Page 15 of Hunted By Darkness (The Dark Soul Collector #2)

Silas

I didn’t take my eyes off the demon sipping from a cup Nika insisted on preparing for him.

The wanker was smug, and why wouldn’t he be?

My bird had vouched for him after throwing herself between us.

To add insult to injury, she’d refused to hear one word from me about how unsafe it was to bring him back.

How it was a disaster waiting to happen.

How this wolf bastard was the worst of the worst.

He'd changed? What a load of fucking bollocks that was. The fact that his eyes were no longer red and he didn’t bear the mark of the Brotherhood didn’t mean anything.

Say for a minute we ignored the fact that he was dead and in her head less than a few weeks ago, and that this tosser hadn’t come back as a demon smelling like the After and bent on destruction, it didn’t change the fact that he was still the same old Bear Claw, and that bastard was as sly and as conniving as they came.

As long as he was near my goddess, he was a bloody problem.

If he was really the one she called the Soul of Death, then I agreed with the version of me she saw in her dream. He couldn’t be trusted. She wasn’t safe. It didn’t matter what she thought about him, what she was sure she knew. Bear Claw had been, and would always be, a vicious killer.

Nika tried to take a seat on the other side of the sofa after putting a plate of food in front of the wolf bastard, but I slipped closer and pinned the feisty darling to my side before she could fully perch.

Her annoyed glare was lost on me. My eyes were firmly set on the bastard eating food my bird had made for him.

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 promise he 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 for you , 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 bastard in love with my goddess? 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.

Nika beamed like the two shared secrets I’d never understand, and my hold on her tightened. My thoughts ran rampant as I watched them share smile after smile, sure to destroy me. Her gentle touch roused me from the spiraling nonsense in my head with a jerk.

“You doing okay? Were you injured tonight?” she asked, concern lacing every word.

And suddenly, I felt like the worst bastard in the room.

“No, love. It’s kind of you to worry, but tonight was hardly a challenge worth it.” I brushed my knuckles along her cheek. Her pale skin was quickly colored by a faint red. For all her venom, Nika still fell under the spell of my attention and touch.

“If you’re sure…” she breathed, her soft smile calming the rage weaving its way through my body.

“I still think you need to rest.” Her nose scrunched in that adorable way that made me desperate to snog her face off.

“And shower,” she added, eyeing the sullied clothes I wore still drenched in the blood of her tormentors.

“Only if you join me,” I goaded, earning myself an elbow to the stomach.

Worth it.

Finally, her focus was solely on me. It felt as if I’d won.

I tossed the wolf bastard a wink, and the scowl he sent my way only served to amuse me. If he was head over heels for my little rebel, he’d find out soon enough how little chance he stood to sway her. I’d make bloody sure of it, even if it meant him hearing how good I gave it to her.

Nika stood from her seat, glaring when I tried to keep her. “We can talk more in the morning. There’s only two rooms here, so I’m afraid you’ll have to take the couch, but I’ll grab you a few things to keep comfortable and warm.”

The bastard was a damn animal. He could sleep outside, but the look she sent demanded I didn’t voice my obvious complaints. For once, I listened. I didn’t plan to sleep while he was here, anyway. I’d talk to the lad about taking shifts, he the day and I the night.

Bear Claw was on his feet, so I was instantly on mine.

The man and I weren’t far off in height. He was a tall bastard, I’d give him that. Powerful, too. Covered in tribal paint the way he was, he’d make anyone second-guess their ability next to his.

I squared him up with a look, but his eyes never left Nika.

Crossing my arms, I nodded an agreement she didn’t need.

Nika was already moving about the room to grab a pillow and blankets for the wolf bastard who not only didn’t need them, but didn’t deserve them.

I stole what she’d grabbed before she could hand them off, or worse, make the bed for him.

Her sigh was full of irritation as I haphazardly tossed the bundle onto the couch.

He could make his own bloody bed.

“Well, good night,” Nika said to Bear Claw before she turned to the lad. “You and I will go through the book in the morning.”

Lev snuck a look at Bear Claw before nodding.

“Tometi might have a way to track down Rilas,” the tribesman said out of nowhere.

I glared at the bastard.

He’d only just said he woke up in that forest and didn’t know what happened, so how would the bear know Rilas’s scent without shifting around him first? What, did this wanker think I’d miss that after all this time? What a load of bollocks.

Nika tossed me a little look, one that said I wasn’t allowed to be stupid and speak my mind. She knew me a little too well, because that was exactly what I planned to do.

“How? I thought he couldn’t catch a scent without shifting, and you woke up in the forest with no memory of how it happened, right?” she asked, speaking my thoughts for me, just in a prettier voice and putting it far nicer than I would’ve.

Bear Claw chose that moment to stare at me, the bear in his eyes, gleaming as if speaking for him.

Even his voice dropped into a guttural, growling tone.

“He caught his scent somehow and thinks he can find him if we can get close enough.” The bastard crossed his arms, and the confidence he’d do just that radiated off him like a goddamn scent.

“I’ve got a few contacts I can use. When you have a way, I’ll have the way. ”

“You can’t trust—”

Bear Claw cut me off, his eyes set on mine.

“I think you’re a two-faced bastard. I’ve never liked you.

You’re shameless and always convinced you’re right.

” Nika opened her mouth to interject, angry on my behalf, the sweet darling, but he went on as if she hadn’t.

Just another reason to despise the overconfident alpha-hole.

“I’m not asking you to trust me. I don’t trust you either, but I trust her.

I’ll do it for her. I vow it on my ancestors and my tribes’ souls that whatever is within my power to do, I’ll do it to protect her,” his eyes jerked over to Nika, the bear’s soft amber glow inside them.

It was with great displeasure I admitted this was the first time I’d ever heard Bear Claw vow anything on the family he’d lost. In all the years we worked together, he never once talked about the past he’d left behind when he joined the Brotherhood.

Little was known about the man who was more beast than anyone I’d met in my long life.

But what I did know was that whatever happened to his tribe, whatever he left behind, it’d blackened his heart.

And if anything, that was something I could understand.

Not enough to forgive him for trying to kill my goddess, but enough to know how fierce the vow he made was.

Bear Claw stared at Nika, enunciating every word with a growl. “I meant it when I said I wouldn’t leave you to deal with him alone. I always keep the vows I make, woman. That’s something even this possessive asshole can’t argue isn’t true.”

For fuck’s sake…

It’d be easier if he was our enemy. It’d give me a reason to send him back to the After. If I’d thought for a second he might hurt her, I wouldn’t apologize for doing what needed to be done. But what I got from him was worse.

He meant every bloody word.

My jaw clenched in frustration. I sunk a hand into my hair and toyed with how to handle the new uncomfortable reality that the wolf bastard was in love with my woman, and he’d do whatever it took to protect her.

Bear Claw was powerful before he died, and now even more so. Turning away someone like that when it could mean the difference between winning and losing, when it could mean she was safe when this all ended, wasn’t an option. I had to do something I never thought I’d do.

I let him stay.

“We have a way,” I said, voice dripping with distaste. “That’s all you need to know right now. Use your contacts and get us to him, and we’ll finish what that bastard started.”

I didn’t wait for him to reply. I wrapped a possessive arm around my bird, making sure it was clear whose she was as I escorted her upstairs to calm the raging monster inside my head.

I’d made a deal with the Devil, but if my goddess survived and Rilas was destroyed, it’d be worth it.