Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,24
seductive eyes were fixed on mine as he grabbed me around the waist and yanked me close. “Good morning,” he murmured, then leaned close and kissed me hard.
Gone was my hunger, gone was my fear, as his lips claimed mine. He was all-consuming, this Wolf, ravenous and ravening, stealing me from the real world in an instant with the promise of his body, until he pulled away.
A small smile curled the corners of his lips before he leaned down and they took the piece of meat from my fingers.
“That was for Carina,” Church growled, watching intently.
Arran just smiled a little harder. “Then she’ll have to go to you for more then, won’t she?” he chided. “All meek and mild…begging.”
A growl came from Church as he turned on Arran. The air crackled with unbridled tension.
“That’s enough,” Phantom growled. “We’ve got bigger things to fight about. Our absence hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
Church jerked his gaze to the Alpha. “It’s been one fucking day.”
“A day, an hour, a minute.” Phantom strode toward the fire and yanked a chunk of meat free before consuming it in two savage bites. Juice ran down his fingers, then he licked them, taking them deeper into his mouth. “Makes no difference to our enemies.”
Fuck me, he was stunning.
“The Vamps are gone,” Vitold declared. “That leaves the Unseelie protecting the city.”
Phantom nodded, his gaze fixed on mine. “Not gone…not yet, at least. I’ll set up a meeting, damn if it doesn’t feel all too fucking familiar.”
I shifted from one foot to the other under his gaze, and picked at the pieces of meat on my plate. They’d been chosen with precision, lean and seared. Only the best for me, while they gnawed and consumed gristle and everything else. Set up a meeting, the words grated on me…the Vampires…my pulse sped, and I tried not to conjure the image of Ruth in my head.
“We need to get back,” Church added, “call in the others, strengthen the boundaries, use every favor and allegiance owed us.”
“We do that and we’re sitting ducks.” Phantom shook his head. “From both sides of the river.”
I snapped back to the moment. This I knew. This I was good at. “Harlan will sit back, but he’ll get every other agency involved, police, Homeland. Hell, the CDC, which has more power than you can imagine. You want a section of the city shut down…they’ll do it.”
“Fuck me,” Arran grunted.
“Finis needs to be our priority here,” Phantom disagreed. “When he comes…and he will come, it’ll be to finish us once and for all.”
Chaos, that whisper moved through me, making me swallow a thick wad of meat. It hurt going down, but not as much as seeing the desperation in Phantom’s eyes.
“He’s coming,” the Alpha repeated as he turned away from the others and me…and strode toward the opening of the cavern. “We need to be ready when he does.”
He was gone in an instant, leaving the rest of us behind. Arran glanced at me, and shrugged. “Looks like I’m on patrol.”
“Me, too,” Vitold agreed, and headed for the opening, leaving Church and me alone.
Careful glances and awkward silence came next. I glanced at my plate as he just stared at me and shifted his stance. “Yeah, well…”
“Church.” I swallowed that dark need whispering in my head. “Thank you for the food.”
His nod was awkward as the muscles in his jaw bulged.
“Will they help us…the Vampires?”
He scowled for a second, deep in thought. “They’ll help. Elithien won’t stand by and allow another pack to move in…but if it’s Ruth you’re worried about—”
“I’m not,” I cut him off, taking a step closer, that treacherous need slipping through my veins. “I’m not worried about her at all. I’m worried about…me.”
He met my gaze, confusion shimmering on the surface, but underneath that was fear.
“I’m changing.” My voice trembled. To be open and honest was all too raw. “This…thing inside me is making me change.”
“Unseelie.”
“Unseelie,” I repeated and that hunger swirled inside my head. “Chaos, Mojin called it. It scares me…Hell, I scare me.”
Images flickered inside my head. Church, naked, his grunt of desire followed by the slap of flesh on flesh. Need raging in those perfect blue eyes…so much need. Painful need. Humiliation. He was…humiliated.
His chest rose with deep breaths as I stepped closer. “It knows things about people…senses them. I want to belong to this pack, Church, and you’re a big part of it. So I need you to tell me what I have to do.”