Page 28 of Never Submit (Bad Wolves #2)

Chapter 28

Dax

I hate this. Every damn second of it.

We might both be betas, but we couldn’t be more different. The only similarity that we have is our burning hatred for each other.

Oh, and Red.

Noble is a pretty boy. A wuss. Someone who likes to play pretend among humans and reject his true nature. I glare at Noble from the corner of my vision. He even walks like a prick, all stiff-legged.

Disgusting .

His shoulders are stiff too, his jaw set like it takes every ounce of his self-control not to snap at me. As if I wouldn’t love to goad him into a fight right now. Damn, I’d tear him to shreds with pleasure and continue the hunt myself.

Because this guy is lucky, and I hate him for it. I hate him for having her, for having a past he remembers, for everything.

He doesn’t deserve her. Hell, none of us do, but at least I know how to keep her safe. I know how to fuck her right— like the wild soul she is. It’s something the buttoned-up priss could never understand.

The tension between me and Noble doesn’t take long to boil over. In fact, I think we’ve barely made it a quarter-mile into the woods before he starts grunting orders like he’s in charge.

“Stay close,” he says, his tone clipped as he glances over his shoulder. “We can’t afford to waste time doubling back if you get distracted by a squirrel or something.”

I bark out a laugh. “Oh, please. The only thing I’d get distracted by is watching you trip over your own self-righteous attitude. Wouldn’t want to miss that show.”

He exhales sharply and a vein on the side of his neck pulses, his temple twitching. He’s bothered. He smells her on me.

Good .

I flash him a grin even though he’s not looking at me. He doesn’t deserve my best effort, but I’m in the mood to piss him off. I can work and needle him at the same time.

Noble mutters something under his breath, and I don’t have to hear it to know it’s probably a curse. I’m glad. This is more entertaining than silently trekking through the woods.

Granted, we’re moving much faster than regular humans. At this pace, we should close in on Grey Mountain soon.

“You know,” I say, “it’s funny how you act like such a big bad wolf when you’ve got a bit of a complicated history with the whole wolf thing, don’t you? Does Red know about it? Your history?”

He stops dead in his tracks and turns to glare at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I say. “You ditching the Steel Claws to go play human for a few years. College, was it? Got yourself a nice little desk job, a human girlfriend. Pretended you weren’t born to run on four legs and rip throats out. Must’ve been real cozy.”

I hear things. People don’t think I do, but I’m always there. Watching. Listening. Absorbing.

Noble’s face tightens, and I know I’ve struck a nerve. “That was years ago,” he says. “And it’s none of your damn business.”

“Oh, it’s absolutely my business,” I shoot back hotly. “You think you can look down on the rest of us like we’re feral, but you’re the one who tried to turn your back on what you are. What happened, huh? Couldn’t hack it as a regular Joe Schmoe? Or did your wolf finally decide to remind you that you don’t get to choose?”

His fists clench at his sides, and for a second I think he’s going to swing at me. I almost hope he does. But instead, he takes a step closer, his voice a growl. His eyes seem lit from the inside.

“You don’t know anything about me,” he says, enunciating every syllable to make sure I don’t miss a thing. “You don’t know why I left, and you sure as hell don’t know why I came back.”

I snort. “Oh, let me guess. Some big, noble reason? Did you finally realize you’re not cut out for the human world? That you’re just as much of a monster as the rest of us?”

He moves so fast I barely have time to react, and he’s on me, shoving me back against a tree. His face is inches from mine, his eyes ablaze with barely controlled fury.

“You don’t get to talk to me about being a monster,” he snarls. “I came back because you killed Kelee.”

I pause as his words sink in. He rejoined his pack because I killed his sister .

Yes, it had been an accident, one I didn’t understand at the time, but it was one I was growing to regret. And that’s an emotion I didn’t think I was capable of way back when, but things are different now… Maybe I’m evolving. Maybe I’m losing it.

Speaking of, the buzzing in my head has returned again and is growing louder, pulsing with every foot we traverse.

“I could barely handle her death, after what happened with my parents’ illness. Her memory was in Rochester. I wanted to stay gone, but I came back for the funeral, and I stayed because Torin needed me.”

I’m frozen in place, unable to come up with a response—witty or not. The headache grows, the tension in my chest sharp and cutting when he grabs me.

Do I feel bad for him? I think…I think I do. Is this guilt?

“You’re reckless, Dax,” Noble goes on in my silence. “Impulsive. You’re a danger to everyone around you. Including Ren. You think that makes you better than me? It doesn’t. It makes you weak.”

“I’m not weak,” I insist.

I’m broken.

There’s a part of me missing, a giant piece I’ll never get back. And in the space where history should be there is only pain and splintered flashes of whatever life I’ve lived.

His hand tightens on my shoulder. He wants to hit me. Rip me apart. I can see the idea shining in his gaze. But then, to my surprise, he lets go and steps back with a look of disgust.

“You’re pathetic,” he says, his voice cold. “Maybe that’s why Ren doesn’t take you seriously.”

The words hit harder than I’d like to admit, but I mask it with a smirk, no matter how it pulls at the edges. Not quite covering everything I need it to. Hiding most of me but not nearly enough.

“And yet she’ll eagerly fall to her knees for me. Even though she’s apparently your mate.”

“Fuck you,” he says before turning and stalking off.

I watch him go for a bit. If this had been months ago, he would have jumped me instantly. We would’ve fought until one of us was bleeding out or dead. But now, he’s walking away and I’m letting him?

Shit .

“Coward,” I mutter under my breath, more to myself than to him, before following.

I am a coward. He’s right. And Red’s right, too. Whatever these episodes are, they’re coming more and more frequently in her presence. I’m losing my grip.

Get it the hell together .

Noble and I continue, pushing our bodies to the limit, but as long as he’s human, that’s how I’ll stay. It takes hours for us to make it to the area where I first bumped into Red, during her escape.

“Here?” Noble clarifies.

I nod, narrowing my eyes. My next inhalation brings the undeniable stench of blood, sweat, unwashed skin, and fur.

And under it all is something familiar, but I can’t quite place it. Despite the time that passed, the trail is still there. So why, the last time I’d been here, had I not been able to follow it back?

What the hell is wrong with me?

“Smell that?” Noble asks, already on high alert.

I sniff the air again and nod. “Yeah. It’s faint.”

I crouch low to the ground where the snow has been upturned, muddied. More than the last time I passed by here to check things out. Which means someone else has been here after me.

Which only makes me feel marginally better about my failure.

It looks like the Blood Moon pack passed through here at some point. Why?

Better question—are they around here now?

Without speaking, Noble points to a trail leading further up the mountain. I trudge forward, past Noble.

“Dax!” Noble whispers harshly. “Where are you going?”

“We have to see where this leads. If it’s his hidey-hole, Andras might be there now.”

“Exactly why we should go back and tell Torin and Mathis.”

I snort. If he thinks I’m going to give up a chance to personally rip Andras’s throat out, he’s dumber than I thought. “We’re here to find Andras. Not retreat with our tails between our legs.”

“It would be suicide,” Noble hisses behind me, but I don’t slow. “Even you can’t take on the entire Blood Moon pack.”

“Watch me,” I growl.

We take the winding trail higher, further into the bowels of the forest. The trees thin out eventually only to be replaced by granite stones larger than I am tall. The path in the snow is clearly visible. They made no effort to hide their movements.

Do they want us to find them?

Or do they simply not care if we do?

The trail thins before it widens out into a small clearing, and Noble and I stop at the opening in the mountain’s face. It’s not naturally made. The way the stone is scratched and jagged, it appears to have been shaped by tools.

The tightness in my chest increases, my lungs compressing; I sniff the air again but nothing touches my nose except the faint remnants of extinguished fires and wet fur.

“Empty,” Noble mutters, scanning the area. “Andras has already moved on.”

The scents are days old, it’s true. Which throws gasoline on my fury and frustration. “No shit,” I snap at him.

He glares at me. “We can go inside, see if anything was left behind that can clue us in to where they’ve gone. But there may be traps.”

I wouldn’t put it past Andras. The snake.

Do I care, though? Nope. Not one bit.

Not when my heart is beating way too fast. The only thing keeping me fucking grounded is Red. The memory of her, the feel of her skin.

But as I’m about to turn and step into the dark cave, the air around me suddenly feels too thick, like something’s pressing down on me. I hesitate, trying to draw in my next breath, but even that’s too hard to do.

My chest heaves, and I spin around again to see Noble staring at me in confusion.

“Dax?”

Then I hear it.

Some song. A soft, lilting hum carried on the wind, twisting through the trees like it’s trying to reach me. I…I know the melody. Somewhere inside me, the familiarity winds up from the black pit of nothingness. A thread of recognition.

My blood runs cold, every muscle stiffening. Even my wolf goes rigid inside me.

“Do you hear that?” I ask.

Noble frowns, his head tilted to the side. “Hear what?”

“The humming.” I scan the woods, but there’s no one there. Just trees and rocks and shadows. Nothing out of place except the sound that’s threading itself into my head, burrowing deep.

Noble’s face creases with worry. “Dax, get a grip on yourself.”

He’s not worried about me going feral. If anything, Noble can take care of himself. I press a hand to the side of my throbbing head.

But I do hear it. Soft and haunting, like a lullaby meant to soothe and unsettle at the same time.

I take a shaky step forward, stumble. My pulse races fast enough for me to go lightheaded and spots dance in front of my eyes.

There’s a baby’s cry. Then a woman’s wail, terrified and desperate. The gleam of a knife catching the light. And blood—too much blood.

I glance down to see my hands dripping red. It paints the snow at my feet, too.

“Dax…” Noble says. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

It’s overwhelming. The screams. The song. They both ring in my ears and invade my senses. I stagger, clutching my temples as the symphony grows louder, more insistent. It’s got to stop. Something…someone needs to help me.

My chest is too tight to breathe.

Make the song stop. Who’s screaming? Why is there a baby?

“Dax!”

I can’t answer. It won’t stop. And the blood—oh fuck, there’s so much blood.

My wolf takes over and tears out of me in a desperate attempt to escape the chaos in my head. To protect me from what I’ve forgotten. The shift is brutal, raw, and when it’s done, I barely know where I am.

All I know is I need to destroy something.

I lash out at the nearest tree, claws slicing through bark like it’s paper. Splinters fly as I rip and howl in rage and agony. Noble’s shouting something, but his words are distant, muffled by the roar in my ears.

The humming twists through my mind. It’s relentless and mocking. I thrash against it in desperation. Make it stop. Silence the torment.

I tear back down the mountain, uprooting bushes, snapping branches, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake. Noble’s voice follows me, but I don’t care.

I can’t stop.

The song won’t let me.

Somewhere in the haze, I catch the faint scent of camp—of my pack, back the way we came. I surge toward it, instinct driving me back to safety, even as my mind shatters under the weight of things I can’t piece together.

The song hums on, relentless. And I realize that it’s not just a phantom lullaby.

It’s me . It’s coming from me . From the pit of my memories.