Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,27
“Not when you’re part of a pack. Every twinge of pain, every need to go to the bathroom, we’ll know.” He stopped in front of me. “And yes, when it comes to menstruation, we’re going to anticipate your cycles better than you do. We’ve worked with women and we’re used to knowing their needs. We make sure we’re careful and distant, we make sure they don’t realize we scent every single thing about them…but they aren’t you, Carina. They aren’t even close to you. We won’t be able to stop ourselves, not from caring or from wanting you even when you bleed.”
My body clenched as I swallowed hard. I didn’t know a lot of women, and the ones I did closed down during their time of the month. But me? I hated it, loathed it. The heat, the heady, slick need, my body swelling with the urge to fuck. It sucked even more when you were lonely. So I worked, I trained, and I hated it.
“All you have to do is tell us what you want,” Phantom continued calmly. “You want space, we’ll give you space…to a point. You want chocolate and takeout and a binge session of some sappy TV show, we’ll give you that, too. Whatever you need…Arran can give you.”
Arran jerked his gaze to the Alpha, surprise written all over his face.
The coldness was back in Phantom’s eyes, that distance which hadn’t been there before. He was pulling away from me…he was pulling away. The sting was instant as Phantom tore his gaze from mine, turned, and strode away.
He was gone in an instant, heading for the cavern, leaving me standing there. “Arran can give you, huh?” Pain etched my words.
“He didn’t mean…” Arran started.
I turned away from the Wolf. “I know exactly what he meant.” I lifted my gaze once more toward the Alpha before he disappeared into the opening of the cavern.
Something had changed in him since the phone call from the Unseelie, a growing distance and a tormented mind. “It’s alright.” I tore my gaze from the cavern. I felt that darkness too…but it wasn’t from a damn phone call, it was inside me.
“How about you show me the boundary…and tell me more about this Finis?” I murmured, and glanced at Arran.
“The boundary yes, Finis is a little more complicated.” He motioned ahead along the worn track.
We made our way down the mountain, slipping on the loose shale until the ground evened out, and as I stared at the thick green forest all around me, this became all too real. I stopped and leaned over with my hands on my knees, sucking in deep breaths.
“Carina?” Arran called, concerned.
“I’m fine,” I answered, and closed my eyes. Pain lashed the back of my head…but it was just a memory, the feel of the tire iron against my skull, and Murphy’s hands around my throat. My fingers grazed my neck. The acrid scent of the smoke still seemed to cling to me, even though I knew it was no longer there.
Chaos, that animal part of me whispered. Chaos and death…
I opened my eyes, finding my Wolf standing beside me. “How the hell are we going to get out of this?”
Agony and guilt glinted in his eyes. He had no answers, none that were the truth, and I wasn’t one for lies.
“Fight or run,” he answered. “That’s all it comes down to. We fight and ride it out, protect our boundaries, protect those we can…or we pack up and run.”
“And what…become nomads?”
I closed the distance and felt his arms around my shoulders, pulling me against his chest. “Rogue packs survive. They might not be as strong, but we’ve endured before and we will again.”
Rogue packs. No territory. No home. The midnight-colored Wolf surfaced in my mind. Out there, with Finis after us, we wouldn’t survive for long, rogue or not.
“Looks like fight it is.” I turned my head, pressing my cheek against his chest and slid my arms around his waist, taking comfort where I could.
“That’s my special agent,” he murmured into my hair. “Don’t forget, you’re the woman who shot our Alpha in the chest…and stole my damn Jeep. Fuck, I love that car.”
A bark of laughter tore free from my throat. It didn’t matter if the world was falling down around us, Arran was there to make me smile and make me fucking ache with need. “Stupidity or balls. I’m not sure which one possessed me in that moment.”