Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,60
gaze.
Then I opened our mouth and bit.
Fur gave way to our three-inch fangs. I bit deep and was reward with a howl of pain. Claws and teeth, my beast took over, ripping my quarry from side to side until the taste of blood bloomed in my mouth…and still it wasn’t enough.
I didn’t see anything else in that moment. Just her face…her perfect face and sorrow-filled gaze. “Like you said before, I’m a liability.”
A liability.
A liability…
A liability.
“PHANTOM!”
The roar brought me back to the moment. I sucked in a breath and smelled blood. I lifted my head…and saw only blood. The darkness shifted, and the scent was familiar. Church stumbled forward, limping, broken. “He’s dead, Alpha,” my second murmured, drawing my beast back from his agony.
One look from Church to what lay on the ground in front of me, and the male winced. “He’s dead…”
Movement came from all around me. The scent of Vampire cut like a knife. My beast curled his lips, bared his teeth, and whipped his gaze right.
“Easy now, Wolf,” Elithien growled, striding toward me covered with blood, all cold savagery. “They’re gone…what ones we didn’t kill, anyway. I don’t think they’ll be coming back.”
“If they do, we’ll be ready.” The male next to him promised. Not Vampire, my beast inhaled hard, scenting. Fae…dangerous, a shiver tore through me as the blond male shifted his pitiless gaze my way.
“We need him back, beast.” Elithien met my Wolf’s gaze with a look akin to respect. One nod of the head and the Vampire took a step toward him, keeping his voice low. “He has things to do, so we need him back.”
In the darkness of my mind, I pleaded, “Let me take it from here.”
My beast gave a whimper as he shivered.
“I know,” Church murmured, and met my gaze. The bitter scent of heartbreak stung the air. “I know.”
My second looked away then, lest I see more of the truth. But the look was all the beast needed. With a thunderous snarl, he relinquished his hold, letting my body fall to the ground, letting the fire of the shift stake its claim.
I pushed from the ground on shaking limbs. One glance at the mess in front of me and my stomach rolled. “I did that?” My whisper burned.
“You did that,” Church acknowledged.
There was nothing left of the Alpha, no distinguishing parts I recognized. He was nothing more than tufts of fur covered with bloody pulp. They didn’t look at me the same now, didn’t quite meet my gaze as Elithien tossed a pair of jeans through the air. “They’re bloody, but they’ll do.”
I caught them easily, my senses laser-driven, and looked down. They stank like Wolf…and not of my pack. But I lifted my foot, my body still shaken by adrenaline-induced shivers, and stepped in. “Wry?”
“Gone.” The bodyguard turned to lift his hand and point. “I tracked him for about ten miles before I lost him.”
“And the doctor?” I asked hopefully.
But silence filled the air as Carina’s desperate plea roared through my head. Find them. Promise me you’ll find them!
“I found blood,” I heard Arran growl behind me. I turned, watching him stride toward me, his steps slower and controlled, dressed in the shredded black cargos, his chest splattered with blood. He looked drained…he looked pissed.
“How much?” I forced the question as my heart sank.
“Some, but not enough.”
Some but not enough. That mean she was out there somewhere, hurt…and bleeding, a neon fucking sign for every predator in a hundred miles. “We have to find her.”
Arran gave a nod. “I’ll—"
I shook my head. “No, she’s my responsibility. I’ll go.”
“Phantom…” Elithien took a step closer. “Let us find her.”
But she didn’t know the Vampires. Hell, the pain in the ass woman barely knew us. She’d be terrified…more than terrified, she’d be out of her damn mind with fear. “I promised her.” I took a step. “I promised Carina I’d keep the doc safe.”
“What about me?” Arran murmured, unable to disguise his need.
“Go,” I commanded, the word resounding in the hollow of my chest. “Go find her.”
Elithien tossed keys into the air. “Take the car. We have more incoming. Find your mortal.”
“And hope it’s not too late…” I finished for him. “For all our sakes.”
18
The blur lunged, all teeth and claws. Death. That’s all I saw…my own death. I closed my eyes at the last second, readying myself for the impact as a sickening roar filled my ears, a roar like I’d never heard before.