Page 22 of Midnight Hunt (Wolves of Midnight #4)

21

VIOLET

I knew he was as desperate for this as I was. Desperate to feel our bodies become one. To experience the euphoria that connection gave us both.

He was trembling, and so was I, the sexual tension between us about to snap.

Love. He wanted to make love to me.

I could see in his eyes how much he wanted me to believe that.

He loved me. He loved me. He loved me.

And for a moment. One blissful moment. I allowed myself to actually believe that I was the love of his life. That I was his in mind, body, and soul.

It felt incredible. It was everything I wanted and more. And as he slowly lowered himself on top of me, I clung to that love with all of my might. I clung to him , to my childhood friend, to my comfort and safety, to the male who’d always been there for me.

His touches turned sweet, gentle, caressing me like I was the most precious thing in the world to him. Like he cherished me above all others. I could barely stand how good it felt, how perfect, each touch acting as a balm to heal my wounds. Not just the physical ones I’d endured this past week, but the emotional ones I’d been wearing for years like invisible scars.

When it finally came time for us to become one, he slid into me slowly. Reverently. Filling me up so completely that tears blurred my vision. He wiped them away as they fell, softly kissing my cheeks. He became the beautifully attentive male that stole my breath away, responding to every little thing I did. When I gasped at the first thrust, he made sure I wasn’t in pain. When I reached for him, he lowered his head to let me kiss him. When I started to unravel, he unraveled with me, our ragged breaths in perfect sync.

We were like yin and yang, an equal balance of give and take. In that moment, it felt like we were meant for each other. Made for each other. Like the Universe itself had ordained our union.

It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced, but I knew it would have to end. Even so, I stayed locked in the beautiful moment for as long as time would let me. For as long as he would let me.

Griff’s body was hot and slick against mine, his movements frantic, his pounding heart deafening as the end neared. Still, I knew he wouldn’t come until I did, no matter how desperate he was for it. And he was definitely desperate. The veins in his neck were distended, and his eyes were wild with need. They silently begged me to let him come, all while he gripped my hands tightly in his and drove into me over and over like a man possessed.

Finally, I couldn’t hold back the wall of tension a second longer. It snapped like a rubber band, sending wave after wave of ecstasy crashing through me. As I cried out in bliss, Griff dropped his forehead to mine and thrust one more time. My walls squeezed his shaft in a vise, milking his release from him, and he cried out right along with me. As the pleasure swept us away, I held on to the moment for dear life.

Held on to him .

But I wouldn’t be able to forever. Reality would catch up to us soon enough, and he would see. He would finally see.

That loving me wouldn’t last.

* * *

Sable’s incessant voice in my head startled me from a deep, dreamless sleep. I started to grumble at her, only to stop when I inhaled smoke.

Fire! Fire! Get up! she frantically shouted.

I pried my eyes open, disorientated when I didn’t recognize the room. It was dark, and my night vision was struggling to pick out details for some reason. I inhaled another lungful of smoke and immediately started coughing.

Griff stirred against me with a sleepy groan, then abruptly bolted upright on the bed.

“Vi.” He reached for me, dragging me off the bed with him as I continued to cough.

“What . . . happened?” I gasped out, finally realizing that smoke was filling the room.

“The hunters found us,” Griff replied grimly. “They’re trying to smoke us out.”

Or burn us alive , Sable whimpered, clearly terrified.

I could hear the crackling flames below us on the first floor, which reminded me of the time our family estate had burned down with us still inside. Terror gripped me as well, and it became even harder to breathe.

“Look at me, Violet,” Griff said, grabbing my face with both hands as he sensed my panic. I looked up at him with wide eyes, my heart thundering uncontrollably. “We’re going to be okay. Say it.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“ Say it,” he ordered, his voice filled with so much authority that some of my panic eased.

“We’re going . . . We’re going to be okay.”

“Good girl.” He pressed his mouth to mine in a brief, albeit searing kiss. “They might outnumber us, but we can overpower them. It’s time we fight back.”

Fresh panic squeezed my chest. “They could separate us.”

“They won’t. I’ll kill them if they try.” He said it with so much conviction that I couldn’t help but believe him. I soaked up his confidence like oxygen, willing my racing heart to slow so I could better focus.

“We should shift,” I suggested, trying and failing to hear anything over the raging fire below. “We’ll be faster and stronger that way.”

Griff nodded in agreement. “Into our wolves’ true forms.”

“Okay. But we stick together .”

“I won’t leave your side, I promise,” he said, then pulled me in for one final kiss and breathed against my lips, “I love you.”

“And I love you,” I automatically replied, then froze, realizing what I’d just done.

He pulled back to look at me, and his expression nearly broke my heart.

Joy. Pure, unadulterated joy lit up his entire face.

I hadn’t meant to say the words. They’d just slipped out. But there was no undoing them now. If we both survived whatever fresh hell the hunters had in store for us, I’d have to face the consequences of what I’d just done. But for now, I kept silent. Griff was absolutely thrilled, and I wasn’t about to take that away from him—not when it could help him get through the danger about to swallow us whole.

Taking a step back, I allowed the shift to overtake me. He followed suit, and less than a minute later, Sable and Whiskey were standing where we’d been, their heads practically touching the ceiling.

“The balcony?” Whiskey rumbled to my familiar, the fierce glow of his red eyes cutting through the smoke.

“They’ll be expecting that,” she replied, her voice an octave lower than mine. “Follow me.”

“I’ll follow you anywhere, beloved,” he said, and for once, I didn’t comment when she approached him to nuzzle and lick his mouth. It could be the last time they did so on this plane if one or both of us didn’t make it out of this alive. They deserved a moment to say goodbye, in case the worst happened.

The sweet moment came and went all too soon, though, and Sable turned toward the closed bedroom door. Toward the fire . I could feel her fear, but that didn’t stop my brave familiar from facing it anyway. Pausing only for a second, she launched herself at the door and smashed it down with a single blow.

Whiskey was hot on her heels as she burst into the hallway. A wall of fire greeted them, and she cringed away from the intense heat.

“This way!” she shouted, hugging the right side of the wall. As they neared the end of the hallway, both of them took a running leap and bypassed the stairs completely. Two resounding thuds announced their arrival on the first floor; then they were off like a shot, loping full tilt toward the front door.

Smoke filled Sable’s lungs, the fire licking at her fur as she raced past, but she plowed on anyway, determined to get us both to safety. Whiskey pulled ahead at the last second, using his shoulder to ram the door down. It exploded outward in a shower of sparks, fire and smoke chasing after the two wolves as they burst out into the night.

Fresh air bit at Sable’s nostrils, and she coughed to make room in her lungs for it. Before she could take a moment to reorientate herself, a sharp bang lit up the night. Whiskey yanked her sideways just as something whizzed by her ear, clipping the edge. Pain flared from the spot, and she yelped.

At the sound, Whiskey’s eyes went scarily bright. With the glow of the flames striking his face, he looked like a bonafide fire demon from hell. Whirling toward where the shot had been fired from, he bellowed a terrifying roar, then charged like a freight train.

Sable followed his lead, zeroing in on the hunter that had almost shot her. I immediately recognized him as the werewolf who’d thrown a bag over my head and tried to inject me with something. Sable recognized him too, and she released a howl of fury. The male raised his gun again and pointed it at Whiskey, and Sable went feral. Pushing off the ground, she launched herself at him like a missile.

The sight was terrifying enough to make any man pee his pants, human or supernatural. The male startled, and his shot went wide. A second later, Sable was on top of him. He screamed as she sank her razor sharp claws into him and knocked the gun from his hands. He immediately put up a fight, but even though he was a dominant male, his strength was no match for my demon wolf. She immobilized him within seconds, leaving him to face a seething Whiskey.

Griff’s familiar towered over the male, staring down at him with a creepy as hell grin.

The male began to tremble in Sable’s arms, but he glared up at Whiskey and said, “You can’t stop us. We’re going to take her, and when we do—”

Whiskey grabbed the male’s head and ripped it off in one swift move. As blood sprayed over his chest, he tossed the head aside and growled, “One down, four to go.”

Another shot fired, and he ducked, but not fast enough. He grunted as the slug hit him in the back. Sable dropped the decapitated body with a cry. Before she could help Whiskey, more shots fired. The bullets pelted into the earth and trees surrounding them, one slicing into Sable’s arm as it whizzed past. The burn was painful enough that I instantly knew the bullets were silver.

Whiskey roared again, shielding her from the chaotic volley as best he could, but the shots came from everywhere .

We were surrounded.

If enough silver hit us, Whiskey and Sable’s superior strength would weaken. The hunters would overpower us. Separate us. And the thought of them killing Griff to get to me terrified me so much that my fight instincts switched off.

We have to run! I screamed at Sable.

She froze, torn between obeying and seeking vengeance on the hunters. I tried to wrestle control from her, but that only made her lose focus. She barked in pain as another bullet clipped her, and Whiskey officially lost it. Throwing his head back, he bellowed at the night sky, then charged at the nearest hunter.

No! I wailed, watching in horror as another hunter shot at Whiskey and hit him in the side. He stumbled, and that was all it took. Bullets rained on him, hitting him over and over and over, dragging him to the ground.

Sable cried out and moved toward him, but one of the hunters shot at her feet, warning her back. She looked up at the male, and my insides turned to ice. It was the Russian-looking hitman, the werewolf who’d followed me from the football stadium. Sable bared her dagger-like fangs at him, and he pointed his gun higher, directly at her heart.

Stand down , I ordered her, sensing how close she was to charging him. She wouldn’t make it. A silver bullet to the heart was almost always fatal.

Realizing she’d lost the fight, Sable tipped back her dark head and released a mournful howl. Almost immediately, a howl answered her back. Then another.

Sudden hope surged through us both. We recognized those howls.

The hunters froze with indecision, and I watched with glee as their faces paled. Above the sound of crackling flames, a new noise could be heard, growing louder and louder by the second.

Something huge was crashing through the trees. Make that two huge somethings.

The hunters listened for a moment more; then Hitman lowered his weapon and bellowed, “Retreat!”

Too late.

A dark demon wolf and a pitch black one burst from the woods and collided with two hunters. Screams sounded and shots misfired, but the hunters met a grisly end within seconds. Seeing her chance, Sable lunged for Hitman. Before she could reach him, the only other surviving hunter stepped into her path, his gun trained on the new arrivals.

With a savage snarl, she swept a clawed hand out and tore his arm clean off. As the gun fell harmlessly to the ground, along with the severed appendage, the male let out a bloodcurdling scream. Sable clamped her jaws around his neck and silenced him a second later, shaking him like a ragdoll several times before letting go. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious but still alive.

She opened her maw again to finish him, but I quickly stopped her. Don’t. We should keep him alive for questioning .

She growled her disappointment but didn’t argue with me. Lifting her head, she sought out Hitman again, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Coward!” she roared, raising her nose to track his scent. The sound of breaking bones distracted her, and she turned to see Whiskey halfway through the shift.

Give me back control , I immediately demanded, all thoughts of tracking down Hitman disappearing the moment I caught sight of Griff.

But , Sable started with a whine, bloodlust still pumping hotly through her veins.

Now, Sable! I barked, panic gripping me when I saw bloody bullet holes in Griff’s tanned skin.

She relinquished control without another word, allowing the shift to overtake us. Seconds later, I was scrambling toward a trembling Griff on the ground.

“Let me see. Let me see!” I said in a high-pitched voice, reaching out to help him into a sitting position. Moments later, I felt two more bodies crowd in close, but I already knew who they were. Without looking up, I told them in a shaky voice, “Sable left one alive. We could use him for questioning.”

“I’ll get him, Boss,” Jagger said to my brother before taking off again.

Kolton crouched by my side and lifted a hand to help me with Griff, but I snapped, “Don’t touch him.”

Kolton’s hand froze midair. “Vi,” he quietly, softly said, as if speaking to an unhinged person. And I felt unhinged, the need to protect Griff a feral thing inside me. “He’s been shot with silver bullets. They have to come out.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll take them out.”

My brother was silent for a moment, then said, “You don’t want to do that, Vi.”

“Yes, I do! ” I shot back, turning my head to glare at him. He studied my face, his own expression impassive. Whatever he saw made him slowly nod and sit back on his heels.

“He’s all yours,” Kolton said, his voice remaining calm despite how I’d spoken to him. “I’m here if you need me to take over.”

“I won’t,” I firmly replied, returning my focus to Griff. He was awake, but I could tell by the grimace on his face that he was in excruciating pain. Gentling my voice, I said to him, “Let me put you under.”

He barked a laugh, then sucked in a pained hiss through his teeth. “Not a chance. If you’re going to play doctor on me, I want to watch.”

“Griff, this isn’t funny.”

“I know,” he groaned, trying to shift into a more comfortable position. “This pain might actually be worse than the tree. But at least none of the bullets are rubbing against my heart.”

“Tree?” Kolton couldn’t help but question.

“We have a lot to tell you,” I said, searching Griff’s back until I found the first bullet that had hit him. When I saw that his skin had already started to heal over it, nausea stirred in my gut.

“Apparently,” Kolton muttered. “Mind explaining why you’re wearing Griff’s tattoo?”

Oh crap. I glanced down at the snake on my arm, then at my brother’s face. He didn’t look mad, per se, but he definitely looked troubled.

“It was in case we got separated,” Griff answered for me, his voice sounding weaker by the second.

Kolton looked between us, then bluntly asked, “And the sex?”

Ah hell , he did not just go there.

“That’s none of your business, Kolton,” I said, giving him a warning look to back off.

“It is when my best friend promised me that something like this wouldn’t happen. It is when he knows my little sister goes to him for comfort, and he chose to take advantage of that.”

My jaw dropped. “That’s not—”

“I love her, Kol,” Griff interjected, his voice firm, even as his breaths came in short spurts. “Vi is no longer dating Reid, and I finally told her how I feel. If you still think I overstepped, I take full responsibility for my actions and will face whatever punishment you believe I deserve. But Vi is innocent in all this. She did nothing wrong.”

I opened my mouth but quickly shut it again, knowing that now wasn’t the right time to undo all that I’d done. Griff was in enough pain already.

Kolton slowly blinked at us both, looking a bit shell-shocked. He opened his mouth only to close it, not willing to stir the pot further for the time being.

Refocusing on the rapidly-healing wound on Griff’s back, I said, “One last chance, Griff. This’ll be a lot easier for us both if you’re asleep.”

“Sorry, but you’re just gonna have to endure my screams,” he wheezed, swaying enough that he’d probably pass out on his own if the bullets remained in him much longer. But I couldn’t wait that long, couldn’t stand seeing him in pain for one more second.

“Okay. I’ll be as quick as I can,” I reassured, more to myself than him. In a situation like this, there was nothing we could do but dig the bullets out. And the fastest way to do that was with our claws. Pursing my lips, I willed my claws to emerge and gripped his shoulder to hold him steady. “Don’t move, or this will hurt worse.”

“I won’t—” he started, then hissed out a curse when I sank my claws into his flesh. I tensed when he tensed, his added pain almost more than I could bear. But I had to do this for him. Needed to. Because if even one more person caused him pain right now, I was going to lose it.

“It’s out. It’s out,” I said a few moments later, quickly dropping the bullet onto the ground as it started to eat at my own flesh.

A great sigh shuddered from Griff. “Much better. I think there’s one or two more, though.”

“More like six,” Jagger muttered above me. I glanced up to see that he’d thrown the unconscious one-armed hunter over his shoulder, fireman style. “Sure you don’t want me or Kolton to—”

“No,” I interrupted him, my tone brooking no argument. He lifted an eyebrow at me but didn’t argue. Resuming my work, I focused on the bullet in Griff’s side next. By the time I pulled the final bullet out, I was breathing almost as heavily as Griff.

The second the bullet hit the ground, Griff turned and drew me into his arms. A relieved whimper left me, and I fiercely hugged him back.

“They didn’t separate us. We’re safe now,” he murmured against my hair, soaking up my comfort as I soaked up his. A sharp cracking noise from the house drew our attention, and we both turned our heads just as the second story fell, crushing the floor below it with a loud boom .

“Poor house,” I sighed, grateful that we weren’t still in it.

“Well, that brings back memories,” Jagger murmured as we all watched it slowly burn to ash.

“How did you guys find us?” I asked, resting my head on Griff’s shoulder.

“When I couldn’t reach either of you or Randy, I tracked the jet and found out you’d left early,” Kolton answered. “But when it didn’t arrive, I alerted the pack to begin a ground search. A few hours ago, Buck and several other pack males were scouring the area just south of Lake Placid when they came across a silver-coated trap with your scents on it. Jagger and I followed your trail from there in wolf form. I’m assuming the males we just killed had something to do with the plane crash?”

“Yeah,” I replied, then quietly added, “Randy didn’t make it.”

Kolton sighed. “I know. Another pack member found him earlier today. He was a great pilot and family friend. Buck went to collect his body, but we’ll have to tell his family what happened. Well, some of it anyway.”

“I’ll do it,” I offered.

Kolton glanced down at me. “Vi, you’ve been through enough already.”

“ Please , Kolton. Let me do it. I . . . I feel responsible.”

He frowned, but it was Griff who said, “You’re not to blame for this, Vi. You couldn’t have known those bastards would orchestrate a plane crash just to get to you.”

When I didn’t respond, Kolton’s frown deepened. Not ready for a lecture, I forced myself to leave Griff’s warm embrace and pushed to my feet. “We should get going in case someone saw the fire and called the police. There are three other bodies we need to take care of before they arrive.”

“Wait, where’s the fifth?” Griff asked, turning his head to look around.

Wincing, I muttered, “He got away.”

Griff swore under his breath.

“At least we have him,” Jagger said, jerking a thumb at the unconscious male over his shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll sing like a bluebird after a few hours of torture.”

I snorted and corrected, “Like a canary.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. After what he put you two through, he’ll sing however I want him to sing.”

At the menacing tone to his voice, I didn’t doubt him for a second.

“We’ll clean up the area and stash the bodies in the woods; then I’ll go and get the truck,” Kolton said, stepping toward the two males he and Jagger had killed. I moved to help him, but he waved me away. “Griff still needs you. Jagger and I will take care of the cleanup and bodies.”

I turned to Griff again, and sure enough, he was struggling to stand. I quickly moved to help him, slipping beneath one of his arms so I could bear some of his weight.

“Good thing I’m not full of myself, or I probably wouldn’t let you help me,” he teased.

Instead of elbowing him like I normally would, I just rolled my eyes. “Be a good boy, or I’ll carry you like a baby instead.”

He chuckled, then quietly groaned, “I might actually need to be carried like a baby.”

“Suck it up,” I said with another eye roll, but I let him lean on me even more.

By the time we cleared the site and stashed the bodies deep in the woods, even I was struggling to stand. The adrenaline from the fire and fight was finally wearing off, and when Kolton returned with the truck an hour later, I couldn’t wait to pass out in the backseat.

And that’s exactly what I did, but not before draping a blanket over Griff and helping him inside. He had plans of his own, though, ones that didn’t involve us sitting on opposite sides. Without a word, he leaned over and wrapped me in the blanket as well. When I was snug against him, he laid us down on the seat with me pressed tightly to his chest.

At the sound of his steadily beating heart, any resistance I had fled. My body melted against his and his against mine.

Safe. We were finally safe . That’s all that mattered right now.

Within seconds, we were both fast asleep.