Page 27 of Hunted By Darkness

Bear Claw shoveled meat into his mouth like a goddamn savage, licking his fingers and smacking his lips. My upper lip curled in barely contained disgust.

It was insult enough the bastard had already made himself at home, but chomping down on his meal like an animal was worth every bit of poison Nika spat my way when I threw his ungrateful hide out to eat with the rest of the beasts.

It'd been decades since I’d spent any amount of time with Bear Claw, and it wasn’t long enough. The arrogant wolf always grated on my nerves. He did what he wanted when he wanted. Didn’t matter who he threw in danger’s way to do it, either. He was a selfish twat, and he was sure to get my goddess in trouble before the week’s end.

“What happened after that feral ingrate took our souls?” the wolf bastard asked between mouthfuls, his tongue darting out to catch stray juice.

Ghastly.

At least the lad was on my side. His eyes flicked from Bear Claw to Nika, just as suspicious as I was, and just as disgusted by the feral display of his abysmal manners. I respected the hell out of the lad. He knew a villain when he met one. His eyes slid over to mine, mouth thinned and jaw clenched in open distrust.

Oh aye, he was a smart lad, he was.

For as perceptive as my goddess normally was on any given day, she really didn’t seem to pick up on the tension building in this room. Not even when I clicked my tongue and cut a look so scathing it’d set the bastard on fire if I had the flames to do it. Not when her friend scowled at the demon nibbling away at bits meant for the dogs.

My oblivious rebel went about her business as if it were any other day. She smiled and shifted, attempting another escape. I didn’t let her. My arm squeezed around her waist and kept the fluttering bird from leaving my side. I’d take whatever brutality it earned me to be the troll lording over what was his if it kept her safe. I wasn’t ashamed to say any punishment was worth her staying as far from Bear Claw as possible.

He might’ve crossed the barrier, suggesting he didn’t mean any ill will…yet, but I didn’t trust this wolf bastard. He’d been tricky back when we were on the same side. He wasn’t an enemy I’d underestimate. I knew him well enough to know not to. These years spent out of his path only cemented that fact, and now he’d come back a demon. Who knew what powers he kept close to his chest now that he’d gotten a second chance at life.

“We might have a way—” she started as if it were a friend she talked to and not a brand-new enemy who could very well rip our throats out in our sleep.

“I hardly think that’s wise, love,” I interjected, projecting cool calm despite the deadly edge to my voice. “Who’s to say he wasn’t sent here by that bastard brother of mine on the promisehe could keep his life after he delivered you like the pretty little gift you are.”

Bear Claw leaned back, his muscles rippling the way they always did when he was angry. He didn’t cast his eyes my way; they stayed on Nika. For some reason, he wouldn’t look away from her, and it only convinced me he was in the midst of masterminding a kidnapping.

“If he’d asked foryou, maybe.” The wolf bastard said to me without bothering to look my way. “But her? Not a fucking chance.” Bear Claw leaned as far forward as he could, catching Nika’s gaze with his, head bent low and tilted like the wolf he so often was. “I think you know that, Nika. You’ve had me inside your head all this time. Do you think I’d ever let him get to you?”

I didn’t like the way he said her name. I didn’t like anything he did, but especially when it came to the way he moved in close, talked in a husky whisper, and stared at her like he never planned to look away. Like she was the salvation he’d sought after losing his soul to the Brotherhood.

My lips twitched.

For the first time since meeting the selfish wanker, I believed him when he said he wouldn’t let Rilas have her. And while it might be a comfort to most to know he didn’t intend to hurt her, I picked up on something far worse than the intent to kill in everything he did around my rebel.

Affection.

Bloody fucking hell.

Nika smiled and nodded, while staying completely oblivious to the motive behind his vow. “You’re a grumpy asshole, but I know you wouldn’t.”

Her cheeky grin speared a hole straight through my chest. How dare he get that from her. The wolf bastard didn’t deserve an ounce of her compassion or thoughtful reassurance.

My rebel was too kind for her own good. She’d forgive him for every dark deed, every evil transgression, all because he promised he’d changed. Because he’d convinced her that she’d shown him the light, and it’d be on me to keep the bastard in line when he thought it made him special.

“Bet Ryker and Tometi would take over before you could do anything, anyway,” she added, amused by the thought.

Bloody bastard was getting on my last nerve.

The shady tribesman did something I’d never seen him do. He laughed. His face lit up and the tension eased in his body as he leaned back again, satisfied with himself. Even Lev seemed to relax after the exchange. But I was tense for an entirely new reason.

Was this bastardin lovewith mygoddess? Had he fallen for her in all that time he’d played her head-squatting numpty?

I didn’t think anything could be worse than a demonic wanker sent to destroy the world, bent on claiming my bird as his celebratory prize. My own brother who I’d been forced to kill. The devil among us. That was easy enough because Nika never held any affection for Rilas. But this gorgeous twatwaffle? Who knew what connection she shared with him in her head all those months. Her taste in men was questionable at best.

I mean, she’d chosen me, hadn’t she?

Jealousy poisoned my thoughts in a way it never had with anyone else. The lad was a friend, but this wolf bastard…

He was a complication I couldn’t afford to have.

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