my home?”

Aya grabbed hold of his shoulders, digging her nails deep into his

flesh. Rage flashed like red embers in his eyes. She chuckled,

bitterness lingering on her tongue. “If losing your father makes you

hate so deeply, then just imagine what I should feel towards you.”

“You’re pissed, but you’re smelling sweet as sex and I can’t stand

it.”

“Don’t choke on that bone, ’cause it’s a hard one to swallow, isn’t

it?”

Riley dipped his head. Aya’s eyelids dropped beneath the assault

of desires that boiled up through the cracks of her frustration. His

hair, thick, glossy waves that barely brushed his neck, caressed her

cheeks and shoulder. The clean scent of the strands made her shiver

with delight.

His nose brushed her neck and he inhaled deeply. Her womb

clenched, leaving a sigh to linger on her lips. His claws dislodged

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from the tree, the wood squeaking in protest. Large, calloused hands

splayed over her. One cupped her ass and tugged her hips against his.

One slid up along the path of her ribs until it folded over her breast.

“You’re so tiny,” he whispered. Carnal hunger marked his voice.

Twisting emotions played a treacherous game of tug-of-war with the