Page 143 of Phobia

Hunt.

Own.

But the moment I saw her tonight, the moment her eyes dragged over my body, I knew that this would be a hunt. She was my prey, my final prize, the one woman who could calm down the monster in my mind.

My feet moved on their own, my entire body knowing what it needed to do—what it was created to do. We fit like two pieces of a puzzle, our souls entwined with one another even before we met each other. I never cared much for soulmates or what they represented, but I couldn’t deny the pull I felt toward her from that very first moment.

I couldn’t deny the game our fates played or the fact that I waited this long to finally make her mine. I couldn’t deny the fact that my heart suddenly became alive every time I saw her.

I could pretend I wasn’t affected—I was a master at pretenses—but I didn’t want to. Not anymore.

Pushing through the crowd that had gathered in the main foyer of the house, I ignored the calls, the whispers and the loud music blasting through the speakers. If my father saw this, he would’ve been displeased.

He hated crowds. He also hated the people of Winworth, but he wasn’t able to open his practice anywhere else. So he settled on his hometown instead of moving to California as he initially wanted, trapping us all here. I used to hate the fact that we lived here instead of somewhere else, but the older I got, the more I realized that this was the perfect playground.

A perfect hell I could control.

This unholy ground the town was built on was soaked with the blood of innocent ones who had no other choice but to fall at the feet of the monsters living among them. They cursed this place, this entire area long before I was born, and I planned to use it to my every advantage.

I’d spent twenty-three years of my life searching for my Dark Star, for the Dark Queen who could accompany me on this journey, and now that I had found her, the party could start.

The monster inside me was thirsty for blood, for more than what I was feeding it. It needed the blood of innocent ones. The blood of those who didn’t believe we were perfect. And we were.

My monster and I… we were the perfect specimens, and with Danika, we could rule this little hellhole.

With a thundering heart, I pushed between the two guys standing at the entrance to the ballroom, talking, and looked around, ignoring their meek shouts and annoying voices. They didn’t matter. Not right now.

My eyes scanned the crowd, going from one blonde head to the next, surveying the shapes, the hips, the way other people moved, until they finally landed on her.

I would never forget the feel of her underneath me, her scent, the taste of her, the little whimpers and moans that escaped from her lips, which was why when I saw the person standing in front of her, holding her hand, my blood ran cold.

Gabriel fucking Lacroix.

His eyebrows were scrunched together, a worried look on his face, while his lips moved rapidly, telling her something I couldn’t hear. Danika tilted her head to the side and placed her hand on his cheek, petting him as if he deserved her touch.

Nobody deserved her touch.

She was mine goddammit.

I didn’t notice when I started moving, but when my eyes clashed with Gabriel’s, I had a feeling he could see the rage brimming inside of me. He immediately took a step back, getting away from her. Danika turned around, following the path of Gabriel’s eyes, until blue eyes clashed with my dark brown ones, taunting me, inviting me to play.

She knew I would follow.

She knew I would find them, and she still did it.

I had no idea if I wanted to spank her or kiss her, but before I could reach them, she ran away, moving faster than I could follow, disappearing into the crowd.

“Fuck!” I cursed out loud just as I reached the spot she occupied mere seconds ago. I didn’t want to look at Gabriel, worried what I would do if I did. I liked him—kind of. He wasn’t like Judah, thinking only about himself and what he wanted to have.

I had no idea why Judah was obsessed with her and the fact that she couldn’t be his first Red Maiden, and I didn’t care. I just knew I had to keep her away from him.

“Where’s Judah?” Was the first thing out of my mouth, looking around the room.

“He’s somewhere around. I saw him going to the second floor with his sister.”

Good. Great.

That meant he would be too busy to pay attention to Danika and me.