MALCOLM BLAINE.
___
The resigned voice of one of the four elders in my council floats through the room, stirring my wolf. "Alpha, you need to take a step back and view this matter from a distance. This is not wise."
I eye the wide panorama glass stretching the entire east wall before me, scoping out the boisterous city of Manhattan down below. Humans flit around, bundled up in thick wool from the early November chill. Dressed in a plain black tee and a pair of slacks, I hardly feel the cold. My voice is low. "There is no time."
Another spoke then, louder and with more conviction, "Your Highness, Garreth is right. Going down to South Carolina is a bad idea. You'll be offering yourself up to the Hunters on a silver platter. Yes, they have your brother but they'll be lying in wait for you. This is a trap. With Prince Bowen being the bait."
When I turn around, three of them take a step back at the sight of my wolf's glowing blue eyes, all with the exception of the stooped Elder standing in a secluded corner. Elias has known me since I was a little boy, practically raised me, and knew something I wasn't telling anyone.
"My mind is made," I say. "I won't allow any discussions on this matter. Rhon, ready the jet and some men. We leave at first light. The rest of you, out."
I turn my attention back to the glass, feeling my insides knot with a feeling I've become accustomed to for the past month. Expectation. Excitement. Want.
I scrub a hand down my face when the door closes shut with my elders' departure. Although I am still aware of a lingering presence.
"I just gave an order," I say, then add, "Elias."
"That you did," came his frail croak.
I face him. "Alright, let's hear it. Convince me to stay back. Tell me I'm going on a fool's errand."
"And why would I do that?"
For a brief moment I'm taken aback, then my eyes narrow. "Should have known you'd resort to your mind tricks. You want me to say the Hunters are going to attack once I land, that they'd take me hostage. But you forget. They're just humans. Weak, pathetic humans."
He shrugs slight shoulders. "Last I heard, they've gotten creative. They managed to infiltrate a nesting of snake Shifters in Orlando. One of the most powerful, might I add. They didn't do that by being weak and pathetic."
"Or maybe they were just careless."
"Like you're about to be."
Silence settles in the air. I turn back around, my mind whirring.
He takes a step closer, his voice quiet. "Malcolm, I've never known you for a fool. What's in South Carolina?"
At his question, I stiffen. Though he may be old, his senses are quick. He picks up on the small movement.
"Your restraint is legendary, you've never had any trouble leashing your wolf, but I can count how many times in the past month you've let it take over. There's only one thing that can make a man act so carelessly."
I wait for him to call it.
"Your mate. You sense her in Charleston."
When I face him, I pass a cold look over his form. "My beta has just been taken in by Hunters. Do you think I'll jeopardize any chance of his rescue because I'm impatient to meet a female that might not even exist?"
He doesn't reply, but a gleam enters his eyes. I could almost say it was... Satisfaction.
He heads toward the entrance, then disappears behind the door but not before saying happily, "Patience has never been your virtue, my king."
GWEN
__
Gooseflesh breaks over my entire body. I try to draw comfort from the guards flanking my sides, but the mere act of trying to draw strength makes me aware of all the things that could go wrong.
I hate this part of the job.
I'd be testing the intakes. While they were awake.
Several cases have been reported of immortals going off the rails completely and critically injuring scientists.
Hunters mill about the great white space. I make my way past them, entering into the elevator with the two fighters on either side of me. We begin a slow ascent.
The elevator doors slide open to reveal chaos. The Hunters on either side of me instantly tense, drawing up their weapons. Confusion pounds through me as I take in the countless hunters filing into the ward.
"What's going on?" I scream and start moving.
"Apparently one of the test subjects has gone berserk."
A knot forms in my throat when I see the room they're going into. Room 207.
Malcolm.
Before I can think better of it I'm rushing into the ward. Fear and worry become a living thing in me, churning in my gut. "Don't hurt him!" I find myself shouting.
I am jostled around by moving Hunters. Then that's when they begin. The bloodcurdling roars. My stomach bottoms out when screams from the Hunters erupt.
"Hold him down!"
"I'm trying--f*ck!"
Another bone-chilling roar. My insides twist.
I finally burst through the mass of bodies blockading the entrance. Once my eyes lock with his eerie glowing blue ones, he instantly falls silent.
His wild eyes run down my body as if searching for injuries, growing angrier and more frantic by the second.
He thinks I've been taken in by the Hunters too.
The warriors immediately capitalize on his brief distraction and clamp new silver cuffs around his hands and legs. Silver. My throat knots. Silver is dangerous to werewolves.
I am taken aback by my sudden concern, but I don't have any time to dwell on it because he lifts those frightening blue eyes to mine and I freeze.
"Mate," he growls.
A slow blink. My mouth gradually falls open. The Hunters all stiffen, staring from me to the alpha. I shrink backward and before I know it, I'm slinking away, rushing through the doors and away from the ward.
I am summoned to Dr. Sarah's office almost immediately.The space is filled with other important personnel and I fight the urge to shuffle under their openly scheming gazes.Dr. Sarah approaches me. She beams at me but I sense a falseness about it. "Gweneth. Everyone has been buzzing about the recent news. But we'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth. Is it true?"She makes it sound like I'd just announced an engagement. To her question, I nod. "Yes. I... I'm his mate." Saying it out loud sounds surreal. Impossible.Shifter-human pairings are rare. So rare there hasn't been any recorded cases of it actually happening. But to be fair, we only just found out shifters exist a few decades ago, so I'll give it time.If possible Dr. Sarah's smile widens. She claps like an excited schoolgirl and my discomfort grows. "This is good news!" She turns her attention to the team behind, and in a voice breathy with excitement, she announces, "It appears we've just made a breakthrough."White smile
MALCOLM__ The sweet smell of vanilla washes over the room when she walks in.My mate.My chest tightens when she comes closer with that blasted trolley. Her blonde hair is secured in a tight coil at her nape and like always, I am filled with a desperate desire to see it unbound, tumbling down her slender back.Her guileless green eyes take me in and she offers a tentative smile. "Hey.""Release me," I say.For the past four days, this has been my reply to her greetings. It has become a ritual of sorts, with her giving me an exasperated reply. But as the days go on, I realize I don't know what exactly I'm asking release from. This god's forsaken place, or the spell she seems to have woven over me. I crave the sight of her.My mind is a whirl of depraved thoughts surrounding her hair, her body, her lips--what the red, succulent buds will taste like, what it'd be like when I feed my dick through them. I should be ashamed.She is a Hunter.I almost scoff. My f*cking mate is a Hunter.
GWEN__I have a fitful sleep. In my dreams, I'm in the woods. Glowing blue eyes peer at me from the shadows. Then my legs begin to move and I realize I'm running, tearing through forests as a chilling howl sounds behind me.When I feel the morbid excitement of the animal pounding after me, it is then I realize something. They enjoy the chase.I snap awake with a gasp, breathing heavily. I realize I am being shaken awake.Turning, I look at Rylan's nervous form.His pupils are slitted and his brown hair has shrunk into his skull, rendering him bald. Red scales ride the entire length of his body, giving him a macabre look. I immediately take him into my arms, breathing against his skin, "Oh, Rylan. I'm so sorry." I draw back to frame his face. "Did I wake you?"He's still staring at me, a blank, emotionless look on his face. My chest instantly clenches and in horror, I wonder if he's relieving that night. That awful night. I shake him, eyes flitting around his face. "Rylan. Honey, loo
Up ahead loiter two guards. They look at us, and then look away. But then their heads swivel back around, shock registering on their faces. They'd just drawn out their guns when Malcolm let out a chilling roar. I blink in stark disbelief when one second he's at my side, then the next he's tearing through one of the men with inhumane strength. I think I scream when his head is ripped off his shoulders. The other man's trembling hand frantically reaches for his weapon. He pulls the trigger, sending off a deafening blast. Malcolm manages to sidestep it. When the Hunter makes to shoot again, he swipes at the pistol with his claws. The man goes pale when the weapon splits into two in his hands. He looks up to see Malcolm's heavy fist flying down his face. Once the man slumps down, Malcolm marches for me. His claws are bloody and his eyes glow with rage and bloodlust. He looks so terrifying at that moment that I find myself tur
As I come to, flashes of memory zip through my mind. Glasses exploding.I blink.Sprays of shards raining down.I try to sit up.Tendrils of smoke curling up from the bonnet.My head pounds.A huge body shielding me.I try to sit up again but give up, burrowing into the leather seat. My tongue feels like lead in my mouth. "My poor car," I groan in a barely audible voice.The man seated behind the wheel turns slate grey eyes to me.His huge hand palms the back of my head and I start to reach up in protest when he runs his hand through my hair gently. "No concussion," he says in a smooth baritone, withdrawing his fingers while my face flames.I drag in a breath and sit up. Then wish I hadn't.The windshield is completely destroyed, the rowers broken clean at the hilts. I lean forward, the sun rays connecting directly with my face like I'd just peered out a damned balcony. I turn to Malcolm and sna
MALCOLM__The rest of the ride is done in stiff silence. By the time we're cutting through the edge of North Carolina, I'm brimming with something akin to shame. Gwen's gasp at the sight of my back replays in my mind, driving me to the brink of madness. I know it isn't the greatest sight to behold, but my own mate being disgusted with me... The steering wheel bends under my hands.Inhaling slowly, I retract my claws and push down my wolf.I feel Gwen's gaze on me but I don't meet it, determined to push her to the back of my mind just as I'd done my wolf. It would be easy. Nothing could stand in the way of my control.Gwen stayed on my mind till we checked into our first hotel.I could feel her pleasure at the state of our room, but before she could turn those glittering green eyes brimming with gratitude my way, I stride out of the room.I go to the dinner across the street.The girl behind the counter scrawls my order d
GWEN__I crack my eyes open to an empty room. The drapes billow and a waft of frigid air blows in, causing me to pull the sheets tighter. I sit up, taking in the wide expanse of the luxurious room blearily.Rubbing my eyes, I drag myself up and over to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and take a quick shower, hearing the front door open and close.When I step out of the bathroom, I stop short on seeing some clothes laid out on the bed.A scrap of lace catches my eye and I draw closer to investigate.My mouth falls open when I lift something to my eye level. A white thong."You've got to be kidding me," I mutter.My gaze draws to the rest of the clothes and I pry them apart, my cheeks turning redder the more I see. A white tank top, a mini skirt, and a lacy white bra. At the foot of the bed is a pair of strappy white sandals.The door comes open and I sense Malcolm immediately. I spin around, anger lacing my tone, "The
Malcolm leads the way out of the hotel. I stop in my tracks when I notice a shiny new sports car parked in a corner. "Tell me that doesn't belong to you.""Why?""It's friggin expensive, is why! How did you manage to get one so soon?""I have my ways.""You don't say."We walk down the concrete. Unconsciously, I inch closer to Malcolm when I see a man trail off in the middle of a call, eyes on the outline of my breasts in the tight tank top. I jump when I feel Malcolm slide a hand around my waist. I look up to see his jaw is clenched tight."You know, we wouldn't have this problem if you'd just let me wear those pencil skirts you look down on so much."His response is to tighten his hold on my waist. My skin heats beneath his touch.Once we get to the car, I pull away from him, wanting to put some distance between us.I open my door and slip in, my back meeting the softest leather. I close my eyes when my nose catches a