Page 36 of My Monster’s Keeper

Wilder

I ’ve never felt like this before. Any coupling I’ve done with the ladies of the Seelie Court have been violent, embraces of disconnect that leave me feeling physically relieved but ready to murder anything that moves.

With Becky, I feel a sense of calm, or peace, and my body wants her again. Insatiable.

She hasn’t gone into a heat yet, but any thoughts that she isn’t an omega are gone.

Her floral scent is in the air. The savage way the pack is responding to her is something else, and now and then, I feel the knot, that alpha knot that only appears with the presence of omegas.

I knotted her, it was the most erotic and tender and pleasurable moment of my existence.

Our knots only appear in front of omegas.

It’s not if anymore, it’s when. With her designation blooming to the surface, more changes come, namely with how possessive and protective we get of the house. It’s clear as day she is an omega, we’re just waiting for it to appear officially, but if we know…so can others.

As soon as I lift her, she rouses, her eyes snapping open and blazing for a moment with inner light.

I’m frozen by the glow because that’s not human.

She is changing. Somehow, I’d wondered if I was going to be wrong.

But, no, she is going to become somewhat like us.

I like the idea of it, but there’s a kernel of fear that she will change too much. I like her the way she is.

She struggles out of my arms and lands in a graceful crouch, taking my breath from my lungs.

“Warrior?”

She turns her head and peers up at me. “There’s someone here.”

Her eyes fill with fury that takes my breath away, and then they clear.

A moment later, the doorbell rings. Stix has left a folded bundle of clothes neatly not far from us.

She goes to bypass it, but I let out a rumble of displeasure and pick it up.

With an exasperated huff, she pulls on the jeans and long sleeved t-shirt, covering that delectable body of hers, and throws a pair of grey sweatpants at me.

With a grumble, I get dressed and follow after her, considering the mystery of her carefully as she trots through the house.

Puppy crawls along the ceiling. Hiding in the shadows when she opens the door. The delivery man turns, his smile falling from his face. He doesn’t know, nor understand, why his instincts are screaming at him to run, but he’s surrounded, and something deep inside knows he’s in very real danger.

“Here,” he shoves the parcel into her arms and turns and almost runs down the path.

Becky hums as she closes the door and takes the package to the kitchen.

“What is it?” Stix murmurs.

“I don’t know. It’s not for me. It’s for Frost.”

The Unseelie Prince steps towards her, hand extended, and takes the package. He’s careful and meticulous about opening the package, but when he finally reveals the innards of the box, I snort in disbelief. A pair of clear glass orbs sit in his hands.

“What are they?” Puppy asks.

Frost is pale. His jaw tenses and relaxes before tensing again. “Nothing. They’re nothing,” he says and shoves them back in the box.

“Frost-”

“They’re nothing. I’ll get rid of them!” Frost shouts.

Our gazes clash, and I can see the panic. Someone knows he’s here, someone we don’t want here. It’s a taunt to shake Frost’s confidence.

“Give them to me,” I say calmly. “Let me take care of this for you.”

Frost hesitates but finally hands them over to me. I take the box and shift into my other form, the hidden one that only she has seen.

“You have wings?” Stix asks loudly. He turns to Frost in outrage. “Can you fly, too?”

Frost glowers, turns, and storms out of the room.

“He can’t fly,” I say sadly.

“Why?” Becky asks.

“Did they eat his wings?” Puppy growls at the same time.

The strangeness of this conversation hits me, and I have to bite my tongue not to laugh.

“No, he just isn’t created to fly. He is a being of elements.

Fire and Ice. Frost will freeze you until you burn and burn you until you freeze.

He’s impossible, and he scares the shit out of his court.

It’s why he was sent into the wilds of the Unseelie Lands.

He got too strong and too angry. They couldn’t control him, so they stole the illusion of control. ”

My omega lifts her chin, staring me down. “What are those orbs?”

“They are a reminder and a taunt. We can still reach you anywhere.”

She exhales roughly, and I sense the danger in the kitchen turning deadly.

Becky looks at me and turns to study the hallway Frost disappeared down. “How do you know this?”

“Because I was there. When they sentenced him, I saw what they did to him. When they ordered his brother to murder him. He was only a young Fae,” I say with deep regret. “I was visiting. Fulfilling our king’s command. He was so small.”

Becky breathes deeply. “Was there anything you could have done?”

I shake my head. “Not even to defend myself.”

She must hear something in my tone. “Do you care to explain that?”

“Not right now.”

Her eyes are shrewd. “They hurt you there, and your king’s word bound you.”

I close my eyes. She moves closer, and my shame permeates the room. “You don’t need to say anything, my love. I hear your truth.”

“They couldn’t control me after that. It broke me into freedom.”

“I will never bind your will, nor ask you to be any less than who you are. Any of you.”

I can feel the weight of Stix and Puppy’s gazes. Before the Shadow King steps between us, curling his long fingers around her waist and pulling her with him down the hall.

Just in time because the emotions burst forth in a savage blaze of my power. The Grim sits on the roof watching me, and I wonder how thrilling hunting this despicable creature might be.

He hisses, his scales rattling, not in fear but in challenge.

Hunt. Blood. Need. Violence. Chase. Agony.

The words smash into my mind, and the Grim moves its weight, redistributing so that he’s got a better chance to escape or attack.

His eyes are locked on me, and I on him.

This room is small, but I’ve killed in smaller.

I take in every single part of the room.

The dirt in the corner on the floor, just a speck, the broken cupboard hinge, the screw only just hanging in.

I calculate the table’s weight and assess the probability of it being used as a weapon.

The air currents are moving through the room, not fast but slow, and they waft his scent…wait, and another. I turn, and, in the doorway, I see her .

Becky.

My warrior.

For a moment, I was lost, but the need to hunt is still there, pulsing in my blood. I don’t want to hurt her.

“You won’t,” she says. “Trust me.”

“I will not allow you to hurt my mate,” the Grim growls. “She wants to play.”

Have they lost their minds? She’s human. Except she does the wrong thing. She turns and runs. Through the house and out into the world. I can hear her getting further away. It doesn’t matter that the others are tracking her. It doesn’t matter that they are keeping her safe.

She ran. And now I need to hunt her.

The world blurs around me in a cascade of sound and colour, my brain takes it all in and spits out her path and the fastest way of catching her. But that’s not what I want. I want to lead her.

My magic snaps out, seizing the minds of the animals around us. Cats, dogs, rats, possums, other creatures rush to cut off her path. I feel the moment it works. She turns, and I adjust my course.

I let her run for an hour or two until we get close to the edges of this city. Only then do I leap off the skyscraper I’m perched on and soar down to her. She laughs as she puts on a burst of speed, and I get the distinct impression she knows I’m there.

Not that it will help her.

I swoop down on her, throwing her to the ground. She rolls onto her back and kicks up at me. I hiss, my wings ruffle, but it doesn’t deter her. Becky fights like it’s the only option she has. I end up dropping down over her, straddling her body, her wrists pinned above her head.

Her chest heaves, pushing at the thin fabric. I snarl at it and rip it off her.

“Stop ripping my clothes!” she snaps.

I look at her, cock my head to the side, and rip her jeans off her. The tiny scraps of fabric that hide her pussy and her breasts disintegrate.

She glares at me, fierce and pissed off.

I back off her and smile. She struggles to her feet and clenches her hands into fists. I don’t miss how she looks around, checking to see if there’s anyone. There’s not. Between the four of us, we’ve locked it down. No one will see her but us.

“Now run. ”

“I’m naked. I’m not running through the forest naked.”

I tilt my head to the side and smile. She shudders and takes a backward step.

“Run, little warrior,” I croon.

Her lips part, and her pupils expand. “This isn’t right.” She sounds like she’s having fun.

I take a step. She whirls and flies off into the dark. I wait and then tilt my head back and howl. The sound punches into the night and sends birds flying from their nests.

I set off, unerringly following the trail she is leaving. Sometimes, I let her get some distance, sometimes I watch her struggling. I lose track of time, mesmerized by the lithe way she moves.

Her sounds and mutters.

Eventually, she reaches a clearing, the one I’ve chosen for her. She pauses in the middle, panting. I walk out of the dark and, like she can feel me there, she turns.

She tenses, but as soon as she darts to the left, I grab her around the middle with one arm and slam her back up against my chest.

I don’t hesitate. I reach down, gripping my heavy cock in my fist and just push my way into her. She’s so fucking wet she’s dripping. I growl fiercely and bite her neck, and she goes still.

“Wilder,” she whimpers. “Wilder, please.”

I hold her body, moving her back into me, over and over. My cock grows even bigger. The frenzy keeps building and building.