Wild Game (Wilding Pack Wolves 1) - New Adult Paranormal Romance (15 page)

Tears pricked the back of her eyes, so she shoved that thought away.

Then she stared defiantly up into Brad’s eyes. “I think I’m pretty safe here. Seriously, Brad, you don’t need to keep watch over me and my apartment anymore. There haven’t been any more videos released or any more threats from the hate group. They didn’t even come after me at the tournament. I think they’ve totally forgotten about me. And we both know that’s not why you’re here, anyway, so let’s not pretend, shall we?”

Just because he was her alpha, didn’t mean she couldn’t state the truth. And she was honestly glad that he hadn’t commanded her to stay with him at his apartment. She would’ve been hard-pressed not to obey, and once she was inside his domain, his commands would be even more difficult to resist. It was like that at the office, since he’d pretty much taken over the pack, but he had the decency‌—‌or perhaps the shame‌—‌to not try to force her to have sex there. His apartment, on the other hand, would be an entirely different situation.

And he knew it. Which she guessed should count in his favor. But given he had forced her into this entire situation in the first place, she sure as hell wasn’t feeling magnanimous toward him.

Brad’s expression softened, and it speared a modicum of guilt through her. She knew he had genuine feelings for her… or at least sincere feelings about wanting to be alpha of her father’s pack. It was hard to tell which. But that only meant the submission bond between them was stronger, based on real feelings, at least on his side… and more difficult to resist.

He lifted a hand to her cheek. She managed not to wrench her face away, but she eased back a little. He dropped his hand.

“I’m not leaving you to live here alone,” he said, “not until I know for certain that you’re safe. And you know how I feel about you‌—‌how I’ve felt all along. I want you to want this, too, Nova, even if you’re fighting it. If I wanted to force this, we wouldn’t be staying in your apartment… we would be staying in mine.”

Even that much felt like a threat… like he was hanging that possibility over her head.

A surge of anger fought through the submission bond that wanted to keep her quiet, not talking back to her alpha. “If you think I’m going to be grateful that you’re not forcing me to have sex with you‌—‌”

He tipped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. “For God’s sake, Nova‌—‌”

“That’s what it is, and you know it!” She grabbed her glass of wine off the counter again and slugged some back.

His fists curled up. “I’m not going to force you to have sex with me. I’m not a rapist.”

Finally, they were getting to the heart of it. “No? Well, that’s reassuring. Makes me want to just fall all over myself in love with you.” The wine was going to her head and making her snarky.

His dark eyes narrowed and took on a dangerous sheen. It ran a spike of fear through her, but only for a moment. She couldn’t believe he would force her into anything. His pride would get in the way too much if nothing else. He wanted to
win
her, she could tell.

And there was no way she would let that happen.

Brad gave a snort of disgust, then ran his hands through his hair, but he backed off a couple steps. “We’re meant to be together, Nova. Someday, you’re going to figure out that being with me is
not
the worst thing in the world that could happen to you.” He turned away, his shoulders thrown back with that pride she knew he carried around. “I’m going to take a shower,” he called as he tromped into her bedroom. Her one bathroom was back there.

Nova’s shoulders dropped, and some of the tension fled her body, now that he was out of the room. She sipped at her wine, but the trickling feeling of dread working through her body came straight from his words‌—‌because he was right. Someday, she would realize that he
wasn’t
the worst thing that could happen to her. Right now, her mind was still filled with thoughts of Owen and how he had been the best thing that ever happened to her. Brad was just a pale reflection of what she could have with Owen, and the contrast was too stark. But eventually, her memories of Owen would fade. The actual possibility of being with him was probably gone already. There was only the illusion left, the dream. In reality, he must have given up on her by now.

Eventually, the overwhelming alpha-ness of Brad would break down her resistance. He wasn’t a bad man, and there are many logical reasons why she should be with him. She just didn’t think she could ever actually
love
him.

She finished off her wine and puttered around the apartment, straightening things that didn’t need to be straightened, flipping through old magazines she never read. She was just waiting for Brad to get out of the shower, so she could claim the bedroom for her own, closing the door and shutting him out for the night. He seemed to be taking his time, probably working off his anger. She supposed she shouldn’t rush that, anyway.

But when he finally emerged from her bedroom, it wasn’t at all the way she expected. She was prepared for angry stares and harsh words. Instead, he stood before her wearing only a towel around his waist and a dead-sexy smile. His wet hair dripped small rivulets of water down his well-muscled chest. He held the towel closed with one hand, but it was clear that he was sporting an erection that even her heavy Egyptian cotton towels couldn’t hide. His bare feet stood on her carpet, holding him in place, and there was such a raw, sexual energy rolling off him, it was hard to be unaffected. She didn’t want him, but he was the kind of alpha any normal woman would be on her knees in a flash for.

When she finally dragged her eyes back up to his, the slow, lazy smile on his face flamed heat of embarrassment, and possibly guilt, throughout her body.

“Do you like what you see?” he asked with a smirk.

She dropped her gaze and shook her head. “Maybe you should get a job modeling if this coding gig doesn’t work out for you.” But then her face just heated more, as she realized she had just basically answered
yes
to his question.

He seemed to take that as an invitation and slowly sauntered across the room, until he was standing before her, half naked, entirely too close. His strong hand slipped around the back of her neck, and he pulled her close, dipping his head down like he was going to kiss her, but he stopped just short. She was pressed against the heat of his bare chest, the gentle massage of his fingers at the back of her head, and his heated breath brushing her lips.

“Kiss me, Nova.” It wasn’t quite a command, but the strength of the submission bond was overwhelming with him this close. Especially with him turned on‌—‌she could feel his erection through the towel pressed against her, which meant his desire for her couldn’t be more plain if he had spoken it out loud. Which counted almost as a magic. “Please,” he added, a whisper against her lips.

She shook her head
no,
but she couldn’t pull away, and that small motion just ended up brushing her lips against his. He brushed them again, intentionally this time, and whispered, “I’ll make it so good for you, Nova. All you have to do is let me in.” Then he nipped at her lower lip with his teeth, gentle and erotic. His hands worked through her hair, and only when he tilted her head and finally planted his lips on hers, did she realize that the towel had dropped, and the full length of his naked body was pressed against her. The kiss was demanding and strong, and any other woman probably would’ve found it powerfully sexy, but she wasn’t any other woman‌—‌her heart and her wolf already belonged to another man.

Kissing Brad only felt ten different types of wrong to her.

She pressed her hands to his bare chest and pushed back. “This your idea of not forcing me?” she asked bitterly.

A storm of anger gathered on his face, but it was nothing like the hurricane that was gathering force inside of her. Here he was, standing naked before her, trying to seduce her with his kiss and the power of his alpha commands. But she felt nothing but revulsion.

“Call it what you want,” she said, “you’re trying to force me into loving you. That’s just not how it works.” She clenched her fists and tried to march past him toward her bedroom, but he moved to block her path, then grabbed her arms.

“I don’t need your love, Nova,” he said with an angry snarl. “I just need your body.” And then he did force himself on her, yanking her against him and devouring her mouth with his. She struggled against him, but he just pulled her closer, his hands roaming across her body, his erection pulsing against her, all while his tongue plundered her mouth. Her anger was mute for a second, then her wolf surged up, shifting in his arms. She raked her claws down his chest, and he cursed as she wiggled out of his hold. She hadn’t shifted completely, just enough to escape‌—‌she managed to take her clothes with her. She stumbled back from him and shifted completely human again.

“A true alpha doesn’t need to force himself upon his mate,” she spit at him. “You will
never
be a true alpha. Not to me. Not to any woman.”

His eyes glittered, dark and dangerous, and her wolf whispered,
run.
So she did.

She dashed straight for her front door and yanked it open. She heard him cursing behind her, and a glance back showed him fumbling for his towel.

She didn’t slow down.

Nova needed to get far away from him‌—‌to breathe air that wasn’t permeated by his magic, to clear her head, and to just get out before she decided to shift and try to kill him. Of course, she couldn’t‌—‌he was her alpha‌—‌but that couldn’t stop her from fighting back against him. Not yet, anyway; not until she was mated.

As she tore down the hallway of her apartment complex, she had the heart-stopping realization that he had every intention of moving her into his apartment. Because if he couldn’t claim her here, that was the next logical step. He wasn’t going to stop until he had her. She knew that now. And that sent tremors of terror through her.

She stabbed at the elevator buttons but abandoned them when the car didn’t come straight away. She pounded down the ten flights to the basement garage where her car waited. It was past ten o’clock, and the parking lot was full with all the cars home for the night. She sprinted through the rows, picking up her pace and running as fast as she could. If she could just reach her car, she could make her escape.

Maybe the River pack at the safehouse would take her. She would just need sanctuary until the full moon came, and she would be released from her submission bond. She would lose her company‌—‌her father’s company‌—‌but at this point, that no longer mattered. She couldn’t let herself be taken by Brad. She couldn’t be forever bound to a man who would force that on her. She would be living a nightmare of forced sex for the rest of her life. How she didn’t see that before, she had no clue.

Tears were running down her face by the time she reached her car. She fumbled for her keys, panicked that she didn’t have them, but then she jumped a foot when a huddled figure next to her car moved. She had to wipe away her tears before she could even see him clearly.

Tall, dressed in a hoodie, crouched next to her car.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she screamed, all of her anger at Brad ramping up and spilling out of her mouth.

The figure jerked up and whirled around to face her. She vaguely recognized him, but couldn’t place the face. His eyes went wide, and he unzipped his hoodie, reaching inside.

She gasped.
Run,
her wolf screamed. She whirled around and tried, but before she could get halfway down the row of cars, two sharp stings to her back made her convulse and stumble to the concrete floor of the garage.

Was she shot?

Her vision blurred, and suddenly, her limbs were horribly weak. Footsteps ran up behind her. She tried to crawl away, but a haze rushed her mind and took control of her limbs.

She fell face first into the concrete, and the blackness rushed in.

Owen was so angry he could barely see straight.

When he heard Nova had been kidnapped, he dropped everything and ran straight to the nearest pack-owned vehicle at the safehouse. He didn’t wait for any discussion, any plan-making by Jace and his brothers, or even to hear any of the details about how it went down. Because he already knew whose fault it was‌—‌
fucking Brad
‌—‌and he was ready to kill him.

Owen was lucky he didn’t wreck the car during the screaming-fast drive between the safehouse and Wylderide‌—‌the whole thing was a blur. All he could see was Nova in the hands of that mask-covered freak, the Wolf Hunter, with his butcher knives tearing her apart. If Owen didn’t find her before that happened, Brad was going to die a very slow and very painful death.

Owen’s beast surged against his skin, never closer to busting loose than it was right now. It took all his focus to keep that contained and keep moving. He punched the button on the elevator to take him up to the 24th floor and Wylderide’s office. Nova supposedly had been snatched from her apartment, but Owen knew Brad would gather the pack here to plan their next steps. When the elevator doors opened, Owen stormed out, and sure enough, Brad and his pack filled the center of the open area cubicles. Brad looked up just in time to see Owen’s fist flying into his face. He landed the punch with a satisfying crunch on Brad’s nose and came away with blood smeared across his knuckles.