Chapter Eleven

WOLF

Sparring practice, are you fucking kidding me. Groaning, I scrub a hand over my face, unwilling to open my eyes as another loud bang sounds against the door.

By the third or fourth bang, I thought the door would come right off of its hinges, like, take a hint, old man, fucking, leave me alone.

Groaning, I buried my head under the pillow, hoping he would just stop; the man is fucking relentless.

“Get up, Wolf! Either you open this door, or I’ll break the goddam thing down.” The sound of Caius growling on the other side of the door should have me leaping out of bed to unlock that door in a heartbeat. But my head is pounding inside my skull, and I don’t give a fuck, wolfsbane; I groan as I pinch my eyes shut. The effects of that one drink from last have me sure as fuck that Caius was bullshitting about there only being wolfsbane in there.

Shifters are capable of three things: super strength, super-fast healing, and our ability to handle liquor. It takes a lot to get a wolf tipsy, let alone fuck drunk. But that logic goes right out the window when you add shit like wolfsbane and whatever else Caius drugged me with.

Fuck.

A loud crash sounds at the door, which has me pulling my head out from under the pillow and squinting my eyes in its direction when I notice Caius standing there with a baseball bat over his shoulder. He’s giving me a smug grin when he mutters,

“I said get up, now fucking do as I tell you, boy, and after sparring practice, you can come fix this door you broke.” My eyes narrow on him in response,

“You fucking broke it, not me,” I grumble,

“Funny, I can’t remember breaking it.” He smirks menacingly. And I’m still staring at him as I shake my head; he just broke down the door, and now I’m meant to fix it? Typical.

Instead of arguing with him, I decided not to and buried my head under the pillow again as my hand flew up to give him a thumbs up.

Whatever, old man.

I hear a woman’s voice and instantly freeze when I realize it’s Mason. Great, what the fuck does she want?”

“Make sure he gets up, whatever it takes,” Caius grumbles, and I’m about to start protesting from under my pillow when I hear Mason murmur,

“Just think how much fun we could have had if you hadn’t locked your door last night, Wolf.” groaning, I lift my head from under the pillow as I narrow my eyes in her direction, only to find Mason leaning against the wall with a menacing grin on her face,

“Would you like some help getting dressed? I could always...” Biting her bottom lip, her wolf swirls with desire behind her eyes as she drinks me in.

Shaking my head at her, I huff when I burry my head against the pillow,

“Mace. Get out,” I grumble irritably; she’s the last person I need with this pounding headache of mine right now.

Scoffing, she sighs when she sneers,

“What’s up with you, anyway? When did you become so boring? Yeah, the last time we saw each other, I nearly took you’re head off, but we don’t have to be all weird around each other now; why can’t we leave the past where it should be and have some fun?”

Lifting my head and turning it towards her, my eyes narrow when I smirk in disbelief,

“Mace, the only one making shit weird right now is you. I have left the past in the past, and you are my past. I would prefer to keep it that way, so if you don’t mind, get out.”

Narrowing her eyes at me, she smirks when she shrugs,

“Suit yourself, but if you need to get rid of that built-up frustration you’re harbouring, you know where to find me.” Turning on her heel, she slams the already broken door behind her. And I shake my head as I grumble, “Not happening.”

Mason is beautiful; I mean, of course, she is, and any guy would give his left nut to be with her. She saved my ass more than once, like the time I got myself captured by a group of rogues who were in the business of bartering enslaved wolves for leverage in and out of states; at the time, I was nine years old, and even though it hadn’t been the first time that I had met her, it was the first time that she saved my ass, the first of three times to be precise.

Even though she never told me what she was doing there, she told me to mind my own business and be thankful that she was there when she was, and so I did. I thanked her for helping me escape, and we parted ways, only to run into each other a year later.

So yeah, we have history, a fucking bucket of it. And falling back into chaos with Mason seems easy because it’s fun, wild, and crazy. But she’s a loose cannon when it comes to her wolf; I’ve seen her beast in action, and it is as unpredictable as a hurricane.

I’ve watched Mason kill just for fun, not because she had her back up against a wall, not because she was forced to take a life, but because she got pissed off with how some guy looked at her in a pub.

I don’t share the same sentiments as her; yes, I’ve killed, but not because I wanted to. I guess you’ll do what you must when it’s a question of your life or the rogue in front of you. But taking pride and carnal enjoyment in killing another person is sick and sadistic. Unfortunately, Mason is just like her uncle in that way. If pushed, she could quickly turn into a serial-killing deranged wolf.

This means I could never trust her, and trust means everything to me.

~

Finally making my way outside, I notice it’s still pitch black, dark out. Focusing my attention on the rogues, everyone is already grouping up, burning torches surrounding us, which has my jaw ticking in response as I finally narrow my eyes on Caius, who’s standing in the centre ring like some rogue alpha wolf.

Smirking, I shake my head at him; his sinister grin is cast in flaming shadows as it begins creeping up at the corners of his mouth. Raising an eyebrow, he flicks his head, beckoning me to come closer.

“Well, come on, boy, it’s time to show us what you’ve got. I thought I’d make it easy on you; you’re up against Mason first.” He orders, and my jaw instantly clenches as my muscles contract on their own accord.

Of course, he wants me to go up against Mason first; I wouldn’t be surprised if it was all her idea to begin with.

My feet slowly start moving toward the inner ring as my eyes scan the area for Mason, but I can’t spot her in the crowd.

It’s clear that Caius is trying to push Mason and me together at every turn; ordering me to spar with her in front of everyone is a testament to that. The second she steps out from behind some rogues, I instantly know that things will only get worse from here on out as Mason smirks up at me, stalking closer like I’m her prey.

Fucking great start to my mission, I smirk as I shake my head agitatedly.

A sudden sound of drums begins thrumming all around us, and my head whips up as I spin around, only to find rogues randomly positioned around the outer circle, beating drums at a steady beat.

Turning back around to face Caius, I raise a brow when I scoff,

“A bit dramatic. Aren’t you worried the nearby pack will hear all this drumming?”

Caius scoffs as he crosses his large arms over his chest,

“You assume that Fenris doesn’t know I’m here. Trust me, he knows. But what keeps him away is not knowing how many rogues I have in my possession; his downfall will be the very thing he clings to. Now, enough talk, fight.”

Furrowing my brows, I’m about to ask him who Fenris is, to try and fish about which pack he’s after like I don’t already know, but Caius has that look in his eyes that tells me that another word will be my last; he’s a grumpy fucker, and I’m surrounded by his rogues, not like I’m in any situation to argue.

I turn toward Mason as she smirks at me; the look in her eyes as she’s eye fucking me before licking her lips has me scowling at her.

Crouching down in position, Caius suddenly clears his throat when he mutters,

“You’re wolves, boy; I want your wolves to spar, not your humans.” A wave of low chuckling reverberates from the other rogues as they stare at me in amusement. I instantly look back at Mason as I tighten my jaw; a grin spreads across her face as her eyes seductively eye me out. Given the circumstances, this is a real fucking bad idea, but one I can’t exactly walk away from, even if I wanted to.

Mason quickly pulls her t-shirt up over her head; her perky tits have me involuntarily zeroing in on them when she scoffs,

“Like what you see, Wolf?”

I immediately divert my eyes when I grumble,

“Fuck off, Mason.”

She doesn’t miss a beat as she continues to remove the rest of her clothes.

“Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to strip?” She scoffs as she rolls her eyes at me.

Narrowing mine at her, I look her dead in the eyes. She starts pulling her tights down, and I immediately avert my eyes away again; shifters aren’t exactly shy when it comes to being naked in front of one another; it’s normal for us to see each other in this way. But there’s something about the way Mason’s going about this that indicates that she wants the two of us like this on full display in front of the others. She’s trying to prove a point, and that’s what has my wolf on edge; as I said, Mason’s wolf is unpredictable. She fights dirty.

With that in mind, I drop my grey sweatpants to the ground, step out of them, and kick them to the side.

I’m standing there covering my junk while staring her dead in the eyes,

“Oh, what, you won’t even grant me a glimpse?” She teases with a giggle, and my jaw clenches at her little remark: I’m not in the mood for her bullshit right now. Not wasting a second, I feel my wolf pushing to the surface; the heat and burning sensation suddenly fuel my carnal need to shift.

As tingles spread across my body, I instantly hear my bones cracking; the heat is welcoming, like saying hello to an old friend infused into your soul.

Groaning, I feel it spread all over me like a wave as the bones continue to shift out of place to become something more; fur starts to grow all over my body as I crouch down against the ground and paw at the soil, I suddenly look up at Mason when I shake out my thick fur, my black wolf staring directly at hers.

The crazy look in her wolf’s eyes tells me exactly what comes next when she suddenly lunges straight at me. Still, my wolf is quick, swiftly moving out of the way as his large paws pound against the soft-covered ground. She snarls and comes at me again in a split second; I duck out of her way just in time. Like I said, I’m bigger than she is and way faster, but she’s relentless as her jaws start snapping sharp canines right at my jugular the next time she comes at me.

I growl deeply at her as my wolf bares his teeth in warning; this is called sparring practice, not a full-out fucking war, but she’s too far gone; her wolf is in full-on killer mode, and I’m her target. Mason’s wolf loves to lose control, and Mace likes to act like she can’t keep a reign on her beast, but we both know she can if she wants to. The problem is Mason gets high on this shit; she always has.

Ducking out of her way, she suddenly swings back. I could seriously hurt her if I wanted to, but that’s not what this is supposed to be about, or is it?

I growl at her to stop, but she carries on swinging back, her canines snapping wildly, when suddenly, she’s on my back, and her teeth sink into my flank. Growling fiercely at her, I’m instantly pissed off when I swing back and grip her, biting down into her shoulder with force.

Her blood starts flooding my mouth as I hold her down. The metallic taste on my tongue quickly has me releasing her when she yelps and whimpers on the ground, and I can’t believe I bit into her like that.

My wolf is still staring down at her when she shifts back into her human form, and I’m looking down at her as she glares up at me. Mason’s hair is wet with sweat as she clasps a hand over her bloody shoulder. I paw closer to her, instantly worried and concerned; I didn’t mean to hurt her.

Fuck.

I’ve never bitten her before, but I freeze the second her eyes light up in a way that tells me that she’s completely turned on right now.

I’m still trying to come to grips with what the fuck just happened when Damien’s wolf suddenly attacks me from the side.

What the fuck?

Tumbling over, I’m instantly up again when I jump back and growl at him. My top lip lifts to show my canines when his scraggly-looking wolf snaps his teeth at my face; my wolf immediately lunges forward, and I overpower him in a second when I pin him down to the ground, I growl so loudly in his wolf’s face as I’m towering over him that it instantly has his wolf recoiling in fear as he shifts back into his human form.

He’s still the little coward he’s always been, I think to myself as my beast continues to snarl at him.

Looking up at Mason, I quickly realize that even she’s baring her neck as she lowers her head to me.

I immediately pull back, straightening up, when I notice all the wide-eyed, shocked, and surprised expressions from the rogues; it’s deathly silent, as even Caius stares at me in surprise.

What just happened?

Why is everyone looking at me like that?

Quickly shifting back from my beast form, my bones realign when I look up from my crouched position.

Slowly rising to stand, I’m covering my junk; all I can do is watch at the stares of everyone. My jaw clenches as my eyes lower towards Mason, who’s staring up at me with a look in her eyes I’ve never seen before.

What’s wrong with her?

Damien suddenly steps up right in front of me, glaring at me, when he starts yelling,

“Why the hell are you here, Wolf?! You’ve never wanted to work together with anyone, and now, all of a sudden, after all these years, you want to help fight against the alpha packs. I don’t buy it; you’re up to something!” He barks, but I keep calm instead of retaliating. There’s no point in me reacting; I embarrassed him; I get that.

Tilting my head as I narrow my eyes on him, I smirk in amusement because he isn’t worth the effort anyways.

“You’re such a useless piece of shit, coming in here pretending you want to be part of our pack; what is it, Wolf? Do you have mixed feelings about why your parents threw you away like the worthless piece of shit you truly are, and so you wanted us to take you in? You’re pathetic, Wolf, fucking pathetic,” Damien continues spitting his venomous words when I narrow my eyes on him in response; he’s taking this too far.

“I don’t want to be a part of any pack, rogue or alpha. I want to help fight against the alpha packs that keep forcing me out of every shitty little town I enter, that’s all.” And those words don’t seem like a lie, even though I’m entirely here for a different reason.

He continues barking words when I notice Mason is scowling at Damien, glaring daggers at him. Caius suddenly lets out a deep growl as he steps forward, almost standing right between us as he glares at his son.

“I say when we don’t need someone in our pack, me, not you,” He barks, and Damien immediately cowers in front of his father.

“He shouldn’t be here; he has never been on any side, and now he decides to take a side. Why?” Damien mutters with his eyes trained on the ground. And Caius suddenly towers over Damien as he growls deep and hard. His canines extend as saliva starts dripping from them as his hardened stare pins Damien. Suddenly, he grips Damien’s throat and starts squeezing so tightly that he starts choking, his eyes instantly bloodshot.

“I will kill anyone who defies me, even you.” He snaps. Damien coughs and splutters and Caius suddenly lets go of him. Damien drops to the ground, gasping for air, looking up at Caius in horror. “Now get inside,” Caius growls, and Damien instantly nods as he pushes away from him and quickly scampers off back towards the opening of the mine.

Caius slowly turns to stare at me, and I clench my fists as I watch Damien run away. Something about what just happened doesn’t sit right with me.

I look up at Caius when I see something shimmer in his eyes that instantly has me feeling on edge when he grins with a sinister smirk that tells me he’s up to something.

“Tonight, we will officially welcome you to our pack, Wolf.” He mutters, and I don’t know why that suddenly makes me feel on edge.

What exactly does that mean?

Frowning, my entire body tense as I stare long and hard at him. The way he’s looking at me instantly sends a chilling shiver down my spine.

What are you up to, old man?