The Hunter's Heart (Wilde Creek Book Seven) Read online

  Lucian stripped off his shirt, tossed it into the trunk, and strapped blades onto his belt.

  His father said, “I didn’t know that ravens cared so much about science.”

  “They’re not doing anything out of the goodness of their hearts. All their research has to do with continuing their species and forcing others into line. I’d bet that the drug they’re using on Mia is to force other shifters into heat so they’ll be fertile and more easily bred. There are other shifters besides wolves who aren’t fertile except for certain times of the year.”

  “Fucking maniacs,” his father said.

  “Right.” Lucian leveled a long look at Antonio. “I think it’s time to get you home.”

  Since the male would undoubtedly try to screw up Lucian’s plans, he knocked him out with a single blow to the face. Then he inhaled and let out a growl. It was tempting to kill him right there, but he needed Antonio alive, at least for now.

  Hauling the male over his shoulder, Lucian closed the trunk and walked away into the darkness, heading toward the house on the hill. His father stayed in step next to him, and they moved swiftly. When they were a hundred feet from the security fence that surrounded the house, floodlights illuminated them, bringing Lucian and his father to a halt.

  Lucian said loudly, “Dario’s expecting me.”

  There was a long pause and then a male voice said, “Is Antonio alive?”

  Lucian dumped the male onto the ground and he groaned.

  Lucian palmed his blade and whispered to his father. “Make sure to kill this fucker when I’m inside.”

  “My pleasure,” his father said.

  Lucian swiftly cut through the tattoos on his arms, breaking the magical barrier. With each cut, Lucian felt his berserker become stronger.

  The gate creaked as gears began to pull it open, and Lucian rolled his neck and readied himself for the coming battle. He had no idea what would happen when he gave into the beast within, but as long as Mia was safe, he didn’t really care.

  It wasn’t Dario who came through the gate, but two of the cousins. He knew that Dario was most likely watching through a camera feed.

  “Dario’s supposed to have my mate. Where is she?” Lucian demanded, stepping in front of Antonio and meeting the two males.

  “We’re here to get the boss. Dario will be out for you later,” one of them said.

  Lucian hummed. “No. That wasn’t the deal.”

  The larger of the two males stepped up to Lucian and poked him in the chest. “I don’t care what your deal was. We don’t answer to you. Step aside or I’ll move you myself.”

  Lucian smiled, and let go of the hold he had on the monster inside. Everything happened to him at once. His body bulked, his bones cracking and reforming as he grew at least two feet. His hair grew longer, and coarse fur sprouted on his shoulders and down his arms. His pants split as his thighs widened, his boots popping apart as his feet, which now looked like paws, clawed the ground.

  His teeth had sharpened and lengthened, and his fingers were now tipped with black claws. The males, too stunned by the rapid change to move, were easy to kill. Lucian grabbed them by their throats and twisted his wrists until their necks cracked and their bodies went limp. Tossing them to the side, he let out a loud howl. It was a challenge and a warning. He would find his mate and he would kill any and all who had harmed her. There was no safe place for them anymore.

  His father let out a howl behind him, and Lucian glanced over his shoulder to see him smash his clawed fist through Antonio’s chest. His father’s skin had turned dark like smoke, and the fur that covered his arms and chest was black. He looked more like a beast than a man, and Lucian knew he looked the same. But he wasn’t afraid of his father. Embracing the berserker made him realize that the only monsters in this place were the ravens.

  Charging forward with his father at his side, they broke through the gate as it closed. His father took out the security guards as Lucian moved to the main house. Anyone who came near him, he killed. His sole focus was on finding Mia. As a hunter, he’d seen schematics of the house and the lab underneath, but he knew he couldn’t get to the lab without someone taking him down.

  Which meant he needed to find Dario.

  He heard a rifle cock and he glanced up, seeing a male in all-black point the barrel at him. Lucian ducked, ramming his shoulder against the front door as the bullet zipped by him. He heard shouting from the other side, and knew that Dario was most likely being moved to a safe room.

  Backing up, Lucian cracked his neck and bellowed out a war cry, slamming against the door. It flew open with a bang, and Lucian lunged to the right as bullets began to fly. He caught the leg of a male and threw him into the line of guards who were taking aim at Lucian. They fell over like bowling pins, and Lucian didn’t stick around to see how long it took them to get up.

  He lifted his nose and inhaled, sorting through the scents and finding Dario and his mother, Dahlia. He’d met them both and knew their scents from memory. His beast was happy to help him find the people who’d harmed Mia. He raced up a circular set of stairs, knocking guards out of his path. He heard guns fire, but the bullets didn’t seem able to penetrate his skin. Stopping at the top of the stairs, he listened intently. Down the hall he heard soft whispers, and knew he’d found them.

  The door broke apart with one kick. A raven fired a gun at Lucian, but the bullet bounced off his shoulder and thudded to the floor. Dario and his mother were in the corner. Sweat covered Dario’s face, and he was clutching a knife.

  Lucian grabbed the gun the guard held and broke it, then smashed his hand into the male’s face, shoving his nose into his brain and killing him instantly. There were other males, but they dropped their guns and raced past Lucian. They didn’t get far; their screams of pain echoed from down below, where his father waited.

  “Where is my mate?”

  “You killed my brother, you psycho!” Dario said. “She’s dead. She’s fucking dead!”

  Lucian didn’t believe the male, but his beast did. The part of him that had been in control was suddenly gone, and he was thrown into full-blown blood lust. One moment he was staring at Dario and Dahlia, and the next he was holding Dario’s heart in his hand, the organ beating twice before stopping. He wasn’t even aware he’d moved at all. Dahlia screamed.

  “I’ll take you to her! Please! I promise she’s alive!”

  Lucian felt an arm around his throat and recognized it as his father. He allowed himself to be pulled away from the cowering female. “Take us to her. Now,” his father demanded.

  She straightened, her whole body trembling, and screeched as Lucian’s father grabbed her arm and shoved her forward. “Move, bitch. And don’t bother calling for help. All your guards are dead.”

  Lucian followed her and his father, keeping an ear out for movement. The guards he hadn’t killed had been killed by his father. Blood and death coated the air. He had a fleeting impulse to go find more ravens to kill, but Mia’s safety overrode that thought as quickly as it came.

  Dahlia was sobbing as she led them down a hall to a door with a security keypad. She paused, her fingers hovering just over the numbers.

  Lucian’s father pressed a clawed finger to her chin. “In case you didn’t see the bloodbath we just walked through, don’t get any ideas. You will take us to Mia or I will kill you right now and we’ll find her ourselves.”

  Dahlia sniffled and pressed the keys. The door unlocked and revealed an elevator. She entered another code, and they could hear the whir of the gears as the elevator was brought up. When the doors opened, the elevator was empty, but Lucian suspected that most of the guards had been aboveground anyway. They took the elevator down one floor, and he heard Mia as soon as the doors opened. Her voice was low and raw, as if she didn’t have the strength to talk. She was begging for someone to stop, her words halted by choking sobs.

  Everything inside him went profoundly quiet. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Dahlia wa
s slowly pulling a small gun from her pocket. Lucian slammed her against the wall, the gun clattering to the floor as she gasped. Mia’s soft cries reached through the rage that surrounded him, and he let go of his grip on Dahlia and raced down the hallway.

  In a heartbeat he had kicked the door open and found himself in a sterile-looking room. Mia was strapped to a hospital bed, with three males standing around her. Her face was streaked with tears, her whole body flushed with arousal.

  “Mine!”

  Chapter 7

  Mia’s body felt like it was on fire. Everything within her burned. Sweat dripped from her skin, trailing across her flesh and soaking the sheet under her. Her arms and legs ached from attempting to pull herself free from her bonds, but she remained firmly shackled no matter how much she struggled.

  The lock clicked, and she couldn’t muster the strength to lift her head. She didn’t hear a male voice or the heavy footfall that preceded one of them coming for her. Forcing her head up, she blinked blurry eyes at the door and found Fawn standing there.

  “What?” Mia rasped, her throat parched.

  Fawn rushed to her and lifted a needle.

  “No,” Mia said, “Please.”

  “It’s an antidote. I saw what they did to you with the third dose. There’s another one coming. It’s so strong, it’s killed females. This will lessen what you’re going through now so you don’t die with the next dose.”

  She plunged the needle into Mia’s arm and a chill swept over her. For one all-too-brief moment, everything quieted within her. Her heartbeat slowed and her vision cleared, and the constant painful arousal ebbed.

  “Let me go,” Mia said.

  “I’ve done too much as it is. I turned off the cameras so no one will know it was me, but if you tell on me, I’ll find a way to make things worse.” Fawn tucked the syringe into her pocket and hurried from the room, the door shutting and locking behind her.

  The peace that she got from the antidote didn’t last long; her arousal began ramping up again as the minutes ticked by. Although bad, it was less than it had been, more like the second dose than the terribly strong third one. She couldn’t imagine how bad a fourth dose would be. She shuddered to think how awful it would be to die from artificial arousal.

  The door opened again. She hoped it was Fawn, coming back to set her free, but this time there was no small female at the door. Instead, a group of males entered. Dario wasn’t with them, and the look in their eyes told her they liked how helpless she was. How at their mercy she was.

  She’d never felt so defenseless in her life. Her body and her mind warred with each other as the males approached. They taunted her, pressing their hands to her body, each little touch driving her arousal higher and weakening her resolve. She wished she was strong enough to break the bonds holding her and fight back. These were the worst sort of males, who took pleasure in causing harm to vulnerable females. If they had sex with her, they wouldn’t use condoms. Even though the mating heat was artificial because of the drugs, her wolf wouldn’t know the difference, and she’d be mated to the first male who climaxed inside her.

  “Stop,” she begged, as another male put a hand low on her belly.

  “Aw,” he chuckled. “Pretty little wolfy. I bet you’d like my big dick in your cunt, yeah? Tell me how much you want it and maybe I’ll let you come.”

  She curled her fingers into her palms, her nails biting into her flesh as she struggled against the leather bindings. Tears blinded her. Her body ached so badly, far worse than any heat she’d gone through before.

  The door smashed open, and the three males shouted in surprise. She lifted her head and met the new male’s gaze. Even though he looked different, she recognized him immediately.

  Lucian.

  His body was bigger and more muscular, his skin dark gray and covered with fur. His chest was bare, and the tattoos that covered his skin looked strange, as if they were fading. Normally cropped short, his hair had grown long and shaggy, brushing his broad shoulders, and his pants were ripped as if the fabric hadn’t been able to hold his thick legs.

  “Mine!” Lucian roared. The word was full of possession and fury; it made her skin goosebump.

  He moved so swiftly that she couldn’t track him. One moment he was at the open door, and the next he’d grabbed the male who was touching her, broken his arm with a loud crack, and sent the howling raven slamming into the wall. The two other ravens scattered, one reaching for a gun and the other a knife. Lucian killed them both within seconds of each other, their blood spraying the air as their bodies fell, lifeless, to the white tile floor.

  Lucian turned slowly to face her. He was covered with blood, his hands a glossy dark red. He bared his teeth, but instead of human-shaped blunt ones, they were all long and sharp. His eyes were crimson like glowing coals. He picked the dead males up one by one and tossed them from the room, and then he stalked over to her.

  He reached for her, his hands trembling slightly as he cupped her face. She let out a sigh of relief, the painful twisting inside her body ebbing with his touch. This was what she’d suspected all along – that Lucian was her mate. He’d kept himself carefully out of reach for so long that she’d begun to doubt her wolf.

  “Luc,” she whispered.

  He panted for breath, his chest heaving.

  Then his body transformed, returning to the male she’d loved from afar for years. The long, shaggy hair disappeared, and the military-style cut he always wore returned. His teeth were normal again, and he seemed to shrink in height. Within moments he was exactly as he’d been, except for his eyes, which remained that deep crimson.

  He didn’t say anything as he unbuckled the straps on her wrists, but he did growl – a low, furious rumble. There was a sound at the door, and he spun with an angry snarl, leaning over and covering her from the view of whoever it was.

  “I’m going to sweep the building. When you’re ready to go, we’ll torch the place,” the male said.

  “Thanks,” Lucian said.

  Whoever the male was, he pulled the broken door shut, the one remaining hinge barely holding it up. Mia tried to lift her hands from the bed, but her arms ached too badly. A whimper escaped her, and Lucian spun and removed the restraints from her ankles.

  He lifted her hands and kissed her wrists tenderly. They were raw and bleeding from her struggles, but his touch was a soothing balm.

  “I’m so fucking sorry, Mia,” he said hoarsely.

  She wanted to ask him a hundred questions. Maybe yell a little. Or a lot. Make him beg for her forgiveness.

  Then arousal shot through her, the heat rising inside her so swiftly she couldn’t stop a rough moan spilling from her lips. Mia pulled him down and kissed him. Lucian braced himself on the bed, hovering over her as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. The growl in his chest subsided to a deep purring rumble. She gripped his neck, tugging on him. The bed creaked as he held firm, not letting her pull him down.

  “I need to get you home,” he said, lifting from her lips.

  “I can’t, Luc. I can’t go home like this.” Her nails dug into his neck and his eyes darkened to blood-red flickering with black and copper.

  “I’m not human, baby, I’m a berserker.”

  She almost laughed. His humanity, or lack of it, was the least of her worries. But then her stomach twisted and her inner walls clenched just this side of pain. Lucian smelled so good. Dark and spicy, like cocoa and cinnamon. Her wolf, still buried under the effects of the drug, wakened a little, stirring for Lucian.

  He inhaled slowly, closing his eyes as a purring growl stuttered in his chest.

  “I only want you,” she said.

  He stalked away to the sink at the corner of the room and washed his hands, splashing soap and water over his skin until it was free of blood. Once they were dry, he moved swiftly again, returning to her side with a growl. He lifted her into his arms and pressed her against the cold wall; the chill against her hot skin made her arch with a gasp. She w
rapped her legs around his waist and rested her arms on his shoulders. His eyes were flashing, from dark red to the natural blue she loved.

  “I know what happens when we do this,” he said gruffly. “I’m not…worthy of you.”

  “Don’t I get a say in this?” she snapped.

  His upper lip curled, and he slid his hand to the back of her neck and drew her to his mouth. She opened her lips as they touched his, and this time she wasn’t leading the kiss – he was. He gripped her neck just hard enough for her to feel the pressure of his fingers as he held her where he wanted her, devouring her lips like she was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

  She traced the muscles of his shoulders with her fingertips, loving the feeling of his skin, like silk over steel. She moaned as he deepened the kiss, sucking on her tongue and tasting every inch of her mouth. He nibbled on her bottom lip and licked the spot with a groan.

  Then he kissed her cheek and her jaw, tilting her head as he made his way to her neck. He bit her pulse gently, making her wiggle in his arms.

  He finally pushed his hand between them, his fingertips grazing her soaked entrance as he undid his pants and shoved them down his hips. The broad head of his cock nudged her slick core, and all thought fled. He pushed into her slowly, the thick length of him stretching her. She moaned, letting her head drop back against the wall as he filled her completely.

  This was her mate. Her true mate. The male of her heart. He’d come for her. Killed for her. And now he was making her his. Everything was right in her world.

  “Fucking beautiful,” he said, his voice raw. “My sweet wolf.”

  Digging her nails into his shoulders, she urged him to move, clutching his hips with her knees. He began sliding out of her slowly and pushing in, filling her over and over with a sweet, steady pace. She wanted hard and fast. She wanted slow and sweet. She wanted everything.

  He brushed his fingers over her bottom lip and then slid his hand between them, resting his thumb on her clit. As he increased the pace of his thrusts, he rubbed the bundle of nerves. The drug had brought her so close to coming for so long, it took only a few brushes of his thumb to send her over the edge. She shouted as she came, her pussy locking down on him.