Beast Rising: The Order of the Wolf, Book 7 Read online

  He took off in the direction he thought she’d gone, using his enhanced sense of smell to ferret her out. She’d zigzagged, circled a tree, and then turned east. He continued to track her, his smile widening as he came upon her tank top hung from a branch. He snatched it, brought it to his nose. She smelled like clove, spicy, hot, mouth-watering. He shoved the tank into the waistband of his pants. Saving it for later.

  He found her shorts in the stream, where she’d run to lose her scent. It was clever but not good enough to mask her trail. The stream was cold despite the hot air temp. She’d waded in to her knees for sure, then chickened out about a hundred feet downstream. Her footprints alone would have given her away. Jay smiled to himself, knowing he’d be getting some ass fairly soon.

  He tracked her another quarter mile, growing a little confused as her scent started to trickle until it suddenly disappeared. He stopped, her shorts in one hand, the bra he’d found lying on the ground in the other. Where the fuck had she gone?

  He heard the branch snap a second too late. She landed on his back, her legs wrapped around his waist, taking them both to the ground in a heap. He got a mouthful of mud in the process.

  She gripped his hair, pulling his head back. “Gotcha!”

  He spat the mud out, the taste of it nasty. Payback would be a bitch. He bucked up, knocking her off balance before rolling her under him and smearing some mud all over her face. She laughed until she got some in her mouth, then she sputtered and spat.

  “Doesn’t taste too great, does it?” He pulled her up, wrenching her arms above her head. “This is my game now, baby.”

  He tied her hands together with her bra, securing her wrists to a low hanging branch with her tank top. She tugged, smiled at him, then tugged harder, her breasts swaying.

  “You’re not getting out of that until I say so.” Jay moved toward her, palming one breast as he bent down to lick the nipple of the other.

  She was panting, out of breath from her sneaky attack or his attention to her flesh—he wasn’t sure and he didn’t care. He loved chasing her, especially when she played dirty. She lifted her legs, trying slide her feet in between them so she could leverage him away, but he wasn’t about to give up his prize that easily. He snapped his hands down, yanking her legs apart so he could wedge his hips in between.

  “I’m going to fuck you hard against this tree, baby. You’re going to get bark burn on your ass.” He leaned down and took her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep inside as he ground his clothing covered dick against her crotch.

  She moaned, hooked her legs around his waist, moving in time to his thrusts. He could make her come just like this. He’d done it before. Not tonight though. As he pulled his mouth away, she leaned her head back, watching him with hooded eyes as she licked her lips.

  “You taste like dirt.”

  Jay smirked. “You’ve only got yourself to blame for that, baby.”

  He shoved backward, forcing her to unlatch her legs. With his hands on her ass, he lifted her crotch to his face, inhaling her scent through her panties before rubbing his mouth against her pussy. He moaned, vibrating her clit with his lips, pressing his tongue against her, wetting the cotton that covered her still. She writhed, bucked, swore at him. He loved driving her wild. She was so easy to tease.

  He gripped her panties, curling his fingers along the band at her hips, then yanked down, sliding the fabric from her legs. He grabbed her ankles at the last minute so she didn’t slam her back against the tree. Then he pushed her legs apart again, spreading her wide as he zeroed in on her glistening, sweet little cunt.

  She wiggled a bit, and when he looked up at her, she gave him one of her coy smiles. “Eat me, wolfie.”

  He grinned, licked his lips, and nipped her clit with his teeth.

  She cried out, her yelp turning to a moan as he soothed the hurt with his lips, his tongue, rolling, flicking, sucking her cream down. He slid his fingers into her hole, gliding on her juice, stroking her hard and fast until all she could do was groan. He loved watching her like this, loved how she tossed her head to the side, bit her lip, closed her eyes tight, furrowed her brow, her cheeks flushed. Just as she was about to come in his mouth he pulled away.

  She looked at him, bewildered, her frown deepening as he smiled wickedly.

  “I should leave you here.” He took a step back and she whimpered a little. She knew not to beg. She knew how much he loved to torture her.

  He popped the button on his jeans, unzipped, and pulled out his cock. He was aching to be inside of her. Could barely maintain control as he stroked himself, circling his head, coating his fingers in pre-come, and then gliding back down again.

  “Jay,” she whispered before licking her lips.

  “You want my cock, baby?” He continued to stroke as he came closer to her.

  She opened her legs for him. As much as he loved to torment her, the sight of her dripping pussy was too much for him to handle. He gripped her thighs, opening her up wider, before moving his hands to the backs of her knees.

  “Fuck me hard, Jay.”

  He thrust deep and fast, pulling her legs toward him as he did, seating himself so that every inch of his cock was coated in her juice, covered by her sheath. And then he didn’t move.

  She wiggled again, bucked a little. Glared when he didn’t comply. Tugging on her arms was useless but she did it anyway, grunting a little with the movement. All sexy as hell. He laughed, rotated his hips once then stilled again.

  “Jay!” She bucked harder. “You fucking dick!”

  He laughed again, lowered his lips to her tits to suck and tease some more. Her skin was hot, sweat glistening on her flesh. He looked up at her as he sucked on her nipple, using his tongue to flick. She blasted him with a death glare that really only made him want to torture her more, but he knew payback would be painful. He let her nipple go, blew on it before pulling his cock out to the tip, and then slammed her hard against the tree.

  She cried out, moaning as he pounded her. He abandoned any control he’d had. Her pussy spasmed hard against him, sucking him in deeper, until he couldn’t stand it, his orgasm rocking him hard as he spewed come into her. They shuddered and groaned together, taking every bit of pleasure. Jay collapsed against her, pinioning her to the tree as he licked the sweat from her neck, following the mark of his bite—invisible to the eye, but there all the same. She shivered, her skin pebbling with goosebumps.

  “You played dirty,” she said, her voice still husky.

  He pulled back a bit and grinned at her. “I expect you’ll want to punish me for that.”

  She smiled too, her lips curling wickedly. “You bet your ass.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Aubrey straightened her tank top, looking one last time for any forest evidence of their romp. Jay’s hand was on her lower back, a tender spot there from their grinding against the tree bark.

  They paused in the hallway. There were voices coming from inside the meeting room. Aubrey twisted so she could kiss Jay one more time.

  “Here’s the thing, May…” Summer glanced up as Aubrey and Jay walked into the room, pausing long enough to nod. “I’ve got symbols. When I proposed that I etch on the wolves, symbols were there for me to use, floating around in my head, I just don’t know what they do. And I’m not entirely sure if they’d contain any ill effects for the beasts.”

  “Everyone here trusts you, Summer,” Dy said with a reassuring smile. “Your symbols haven’t failed us yet.”

  “It’s not that.” Summer sighed. “It makes me nervous to use something that I’m not sure about. Whatever my subconscious is conjuring could work the way Mayhem wants. It could act as some kind of leash or modifier on your beast but it could also be debilitating. I have no idea.”

  “It’s not worth the risk then,” Aubrey said, her gut twisting. Summer was a gifted spell caster but she was untrained an
d fumbling around in the dark where her symbols were concerned. There was only so much instinct could do.

  “I’ll be your guinea pig,” Jay said as he stepped to Aubrey’s side.

  “Like hell you will!” Aubrey barked. Everyone snapped their eyes to her and she felt her cheeks warm. She sucked back her hard tone. “It’s too risky. Summer is right.”

  “My beast is out of control already,” Jay offered. “Mayhem had to bite me.”

  He pointed to his neck. Aubrey gaped. How had she not noticed that? The wound looked angry and red, not bleeding but it had for sure at some point. She reached up, her fingers hovering over the wound. Jay flinched, pulled away. She closed her eyes briefly as she slid her hand back. She was used to this kind of rejection from him.

  She counted to five, sucked in a deep breath, let it out, then scanned the room.

  “Jay has a point,” Mayhem said as he speared Aubrey with a look. “It took everything I had to lock him down. Whatever is in Lazarus’s bite makes a beast act like a feral animal. And it’s not just the aggression—it’s calculating as well. Jay used his out of control behavior to distract me so he could lead me into a culvert. He tried to take my legs out so I’d fall. I’d have broken something for sure, would have been trapped. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

  Jay shook his head. “I have no memory of that.”

  Aubrey didn’t like the sound of any of it. “Toying with the beast is dangerous. We don’t know enough about it.” And the fact that Jay had come into his beast but didn’t remember a damn thing was fucking terrifying.

  “Truer words have never been uttered,” Greer said as she walked into the room. “I wasn’t eavesdropping. Just walking by.” She raised her coffee cup. “Needed more caffeine. Took a short cut to the kitchen. But now that I’m here, I agree with Aubrey. Messing with the beast and playing with magic are not to be taken lightly.”

  “We’re considering options,” Mayhem grumbled. “And it sounds like you were doing more than just walking through.”

  Greer shrugged, obviously not giving a fuck in the least that Mayhem had called her out. Aubrey admired her balls. “Well, until you understand how to manage your beasts, it’s not a good idea to play around.” Greer pointed her mug at Mayhem. “That book Ariana gave you, it has some good information about meditation and finding balance.”

  “Meditation?” Jay snorted.

  “Yeah, I know, lame, right?” Greer’s tone was sarcastic. “If you can’t find some sense of inner peace, some coherent dialogue with your wolf, then the beast will take advantage. It’s like an altered state as it is—you’ve got to figure out a way to harness it. Otherwise, you’ll be just as bad as all the other ferals. Especially you.” She pointed at Jay. “Marked by Lazarus.”

  “So we try out Summer’s symbols,” Jay snapped. “On me. I’m game.” Aubrey opened her mouth to argue, but Jay shook his head. “I’m the liability here. The dangerous one. Just like Greer said.”

  “No offense, Summer, but you don’t seem to have a good grasp on your abilities,” Greer said. “Maybe if you were marked by your Hunter—”

  “My Hunter is dead,” Summer said, no emotion there. “And I’m figuring things out just fine.”

  “You want to test that out on a friend? You willing to take that bet, Mayhem?” Greer’s tone was challenging.

  “I feel like we’re running out of time,” Mayhem said. “And Jay’s beast is gonna come, whether we like it or not. If there’s a chance to gain some control, I feel like we need to take it.”

  “You are running out of time.” Ariana came into the room, followed by Lance. “Kelly is going to be delayed by at least a day. She had to detour to pick up a couple of people. She said that your girl, Darcy, is going to open a portal tomorrow morning and you’re going to have one chance to stop this shit before it happens.”

  “One shot at what?” Dy asked as he put a hand on Summer’s shoulder.

  Ariana shrugged. “Not sure. Darcy will open a portal. You’ll have to see what the situation calls for.”

  “We’ll all be in our wolf forms,” Jay said. “Good chance I’ll go beast if there’s a threat.”

  “Good chance you’ll go beast from now on. I don’t think it’s something we can turn off. Not when you’re so out of control,” Mayhem corrected. “We need to leash that thing so that we can use it to our advantage. Summer has one chance to figure out how to harness your beast.”

  “No pressure or anything.” Summer sighed.

  “You in for sure?” Mayhem looked at Jay. “You’ve got my support if you are.”

  Jay nodded. No words needed.

  Aubrey could have punched Mayhem for that. No way was this a good idea. “I’m involved or it’s not going to happen.”

  Mayhem gave a tight nod. “We need a plan.”

  “I have a plan,” Summer said, her tone resigned, like she was avoiding moving forward. She glanced at Aubrey and then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cloth bag. “We need to shoot him with this. I figured remote injection would be better.”

  “What, like shoot it out of a tranq gun?” Aubrey’s voice was almost a screech. “I can’t shoot Jay!”

  “No, more like a tranq arrow. I figured we could attach this to one of yours and inject him that way.” Summer held the small dart in her palm. “There’s no other way. I can’t get close enough to etch on his wolf—no way I’m getting that close to his beast.”

  “What about the Huntress poison?” Mayhem asked as he plucked the dart from Summer’s hand and examined it.

  “I don’t think that will be an issue. I won’t be shooting him with the intention of killing.” Summer winced. “But just in case, I’ll have some poison busting symbols ready to go.”

  “I can feel the wolf just under the surface; it’s possible he’s listening to all this,” Jay said. “I don’t know if that means the beast will be aware. I don’t know what any of this means.”

  “Your wolf and your beast are the same creature, just morphed,” Greer said with a shrug. “Whatever your wolf is aware of, your beast is too. Worse, though, because it’s calculating. Sentient in a way that your wolf isn’t. If you feel your wolf’s presence, you bet your ass when you go beast, it’ll know exactly what’s going to happen.”

  “So what? I can’t be in on these plans? I don’t want to be taken by surprise either. I’m part of this pack still, right?” Jay’s voice rose, his temper getting the better of him.

  Aubrey wanted to console him, wanted to take him out of the room, out of the house and tell them all to fuck themselves. But this was her pack too.

  “Yeah, man, you’re part of this pack. We just need to make this happen so that the beast doesn’t have a chance to react.” Mayhem pounded him on the back. “Your beast is intelligent but it’s not unbeatable,” he added with a smirk.

  “There’s got to be a better way,” Aubrey said, her frustration mounting. They’d spent most of the night reading the books Ariana had brought, learning—or at least trying to decipher—what the fuck they needed to do to gain control of the beasts. With time running out, though, not much made sense to her.

  “Timing is key here,” Ariana said. “Kelly was insistent that we needed to be armed and ready when the wolves come out to play. Those were her words.”

  “That means daybreak.” Mayhem crossed his arms.

  “She also said to beware the sun.” Ariana shrugged. “And before you ask, I don’t know what that means. She speaks in riddles sometimes and even she can’t figure it out all the time. What I know for sure is that there will be wolves present. A big black one for certain.”

  “Me,” Mayhem said.

  “One with yellow eyes.” Ariana looked over at Jay. “Who will beast out within moments of seeing Raven come through.”

  “Okay, so Darcy is opening the portal, Raven is coming through. So wher
e’s the danger?” Mayhem crossed his arms. “These predictions are too vague.”

  “It’s true. Kelly can’t give specifics. But what she did say was that the feeling she’s getting is ominous. That whatever happens tomorrow is a game changer. So something big is going to go down.”

  “We know that Jay is for sure going beast.” Dy tapped his fingers on the book in front of him. “If Summer can etch her symbol on him, then maybe Jay has a chance to control himself and keep things from going apeshit crazy.”

  “Can’t you etch on me now?” Jay pointed to his arm. “Like a vaccine? Give me the shot while I’m in this form?”

  “No, it won’t stick that way.” Summer winced. “I don’t know exactly how the symbol works but I do know how it won’t work. I need to put it on your wolf for it to be effective.”

  “I have a bad feeling about this.” Aubrey’s stomach had been doing flips since the idea was first presented. She was no psychic but she sure as shit knew that this was bad news.

  * * * * *

  Jay wasn’t feeling too hot. His body felt tight, his brain was revving, and he wanted to snap. Like there was a rage simmering inside of him.

  Aubrey wasn’t talking to him. She was giving him dirty looks as she paced the room, but he couldn’t read her damn mind. So he just lay on the bed, one arm under his head, appearing calm, unconcerned, when really he wanted to punch something.

  “We need to get out of here.” Aubrey stopped moving, not really looking at him, her eyes wild. “We need to leave.”

  Jay snorted. “And go where?”

  She threw her hands up. “I don’t fucking care. Away from here!” She locked on him, frustration clear in her eyes. “We can go to my sister, stay with my parents again.”

  “No fucking way!” Jay pushed himself up. “I’m not going to take my potentially deadly beast anywhere near your family. Not only because I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, but your sister’s Hunter would drop my ass in a heartbeat and your sister would finish the job.”