Pack of Secrets, page 4
“I’m trying,” I muttered, my thoughts drifting to the prize in my backpack. I didn’t want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed yet again, but after the trouble I’d gone through to get it, the cup seemed undeniably promising. After almost two decades of suppression, this could finally free my wolf.
Twigs snapped ahead.
I sniffed the air. Something smelled savage and… cold, like a wild beast trapped in ice. Definitely not another gargoyle; this was different. Unease crept up my spine as I drew my daggers and slowed my steps, slipping soundlessly through the night. Rounding a massive tree trunk, I sensed danger and froze. Something sliced the air in front of me, right where I would have been if I hadn’t halted. Moonlight glinted off metal. A sword! My heart leaped into my throat as I pivoted, narrowly avoiding a second slash. The attacker was lightning fast. Dropping into a crouch, I parried a third strike. Steel bounced off my daggers, the clash ringing through the silent forest as vibrations rattled my teeth and bones.
Damn! Fast and strong.
Surprised my blades didn’t crack under the force, I ducked and spun away. Like me, my weapons were built for speed and avoidance, and neither my blades nor my body would survive a vigorous pummeling. My best bet was to bail. Looking side to side, I tried to decide which way to bolt.
“Leox!” exclaimed a deep, masculine voice.
Power punched through the ether. The burnt ozone stench of magic tickled my nose as bright light overpowered the darkness. Temporarily blind, I lifted one arm to shield my sensitive eyes so they could adjust. When I could see again, I lowered my arm and watched in fascination as light circled in on itself, growing to about a foot in diameter.
What the…
Since my aunt was a witch, I’d seen some nifty magical creations in my time, but nothing like the blazing blue orb hovering before me. In awe, I prepared to dodge if it came hurtling at my face, but thankfully, the orb didn’t move. It did, however, provide enough light to give me a good look at my attacker. He wore only a pair of black sweats, giving me an eyeful of rich walnut skin. I felt my eyes widen at the sight of him, but I couldn’t help but gawk. He was huge! He had to be more than six feet tall with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and an athletic physique of mouth-watering, jaw-dropping perfection.
I’d never seen anything like him. Every exposed God-blessed forearm, bicep, pectoral, and abdominal curve screamed for my attention. I didn’t know where to look first. My gaze snagged on a dusting of ebony curls that led from his navel downward, disappearing under the waistband of his sweats. The scandalously low waistband. How had they even stayed up during our scuffle? It seemed like one wrong move, and every inch of him would be on display. My mind hiccupped on the possibility.
My wolf panted at the sight. Yes, panted. She’d never done that before. I ignored the bitch and continued my perusal of the perfect male specimen before me.
“You?” asked a deep, rumbling voice. “You are the beast? How can this be?”
Heat flooded my cheeks as I dragged my gawking gaze upward from his happy trail. Now, I realized he was wearing something besides the sweatpants. A leather strap stretched diagonally from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist before circling around his back. Had to be a baldric for the massive sword still clutched in his right hand. The blade that had tried to kill me. Then again, I wasn’t exactly there to plant flowers or lobby for world peace. I was a thief, and people tended to get pissed when I took their shit.
“Me?” I asked, trying to make sense of his words as my gaze finally snapped to his face. All the oxygen vanished from my lungs. “Beast?”
He arched one dark eyebrow at me in question. I’d clearly mystified him with my one-syllable sentences.
Fabulous first impression. You’re killin’ it, Chipmunk.
Yet the set of his square jaw and frown upon his perfect lips made him seem unimpressed even as his startling silver irises with elongated dark pupils tracked me like a predator stalking prey.
Hoping to save face and break the tension, I tried again. “Hi.” I gave him my friendliest, most innocent smile. “I’m not sure what sort of beast you’ve mistaken me for, but I’m just a girl. Woman, really. I mean, I’m almost twenty, so…” I clamped my mouth shut, appalled by the absolute nonsense I was spewing. What the hell was wrong with me? Sure, the guy was nice to look at, but there were plenty of attractive men in my pack, and none of them made me ramble like an idiot.
His intense, inquiring gaze didn’t waver, unnerving me. Fierce determination emanated from my wolf as she locked in on him like he was a destination she was desperate to reach.
Ignoring her bizarre urgency and the odd flutter in my chest, I asked, “Is there something you need?”
“I am the guardian of the chalice you stole.” He raised his sword, leveling it at me in challenge. “Prepare to die, beast.”
Okay then. The big, scary, hot guy was crazy and determined to kill me. As much as I’d like to pretend that was a new experience, it wasn’t. Since becoming an adult, I’d had my ass kicked by nearly every adult member of my pack. But unlike with my packmates, I had no intention of standing there and letting this jerk pummel me.
“I’m not a beast,” I snapped before adding, “asshole,” under my breath.
His eyes narrowed, and I got the feeling he’d heard that last bit.
“You have to be,” he argued. “You stole the Chalice of Power. I can feel it on you. You are the broken beast.”
Ouch.
Shocked, I stared up at him. He wasn’t wrong—my beast was broken—but it was such a cruel truth to voice.
“You can’t go around saying shit like that about people you just met,” I said.
He drew back at my tone. “Why not?”
“Because it’s rude. Obviously.” I shifted my stance, preparing to move if he did. “You don’t see me tactlessly pointing out your flaws, do you?”
His expression hardened, and every ounce of his attention homed in on me. “I have no flaws.”
Was he for real? I snorted. “No flaws? You’re a homicidal nut job. I literally just met you, and you want to murder me. That seems like a massive character flaw.”
Again, one dark eyebrow shot up. “You stole my artifact.”
Okay, he had me there. “It’s one cup, and you didn’t even ask for it back. You just started swinging. Is violence how you handle all of your problems?” Before he could answer, I forged on. “Besides, why do you even care? You won’t miss it. You have a whole trove of shiny crap back there that you probably never even use. Hoarding is a mental disorder, ya know? Some might consider that a flaw as well.” Okay, now I was being rude, but he’d brought this upon himself.
Broken beast? Really?
He blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and blinked again.
Ah-ha! I’d stumped him. Encouraged, I pressed on. “Look, I’m sorry I breached your security and took an old cup you’ve doubtlessly never used and forgotten about. That was wrong of me, but you didn’t exactly handle the situation well either. What do you say we call it even and go our separate ways?” When he didn’t immediately object, I bowed. No clue why. It felt right, albeit awkward and unnecessary, but it was too late to take it back now. Straightening, I heaped on another cringeworthy gesture with a finger gun salute of farewell. Because, why not? The urge to smack myself on my stupid forehead was strong, but I resisted, pivoted, and took a side-step away from him. My face blazed with embarrassment, but I responsibly kept the self-proclaimed guardian in my peripheral rather than burying my face in my hands. For one brief, shining moment, I thought I might actually make it to the bikes. They weren’t far away, and he seemed dazed by my astonishing display of logic. It was either that or my epic lack of mature elegance.
Turned out I had vastly overestimated my powers of persuasion.
“Congelo!”
I’d only made it two steps before the smell of burnt ozone slammed into me at the exact moment my body froze. I couldn’t move. At all. I couldn’t even wiggle my fingers or toes. The bastard had trapped me in place with magic. Panic surged through my veins as my wolf whined in my psyche, her confusion bleeding into my fear and outrage.
Closing the distance between us, he circled me until we were face to face again. The glowing orb floated beside him. Now that it was closer, I could make out tiny specks of frost forming on the surface. I tried to focus on that and not the feeling of helplessness building inside me. Trapped was bad. Trapped made me want to jump out of my skin and escape, and I needed to keep my head.
“You are not what I expected,” the guardian announced, which was a strange thing to say since there was no way he could have known I was coming to steal the artifact. “But as entertaining as this has been, I am duty-bound to protect the chalice and slay the broken beast who comes for it. I cannot allow you to unravel the thread.”
What the ever-loving nonsense was he talking about? What thread? I tried to ask, but my jaw was as immobilized as the rest of me.
“What? Nothing to say now? No quips or accusations?” A condescending smile tugged at his perfect lips, and my vulnerability went up in a poof of indignation.
As he circled me, moving back out of my line of sight, my rage grew. How dare the bastard hold me magically gagged while he hurled barbs at me. Did he plan to keep me immobile when he murdered me? What a bully.
He halted before me once again. “Do you wish to plead for your life, beast?” Tilting his head to the side, he studied my face. I truly hoped my expression conveyed the same emotion as the middle fingers I couldn’t raise. “Loqui,” he said with a flick of his wrist.
My jaw moved, snapping closed before springing open again. The rest of my body remained frozen, but he’d restored my ability to speak. Everything I wanted to say to him came rushing forward at once, but I only gave voice to the two words I couldn’t hold back. “Fuck you,” I spat.
He laughed in my face.
Appalled, I glared at the bastard. He wasn’t pack. He may kill me, but I sure as hell wouldn’t kowtow to him. All the anger and frustration I’d suppressed over the years turned to rage that boiled over inside me. The edges of my vision turned crimson as my entire body ached to lunge for him. I had never been a violent person, but this male… this male made me desperate for blood. I wanted to plunge my daggers deep into his throat and slice out his voice box so he could never hurl insults at me again.
“Shut up!” I shouted, surprising both of us.
Laughter cut off, he stared at me like he was finally seeing me for the first time.
“Listen, buddy,” I said, putting as much sarcasm as I could behind the term of endearment. “I’m done with this. No more lectures from condescending bullies, no more waiting for a beating, no more unfair fights. I’m not going to stand here and do nothing. Either we have a fair fight, or I’m outta here.”
“Intriguing proposal.” He eyed me curiously. “But how exactly do you intend to leave? You cannot even move.”
“Release me, and we’ll fight like adults,” I said through gritted teeth. “Unless you’re… afraid.”
His jaw ticked, and anger flared in his eyes. Closing the distance between us, he growled. The sound resonated in my bones, making me want to drop my gaze and submit, but I didn’t.
“Afraid of you?” he spat.
His gaze traveled down my body and back up, leaving an unwelcome trail of fire in its wake. What was it with this asshole? Why was my body responding to every little move and sound he made? Lust danced with the fury coursing through my veins, creating a volatile cocktail of emotions that made me feel deranged and irrational. I wanted to both slam my fist into his gut and lick his face.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“Show me your true form, beast,” he said.
It took a moment for his request to pierce the insanity confusing my mind and body. When it finally did, my thoughts stuttered. “My… my true form?”
“Yes. Shift. Show me what you really are, and I will give you the fair fight you desire.” His lips quirked to the side. “Well, a fairer fight. I am going to kill you either way.”
What?
Had he called me a broken beast without knowing what it meant? Without knowing how I was broken? A laugh bubbled up my throat at the absurdity of it.
The frown marring his infuriatingly handsome features deepened. “What is so humorous?”
I would have thrown my head back and screamed in frustration if the jerk hadn’t frozen me in place. Looking him square in the eye, I took a deep breath and admitted to the flaw I had assumed he already knew about. “I. Can’t. Shift.” Then, because he was planning to kill me anyway, I added, “Dumbass.”
Faster than I could blink, he pounced, coming so close I could have counted the curly dark hairs on his impressive chest. He smelled like autumn after the first frost, of snuggling under a warm fur on a brisk October day. Cool air radiated off him, chilling my skin and making my internal heater kick on.
“Liar,” he spat, dropping his head to the base of my neck.
“What are you—” The question caught in my throat as his cool breath tickled the sensitive area just above my clavicle. He was… sniffing me. The whisper of his breath on my skin made my blood boil but from a different kind of heat. The kind that made it difficult to remember he was essentially one giant red flag. Making a monumental effort, I shouted, “Get away from me, you freak!”
He pulled back like I’d slapped him, which I really wanted to. More than I’d ever wanted to slap anyone in my life. “You have done something to mask your scent,” he announced like he was an authority on the matter. “But I can still smell you, wolf. You might as well shift and show me your beast.”
“Are you hard of hearing?” I asked. “I can’t shift.”
He rocked back on his heels, eyeing me. “Do not worry, I can make you.” The smile that touched his lips made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Shift,” he commanded.
Magic slammed against me, and my will squished like a grape beneath his will. It tugged at my muscles and bones, trying to force the shift. The bastard wasn’t pack, but he pulled rank like an alpha. It hurt a lot, but pain and I were old friends. I gritted my teeth and breathed until the attack passed.
“I said shift!” the guardian shouted.
Magic punched me so hard it knocked the air out of me. Blood pounded in my ears as my bones turned and twisted, trying to comply with the compulsion. I gritted my teeth against the pain and prayed it would pass. He eyed me like I was a puzzle he wanted to tear apart. Fitting since that’s what his attacks felt like. I sucked down ragged breaths as my body knitted itself back together.
The bastard grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. Jaw ticking with barely controlled rage and determination flaring in his cruel silver eyes, he said, “Why do you fight the change? Give in, and this will be easy. I will make your death quick and painless.”
“Because. Dumbass. I can’t shift,” I told him once again. God, it hurt to talk. Or breathe. The healing was every bit as painful as the attempted shift had been. “I’m broken. Defective. Not even my alpha can release my wolf.”
He glared at me like I was the one wrecking his day. “I will not fail in my duty.”
“Neat, but I still can’t shift, so you’re gonna have to find some other broken beast to torture.”
“We shall see about that.” His eyes hardened, his jaw set, and I knew I was in for a world of hurt before the command rolled off his tongue. “Show. Me. Your. Face. Beast.”
Each word was imbued with more power than I’d ever felt before. Everything up to this point had been a tickle. Now, magic gripped my innards and tugged. My flesh swelled and stretched as tissue ripped away from bones and strained against my skin. Blood pounded through my veins as it raced to heal numerous fissures and tears. Agony tore a scream from my raw, mangled throat. My vision swam, and I prayed for death.
Tissue that had been healing was once again ripped apart. Then, everything snapped back into place.
I seethed. “Goddamn you, you sadistic piece of shit.”
The stranger’s eyebrows rose as he studied my face. Sweat beaded across his forehead, but that was the only evidence of his expended magic while I was spent. His well of power must have been massive.
“You will not refuse me, little wolf,” he thundered.
I wanted to laugh but couldn’t spare the energy. My body needed it to heal. My knees would have buckled if I hadn’t been locked in a supernatural stasis. In the light of the glowing orb, I could make out dark bruises mottling my exposed forearms. No doubt they were everywhere. The overwhelming scent of my blood spoke of extensive internal damage. I’d been told silver and decapitation were the only ways to kill a shifter, but if the guardian continued to break me until I lacked the energy to heal, he wouldn’t need his sword to finish me off. Internal bleeding and lack of oxygen would do the trick. That sounded like an excruciating way to go. I had to figure out a way to stop him.
The bastard studied me like I was a malfunctioning science experiment.
“No refusing you, huh? That’s a rapey thing to say.” I should have kept my mouth shut, but I was pissed and terrified. I didn’t want to die like this, caught in some random asshole’s magical trap as he tortured me.
“I am attempting to give you your dignity by killing you in your true form. The least you could do is comply.”
“You need to get it through your thick skull that this is my true form. My only form.” If I was going to die, I refused to go down in a simpering puddle, quaking at his bare feet. Even if my insides felt like goo.
“You are weak,” he growled. “A shifter who cannot even shift.”
