Page 18 of Midnight Hunt (Wolves of Midnight #4)

17

GRIFF

Whiskey was livid .

The net that had snatched up Sable and left her dangling several feet off the ground was coated in silver. When she cried out in pain, he started to shift. Not into my human form, but into his true form. His demonic form.

His hind legs lengthened, transforming into a shape that allowed him to stand upright. Muscles rippled over his already muscular body, beefing up his chest and biceps. His paws became monstrous hands tipped in long deadly claws, and I felt his canines descend even more. His coat was still a tawny hue, but I knew his eyes were now flashing a deep blood red.

I allowed the shift without question, his anger and desperation fueling my own. They’d set a trap for us. They knew we’d go this way. Knew we’d return home . And we’d walked right into it.

Whiskey tipped back his massive head and belted out an unearthly roar. Sable answered it with several pitiful whimpers, helplessly thrashing in the net. I could see now that it wasn’t made out of rope but some kind of metal. Probably steel. The rattling sound drove Whiskey into a frenzy, and all nine feet of muscular demon wolf lunged for the trap. As he latched on to it, the contraption holding the net up bent and snapped under his weight, and Sable fell.

He caught her before she could hit the ground, then set her down to claw at the silver-coated links. Burning flesh and fur permeated the air, but Whiskey ignored the pain, his sole focus on saving his female. Sable tried to help, but it was clear that the close contact with silver was already weakening her.

Afraid that the hunters were nearby, ready to shoot Whiskey before he could free Sable from the net, I urged him to go faster. He redoubled his efforts, breaking link after link until a gap formed, large enough to pull Sable from the trap. She whined as he dragged her out, several patches of her beautiful dark coat burned away by the silver. When he set her down, she struggled and failed to stand.

He immediately picked her up in his massive arms, cradling her to him tenderly. “Shift, beloved,” he said in his deep, gravelly voice. “Let me carry you.”

With one last whine, she lifted her head to lick his muzzle, then relinquished control to Vi. The second Vi’s petite frame took Sable’s place, I finally allowed myself to breathe. I looked down at her through Whiskey’s eyes, taking in the angry red burns on her flesh. They were already healing but not fast enough.

Taking control of Whiskey, I carefully maneuvered Vi’s body so I could gently touch her cheek with one of his large fingers. Her lips tipped up in a faint smile, and she weakly lifted a hand to pat him on the snout.

“Sable and I will be fine, Whisk. Now get us out of here before those hunters arrive.”

“Your wish is my command, fair lady,” he gallantly replied, making her smile grow.

Before taking off, he licked her palm with his big tongue, and a sudden possessiveness tightened my chest.

A gravelly laugh that sounded like a distant rockslide rumbled from him. Easy there, chap. I’m only licking her as a friend. Then again, she seems to like male friends licking her, so maybe you should be worried .

Watch it , I tightly growled at him.

With another laugh, he surged into motion, loping through the forest on his powerful hind legs with Vi held securely against him. Now that the immediate danger was over, I could sense that the contact with silver had taken a toll on him as well. Although he could easily take on a handful of unshifted werewolves in his current state, I couldn’t discount their weapons or Vi and Sable’s condition.

Go west, I reluctantly told him. We can’t head for home like this. The hunters could be lying in wait for us .

He huffed in annoyance but didn’t argue with me. The females’ safety came first. One glance at Vi, and we found her fast asleep. Good. She’d heal quicker that way.

Whiskey loped through the woods for hours without slowing. He probably would have continued on for several more if I asked him to, but I didn’t want to completely undo all the progress we’d made. With a little rest and some food, we should be well enough to face the hunters and their weapons and traps. It was the only way we were going to get home again.

As the sun started to fade into the trees, I urged Whiskey to search for shelter. We were approaching a small lake when he suddenly slowed, his gaze shooting to the far side. At the sight of a log-cabin style house, I said, Let’s go check it out .

Whiskey wasn’t so eager, nervously pacing beside the lake until Vi stirred awake in his arms.

“What’s wrong?” she groggily asked, rubbing at her eyes before opening them to look around. When she spotted the house, she immediately perked up. “Oh, thank God. They could have a landline.”

As she wiggled in his arms, Whiskey reluctantly set her down. She took off at once, running along the lake’s edge toward the house in all her naked glory. Whiskey charged after her, and I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at how overprotective he was acting.

You would be too, but you’re too busy staring at her pretty backside , he grumbled.

True. I was enjoying the view. But the nap had done wonders for her, and my worry lessened the longer I watched her gracefully move. Besides, I couldn’t hear any sounds coming from the house. No one was home.

Feeling the need to run beside her, I said to Whiskey, Give me back control .

Now it was his turn to chuckle. Feeling frisky, mate?

When it came to Vi? Always. But he already knew that.

Confident that I had my eye on her, he let the change sweep over us. We paused only briefly while our bones shifted into place like a jigsaw puzzle; then I took off in human form, quickly catching up with Vi. When I pulled even with her, her gaze dipped to my wagging cock.

“Like what you see?” I couldn’t help but tease, smirking when her eyes jerked up to mine.

With a scowl, she shoved me, hard enough that I lost my balance and tumbled into the lake. As I submerged beneath the water, Whiskey howled with laughter.

She got you good, my man. Looks like you’re not the only one feeling frisky .

I popped back up a moment later, opening my eyes to see a grinning Vi. The sight took my breath away, and I accepted her hand with a good-natured laugh. As she pulled me onto solid ground, I shook my head like a dog, spraying her with water.

She yelped and tried to shove me again, but I snaked an arm around her waist and swung her around, pretending like I was about to throw her in. Kicking her feet, she shrieked and demanded I let her down, all while holding back laughter.

I set her down, my arm still around her as I grinned like a fiend. “Say ‘Uncle.’”

She mock-glared at me, her hands on my chest while I kept her firmly in place. “We’re not kids anymore, Griff. Aren’t we a little old for this game?”

“You’re never too old for a game of Uncle,” I purred, tightening my hold on her. “Say it, or the Tickle Monster’s gonna get you.”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t you dare. I need to pee.”

I barked a laugh. “All you have to do is say it. One little word, and I’ll set you free.”

Instead of submitting, she started to thrash against me like a feral animal. I grinned even wider and crushed her to me, using my free hand to tickle her side. She screamed like she was being tortured, but I didn’t let up, relentlessly tickling her until she had no choice but to laugh. She laughed and laughed, her body going limp against me. Still, she wouldn’t surrender, so I continued to tickle her.

“I have to . . .” she gasped out between giggles. “I have to pee! ”

“Say the word, Vi, and this will all be over,” I crooned, barely avoiding her attempt to knee me in the balls. “Naughty girl. For that, you get The Claw .”

“No!” she wailed, weakly squirming as I lengthened my nails into claws and ran them over her stomach. She choked on more laughter, struggling to breathe. But after only a moment of enduring the torture, she burst out, “Uncle!”

The second I stopped tickling her, she shoved at my chest. Hard . I released her, and she stumbled back.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, confused, but she turned and took off without explanation. Not before I caught a whiff of something familiar, though. Something alluring and wholly intoxicating. Something she clearly didn’t want me to smell.

Her arousal.

“Vi, wait. It’s okay,” I said, going after her.

“No, it’s not,” she tossed over her shoulder, picking up speed until she was almost jogging.

“Why not?” I dared to press, matching her pace. “Because you only see me as your brother’s best friend?”

There. I finally said it. I held my breath, anticipating and dreading her answer. Hoping. Preparing. Imagining all the different things she could say.

“What? No. Well, sort of, but it’s more complicated than that. You know it is.”

“I don’t think I do. We’re two consenting, unclaimed adults who are sexually attracted to each other. What’s the harm in exploring that?”

She stopped dead, and I halted in my tracks as well.

“The harm?” she quietly said, slowly turning to face me. “It harms everything . My future. Yours. Sable’s and Whiskey’s. We’re supposed to be moving on. You’re supposed to be moving on. We can’t cross that line again. Our friendship is too important, and giving in to these feelings will only jeopardize what we have.”

“But what if I don’t want to move on? What if I have everything I need right here?”

At that, she sucked in a gasp. I waited for her to say something, and it was hands down the most excruciating thing I’d ever endured.

After what felt like an eternity, she shook her head and said, “You don’t mean that. I remember how upset you were when I told Nora you helped me during my heat. And when your brother mentioned it at the Alpha Meeting last year, I had to stop you from attacking him. I know you never wanted that to happen between us, so you can stop trying to protect my feelings, Griff. I set you free . You’re not obligated to help me in that way anymore. I’m a big girl and can take care of my own needs, including my heat. How do you think I survived this past year?”

The ache in my chest grew with each word she uttered, making it harder and harder to breathe. Wrong. She was so wrong. About everything . I opened my mouth to tell her so, to set the record straight about all the terrible things she believed were true. But the last thing she said struck me the hardest, and I found myself demanding, “What do you mean ‘including my heat’? What did you do, Vi?”

She suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She started to look away, but I stepped forward and grabbed her chin, forcing her gaze back to mine.

“What. Did. You. Do?” I slowly enunciated, making sure she felt every last ounce of my dominant energy.

Her bottom lip quivered, but I didn’t let up, continuing to stare at her intensely. She fought it. Fought me . But in the end, she broke. Her face crumpled, and she replied through trembling lips, “I went to the bunker.”

My heart stopped beating. “When?” I asked, gentling my voice.

“Th-three months ago. I didn’t know what else to do. Reid and I weren’t having sex, and I’ve only ever been with you. But I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t ask you to help me, and . . . I got through it, though. It was painful, but no other males found me and I didn’t die.”

When she released a shaky laugh as if to play off the undoubtedly hellish experience, my heart broke.

“Oh, Vi,” I hoarsely whispered. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

She laughed again, pulling her chin out of my grip so she could wipe away a tear. “You weren’t supposed to know, Griff. We’re friends , and that’s the way it needs to stay.”

And we were back to that. Friends . Only this time, I didn’t feel like accepting it.

I opened my mouth, prepared to challenge her. To press. To push . We’d been suffering long enough, caught in a limbo of unspoken feelings and secret pining. Mutual pining. Her words were saying one thing, but her body was saying something entirely different. This misery had to end. I needed to tell her. Needed to voice the words I should have uttered years ago. Before another excruciating second could pass, I needed the female before me to know how I really felt.

“Vi, I—”

“We should go,” she abruptly said, cutting me off. An almost desperate look crossed her face, and she quickly turned, resuming her jog toward the house.

With a frustrated sigh, I moved to follow her.

She thinks you don’t want her , Whiskey quietly said. She thinks you’re ashamed to be with her, like Arrow was .

His words nearly brought me to my knees. I placed a hand over my chest, half expecting the hole to have reopened.

How could she think that? How could she believe that? After all we’d been through together, how could she not see how I felt about her?

I opened my mouth again, but shockingly, it was Whiskey who stayed my tongue this time. Not right now, lad. She’s a proud female—one that’s feeling raw and exposed at the moment. Give her time to compose herself .

I forced my mouth shut again, knowing he was right. I wouldn’t wait long, though. It was time she knew the truth, whether she was ready to hear it or not. I couldn’t let her go another day believing those lies.

It no longer mattered if she felt the same way. No longer mattered if she rejected me for good this time.

For her, I would strip myself bare. For her, I would risk everything .