Page 62 of Fated Exile

I never saw a woman like that, or got to be with one. Just thinking of it makes me feel weak with need. Maybe that's what's going on—maybe I got so overwhelmed by my own stupid arousal that I imagined a vampire in the woods.

But as I get closer to the northern border, I feel like nails are running down a chalkboard. Leaping forward, I shift into my wolf, feeling his large and comforting form come down on me easily.

It's intuitive to hunt the darkness in this form, embracing it fully and prowling through the shadows. My wolf was my only refuge when the pain of Emma's death got to be too much. When I was my wolf, the vampires could only do so much to hurt me. Though they tried their usual tricks to make me shift back, none of them worked. I had peace in my wolf form for years.

Until I met Delilah, and she changed everything.

I don't regret that shift back in the arena, though. Letting Delilah into my life has made it fuller. She healed me, and I want to pay her back for that.

First, I have to make sure that she's safe.

As I dip my nose down to the ground and paw at the wet leaf litter, the breeze around me shifts, and I catch the scent of the vampire again. Something about it is off. The vampire scent is rolled up in a strange, cloying, oily smell that sticks at my nostrils and makes me sneeze.

Magic. Dark magic of some kind. Squinting into the distance, I can see it floating in the air.

A growl rises in my chest, and I run through the trees without even thinking. My powerful paws hit the ground, claws digging into the earth and tearing up undergrowth.

I feel my ears pin back, my heart racing, lips peeled and fangs prepared to sink into flesh. Every part of me was built for this moment, and I've practiced this sort of killing blow a hundred times. Even the land responds to my anger and rage, the trees waking and leaning over, branches dipping to strike at the previously unseen enemy.

For the first time in a long time, I feel alive.

The vampire appears in the darkness, visible only once I'm a few feet away. It's cloaked in a black cloud that parts as I leap through it. Though the vampire turns and hisses at my intrusion, I'm much too fast for it. I jump on it with my teeth bared and my claws extended, bringing it to the ground and pinning it there.

Staring down at the pale creature below me, I feel a spark of hatred at who I see. Ignacio was one of Demetri's right-hand men. He never touched me the way Demetri did, but he loved to drink my blood and part my skin with knives. Demetri would give me to him when he tired of playing with me in other ways, or my body stopped responding. The only rule he ever gave Ignacio was not to let his favorite plaything die.

It takes the vampire a moment to recognize me, but when he does, his eyes widen. "Bastian!" I don't expect the wide smile that parts his lips. Seeing it makes my blood run cold. "That's a good puppy, always so obedient since we changed you. Get off me and show me the way to the mutts' lead bitch, won't you?"

I snarl in his face. This seems to confuse him, because he frowns, though doesn't tremble in fear as I'd hoped.

In the distance, I hear a wolf yipping to another. Something inside me shifts, and I'm suddenly aware of a tugging feeling in my chest. There's a pressing matter behind me, one that urgently needs to be attended to.

But there's no way in hell I'm leaving this piece of shit behind without tearing his head off. Ignoring the tugging feeling, I dig my claws into Ignacio's arms, piercing muscle and skin, then push further until I've pinned him to the ground.

He grits his teeth and turns white-faced, but doesn't scream at all, the oily black magic still roiling around him. His voice is annoyed as he asks, "Why the hell isn't it working? Demetri just had to go and get himself killed for trying to say her name." Ignacio sighs. "You stupid mutt, let me go!"

I snap in his face, then carefully transform back to my human form. As I do so, I make sure to leave my claws long and sharp, sinking them into his flesh so he stays pinned. His eyes widen as he takes me in, but before he can say something, I demand, "What are you doing here, and how did you get past the border?"

Ignacio eyes me with a narrowed gaze. "Hmmm. You're not supposed to know more than you're told." He inhales deeply, then hisses at me. "Bastian, you smell likemutt.Have you been spending too much time with them? What's wrong?Obey me."

I feel werewolves running towards me, three of them in wolf form, familiar and oddly comforting. But I don't tear my gaze from that of the man who once tortured me. While I wish I were getting to tear Demetri's throat out, I'm glad at least that I'm getting to punish someone who helped him break me.

"I'm never going to obey you again, you piece of shit," I tell Ignacio, baring my teeth at him. I can feel my canines lengthen into fangs. "I don't know what the hell you're doing here, but I do know that you're going to tell me."

There's a pounding sound behind me, and I sense before he speaks that Lance has joined me. "Or you can tell me."

"You've got other business to attend to, Bastian." Kieran paces around to face me from Ignacio’s side, in human form and stark naked. He smells like Delilah did when we fooled around, which makes the blood rush straight to my crotch. In a low voice he says, "We can take care of this. You've got to go back to the Mating Circle and finish things there."

"Yeah bud." Finn approaches me as well, kneeling to put a hand on my shoulder. I feel him pull at my muscles, but they're locked in place, the snarl that's spilling from my throat uncontrolled. Finn leans in to murmur to me, "Whatever you're feeling right now, I get it. We'll hold this guy somewhere for questioning as long as we can. But right now you should be pummeling Delilah, not him."

Swallowing, I look away from the vampire—who is wisely choosing to be silent now—and meet Finn's eyes. His widen a little, and I ask him, "What if I'm so angry that I hurt her?"

"You won't." He squeezes my shoulder. "By the way, your eyes glow yellow now when your wolf is out, not red. So you're definitely fully cured of whatever these fuckers did to you, and if anyone deserves to get laid, it's you."

Lance adds in an even tone, "Also, there isn't much time left before the moon's position shifts and the Summit is officially over. If that happens before you've mated with Delilah, we might as well throw in the towel now."

I consider their words, and nod. "As long as someone handles this guy."

"Oh, he'll be handled alright." Kieran kneels opposite me, releases his claws, and gleefully sinks them into Ignacio's shoulders. I enjoy the way the vampire twists and gasps in pain.

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