Page 3 of Savage Monster

I tightened my fingers around the grip on my gun. “You just want me to put the fucking gun down.”

He moved faster than I could ever prepare for, but instead of snatching the gun from me, he gripped my wrist and pressed the barrel right over his heart. Vomit rushed up my throat, and my fingers shook around the weapon.

“Go on,” he taunted, his voice low and dangerous. “Pull the trigger, baby. End me right here, right now.”

I couldn’t pull the fucking trigger.Wouldn’tpull the trigger. And he knew it just as well as I did.Fuck.

Sighing, I loosened my grip, letting the gun fall to my lap. I swallowed thickly when he lifted my wrist and pressed a kiss to my palm, his eyes locking on mine. I curled my fingers into a fist, drawing in a shaky breath, unable to look away from his intense, blue-eyed gaze. I was a deer caught in the headlights, unable to decide if I should run or stay.

He slowly released my wrist and backed away, freeing me from his hypnotizing eyes. I quickly snatched my phone from the nightstand, and sure enough, there were over a hundred missed calls from an unknown number, all of them the same. I looked toward my window before looking at him.

“Why didn’t you call 911?” I demanded, trying to find reasons,graspingat any fucking reason I could, to make him the bad guy. Who the fuck broke into someone’s house and just watched them sleep? “Why didn’t you wake me up when you got here? Why didn’t you alert park authorities?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but he was abruptly cut off when a sharp, high-pitched, female scream echoed through the park from the direction of the campsites. My heart lurched into my throat at the same moment I threw back my blankets. Every human emotion fell from Onyx’s face, freezing me in my steps.

It wasn’tnormalto go as blank as he just did.

The scream abruptly cut off, and my heart stopped for a moment, too.

“Onyx?” I asked quietly.

He clenched his jaw.

“Get dressed,” he said quietly. Stepping closer to me once I was out of bed, he gripped the back of my neck, towering over me by a couple of inches. When he tilted his head down to look at me, some of his curls fell into his eyes, and my fingers twitched with the urge to push them back. “Donotleave my fucking sight,” he growled.

Something in his tone warned me not to argue. Warned me he was the true predator here, and disobeying him could turnveryugly. So, instead of opening my big mouth, I just nodded, remaining mute.

We possibly had much bigger things to worry about anyway, especially if he was right and someone had been snooping around my cabin. What if that person had hurt a park visitor?

two

Onyx

I walkedbeside Korain as he rushed to where the scream had come from. Someone was already on the radio, saying they were on their way, since this was supposed to be Korain’s day off. But nope—my boy wanted to rush head first into what could potentially be a dangerous situation. When he told the ranger on duty he was already headed that way and was closer, the other ranger just let it go.

What a douchebag.

Up ahead, people were freaking out. Some were recording. Others were taking pictures. A couple seemed to be on the phone with 911. Two other people were throwing up.

I had a feeling this was about to be a fucking disaster.

“What the fuck?” Korain mumbled, breaking into a jog. He pushed through the throng of people and immediately gagged at the sight before him.

I clenched my jaw.

It was a young girl—probably eighteen or nineteen. She was still in her pajamas, and her hair was wrapped in a messy bun, strands falling out everywhere as if she’d just rolled out of bed. It looked like she’d been on her way to the restrooms just up the hill. Fuck, she was even wearing her damn bedroom slippers—like she couldn’t have been fucked to find regular shoes for the trek from her campsite to the bathrooms.

But what was horrific was her slit throat, the cut so deep, it nearly decapitated her.

Korain was green, his skin clammy as he quickly called it into the local sheriff’s office. I stayed close to him but scanned the area, my jaw clenched. The killer was still on the loose, and I had no doubt in my mind it was the same motherfucker who had killed the other four people. Gritting my teeth, I pulled out my burner and texted Pops.

Onyx:Can you send me a map of the bodies with the dates they were killed?

Pops:Check your email.

Opening up my email, keeping a keen ear out for Korain, I clicked on the encrypted file, scanning my eyes over the map. A snarl twisted my lips when I realized there was a path of sorts.

A path that led tohere. Too close to my fucking boy.

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