Page 35 of Savage Blood (Den of Shadows #6)

Not under normal circumstances, but obviously, I wasn’t normal.

As the full moon climbed higher in the heavens, the energy heightened, especially from the wolf shifters. My animal stirred inside, wanting out to run and play.

I was not in the mood to play.

Saint wasn’t here either. His pack was probably pissed he was gone all the time and had talked him into staying longer.

The lemonade I finally found cascaded over my tongue, washing down the dry cookie. It wasn’t one of Dylan’s. Those were perfect masterpieces, and I’d never needed to force them down.

“I thought I smelled something foul.” Marissa sneered across the refreshments table as she grabbed a small can of cherry cola from the cooler.

“That’s your own stench, Marissa.” I pinched my nostrils together. “Maybe you should have showered.”

She tapped her long fingernail on the can and then popped the top. “Funny. Fane doesn’t seem to mind my smell.”

I choked back the growl building in my chest. Fane’s former fated mate only wanted to goad me into a fight so she could then play the victim. Her long raven locks drifted behind her in the wind while her eyes, the color of emeralds and just as hard, gleamed with a challenge.

Not falling for your bullshit tonight.

Realizing I wasn’t taking the bait, the alpha’s daughter ran her hand down her body, a short black dress hugging every curve. Her cleavage also spilled out of the top, and she had traded her stilettos in for cute pink sneakers.

I resisted the urge to frown at my pair of leggings and cut-off t-shirt.

“Fane will like this dress.” She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. “He always did like me in them. Easy access and all.”

The image of the two of them screwing flashed through my mind, forcing my talons to skim the surface of my fingertips. Slicing my claws across her neck would be so easy. It would take hardly any effort at all.

She couldn’t constantly remind me she was Fane’s fated if she was dead.

“Where’s Dorian?” I asked instead of giving in to my dark thoughts.

Her face scrunched into a scowl. “Like I care.”

“He’s your actual mate. You should care.”

“We didn’t work out.” Marissa gave a lazy shrug. “Fate has a way of correcting things, doesn’t it?”

Camus caught my eye across the field as he helped his catatonic mate into a folding chair, heaving a sigh when he noticed his daughter taunting me—as usual. He was fully aware of his Marissa’s shitty behavior, but he refused to punish her.

If I still had the Infernal Sol, I would have punished her myself.

Reese sat in the chair as her long, midnight locks stirred behind her in the gentle wind. Her expression was blank. Nothing lay behind that vacant stare. Last time I saw the female wolf, manic energy erupted out of her like a geyser as she stabbed me with that dagger.

But now?

There was just—nothing.

“Speaking of fated mates, where’s Saint?” Marissa asked, stealing my attention away from her parents.

“He and Fane are in the wood, racing to see who gets to sleep with me tonight.”

Her mouth opened, lashes fluttering as she blinked. “You’re joking.”

I downed the rest of my lemonade. “Am I?”

She propped her hand on her hip and scoffed. “Fane would never share a mate. He’s too possessive for that.”

“Maybe.” I tossed my cup into the trash and marched by her. “And maybe he just loves me that much.”

The string of insults and despicable names Marissa snarled as I sauntered away brought a smile to my lips.

Camus, realizing I was headed in his direction, stood in front of Reese. “She’s not a threat. You can’t?—”

“I’m not here to hurt her. I only want to talk.”

The tension in his broad shoulders loosened, but he shook his head, raking his hand through his dark locks. “Other than gibberish, Reese hasn’t spoken since I brought her back.”

Marissa’s mom had been Barric’s closest confidante in The Collective until he used her to lure Fane and me into a trap. After I tortured her for hours, she stabbed me with a mystical knife to speed up the sickness growing within me from the Infernal Sol.

Since then, she’d gone from mad to catatonic. She didn’t even move when I waved my hand inches from her nose and snapped.

What the hell had Barric—or, more likely, the Infernal Sol—done to her?

“Can she hear us?” I asked.

Camus nodded and folded his hulking frame into the seat next to her, the chair creaking under his weight. “More or less.”

I knelt in front of Reese, peering into her green eyes. “You don’t have to be loyal to Barric. He did this to you. Once your job was complete, he tossed you aside. And he’s not coming back for you.”

The whole time I was in his captivity, he never mentioned Reese. None of them did.

“I’ve tried telling her that,” Camus said, grabbing a cup of whiskey beside his chair and staring pensively at the amber liquid. “Barric used her.”

“He’ll use all of them to get what he wants,” I said, standing. “He doesn’t care how many members die. Or how many he corrupts with the Infernal Sol.”

As soon as the demon amulet’s name dropped from my mouth, Reese’s gaze swiveled in my direction, burning with recognition.

She was still in there.

“I’m going to steal it from him, Reese,” I whispered. “And then I’ll kill him.”

Why was I even telling her this? She probably still believed he would come for her.

My neck tattoo crackled, and my attention shifted across the field just as Fane marched toward the tree line—with Marissa next to him.

What the ever-loving hell?

“I have to go,” I muttered and then trailed after them, my pulse spiking.

Fane wouldn’t… I mean… right?

She might have been his fated mate at one point—before she rejected him—but he barely tolerated her now. The fear of losing him cast doubts through my mind, though, and I couldn’t stop the panic swirling in my gut. I did my best to block it from the bond before Fane felt it.

After trudging through the forest for a few minutes, following the magnetic pull that always led me toward him, I found the pair. My heart lurched, and frost crawled over my skin. They stood so close there was barely any space between them.

“Don’t you think it would be so much easier for her to choose Saint if”—Marissa reached out and held his hand—“you were with your own fated mate?”

Fane shook his head and stared up at the sky. “Tate would never believe I’d leave her for you.”

Some of the tightness in my chest eased. But Marissa was bound and determined to have the man she threw away.

“Make her believe it.” She grabbed his face and angled it toward hers as she stood on her toes to meet his lips.

All the air drained out of me, like a popped, deflating balloon, and my knees threatened to buckle. The man I loved was on the verge of betraying everything we’d been fighting for these last few years with one kiss.

One kiss that would break me.