Torment: Reckless Desires (Dark Wolves Book 1) (2 page)

The tension in the man’s arms loosened, and the growl faded until it was gone, but Delana didn’t dare move. She hardly breathed. If he wasn’t Mahehkan, then he had to be from the new pack. The one she had been sent out to find. The problem was, none of them knew if the new pack was friendly.

When his gaze found her again, she swallowed hard but refused to lower hers. She wasn’t alpha, but she was Joss’s representative, and she had to show strength if she was to win them over to her side. “Thank you,” she said.

His eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath before finally releasing her from his grasp. “Why are those wolves chasing you?”

Right to the point. Okay. She could deal with that. “Their pack is trying to gain territory that doesn’t belong to them. They’ve been encroaching on our lands. Killing our people.”

He grunted and looked in the direction where the last wolf had scurried off as though he’d go after it. It couldn’t have gotten far with its injuries. When he looked at her again, his face was a blank mask. “Where are your males? Why are they not protecting you?”

Taking a deep breath, she pushed ahead. “Like I said, they’ve been killing my pack. Cowardly attacks in the dead of night. Sometimes using weapons that we have no defense against. We only have a few males left, and they’re protecting the other females and young ones. We need your help.”

“And your Alpha approved of you leaving the safety of your pack?” His growl rumbled again, not quite as menacing, but still enough to have her heart racing.

“No, not really. I didn’t give him a choice. I’m a fast runner. I know these woods like the back of my hand. None of the others would have survived.”

“Had I not been here, neither would you have.”

Delana tilted her chin and squared her shoulders. “You’re right. But I was still the best choice for the mission.”

The man looked at her from the top of her head all the way to her sneakered feet and back up again then snorted. “Come,” he finally said once he’d finished his perusal.

The man was huge, and intimidating as hell, but he—and his pack—were their last chance at survival. And if the other males were even a fraction as huge as this man was, they would be formidable allies, so she nodded, and took a step on shaking legs. “Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to
my
Alpha.”

She nodded quickly and looked down, heat creeping up her cheeks. “Do you need a moment to gather your clothes?”

The man’s cheeks flushed pink as he looked down as though just then realizing he was still nude. “My clothes are back at camp. I didn’t expect to need them out here.”

She couldn’t help but grin at the sheepish look on the big man. “You don’t. Let’s go.”

With that, the man turned and walked down the narrow path at the base of the knoll, taking him deeper into the forest.

“Wait. I don’t even know your name,” she said as she hurried to catch up.

He didn’t look back, didn’t slow down. “I’m Khet.”

“I’m Delana,” she told him. She didn’t usually like to walk behind a man, but she had to admit, doing so had some advantages. Like the view. All that rippling muscle.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, and she ripped her gaze from where it had been, right on his gorgeous ass. His eyebrows shot up, and his lips curled at the corners before he turned ahead again. He’d caught her ogling.
Damn.

Khet did his best to ignore the woman walking behind him, but it was no use. And her constant chatter had nothing to do with it. Sure, he was learning a lot about her people and why she needed their help, but that wasn’t where his mind was focused. The second she’d leaped from that knoll, pure need had slammed into him, and it had yet to recede. The scent of her fear had driven the wolf inside him mad. He had wanted to tear her enemy to shreds and bathe in their blood. And he would have. Goddess help him, he would have taken their lives in a heartbeat. The creature inside him would have destroyed what little of his soul he had left. Had it not been for his stronger desire to stay with her and protect her, he would have given chase.

He had to stop thinking about her. Had to keep his mind off her long brown hair and how soft it felt against his naked chest when he’d held her. And her plentiful curves. He couldn’t think of those either. Sure they were covered in clothing, but nothing could mask the pure feminine form hiding beneath. The path widened less than a quarter mile ahead, and she’d be able to stand next to him. And right then, his cock was so damned hard it was painful. Not that he cared if she saw his cock, hell, she’d been staring at his ass for the better part of ten minutes already, but arriving at camp in such a state would be hell. His pack brothers wouldn’t let him live it down.

Reaching over, he grabbed a handful of the dark, ripe berries from the bush along the trail.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he brought his hand up to his mouth.

“Taking you to my Alpha,” he said as he popped some of the sweet fruit into his mouth and glanced over his shoulder at her.

“Don’t eat that,” she said, her tone tense.

“Why not?”

“That’s a pokeberry plant. The fruit will make you sick. Did you eat those where you came from?”

He looked at the fruit in his palm and dropped them to the ground. He’d been eating those berries since they'd come to the human lands. “No, berries didn’t grow there. We ate meat.”

“Best to stick to that here until you know what is safe. I’d be happy to help you if you want.”

Already his gut burned from the berries he’d swallowed before she had stopped him. As much as he craved meat fresh from a kill, he couldn’t tempt the beast with animal flesh ever again. It made it stronger, more volatile. “Let’s worry about helping your pack first, then we’ll see about the local vegetation,” he said as he started walking again.

His stomach clenched in a tight knot. At least with the pain ripping through him, he wasn’t so focused on his cock. Although he was far from being flaccid, by the time the path widened, his cock wasn’t beating at his lower belly with each step he took.

She sprinted ahead, and he was about to call her back when she crouched low and plucked at a plant.

“Here, chew on this,” she said when he reached her.

“What is it?”

“Mint. It’ll help with the pain in your stomach.”

He looked at her for a moment and took the little green leaf from her outstretched hand, bringing it up to his nose to sniff. It wasn’t unpleasant. Delana gave him an encouraging smile, and he popped it into his mouth, for no other reason than to please her. He doubted a little leaf would do much against the agony ripping through him, but she didn’t need to know that. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I learned a lot about the local flora from our old shaman. I suppose I’ll be taking over the position of healer now,” she said almost absently.

“What happened?” He suspected he already knew, but the more information he could provide Argram with, the better he could plead the case to help Delana. He wouldn’t leave her to her own devices even if Argram denied her the help, but he hoped his pack would stand with him.

“She was killed during the last attack. Our Alpha was mortally wounded, and she was trying to save his life when the Mahehkans found her.” Her voice tightened, and her eyes shone, but she didn’t look away.

“So, who leads your pack since your Alpha’s death?”

“My brother,” she said.

“And he isn’t an alpha.” It wasn’t so much a question as a request for confirmation of what he already knew. Any alpha worthy of his status would have ensured Delana’s safety above all else, especially if she was the pack’s only healer.

“No, but he’s the strongest male we have left.”

He nodded and started walking again. He had to admire the fact that the wolf had stepped up even though he wasn’t the right wolf for the job. “We’re almost there.”

When they arrived, the deep voices of his pack brothers filled the small encampment, but all hushed as he walked to the center, with Delana at his side.

“Where is Miga?” he asked Wesken as the pack’s second approached with furrowed brows. Miga was the only female in the pack and the mate of their Alpha. Above all else, Miga and her cub needed to be kept safe—always.

“They are safe.”

“Good. I need to speak with Argram.”

“He’s with his mate.”

Khet nodded. “Then perhaps I can speak with you, Wesken, and you can confer with your brother on my behalf.”

***

Delana wasn’t a small girl, not by any stretch of the imagination, but next to the men circling her and Khet, she was petite. Each of them was at least a foot taller than her five-foot-eight, and they were double her width even with her generous curves. Just glancing at them was hard. Each of them made her inner wolf want to lower her eyes to the ground and submit. If the males around her weren’t the alpha, she didn’t know what the hell she’d do when she met him. Probably throw herself on the ground and expose her belly. The thought had a nervous snicker bubbling out of her before she could stop it.

Khet glanced her way, then without hesitating, reached over and pulled her closer so that she was no more than an inch away from him. The instant his hand closed on her arm, her nervousness melted away. His stance was clear. He’d protect her, even from his pack if need be.

“Fine, we were about to eat. Put some pants on and join us.” With that, the cranky man who had greeted them turned and walked away, expecting them to follow.

“Stay here,” he told her, then glared at each of the males in turn before going into a tent a short distance away. The men around her closed the circle again, not blocking her view, but surrounding her just the same. Khet wasn’t gone a minute, but each second had her heart beating faster and her hands shaking just a little harder. When he emerged, he wore jeans, and a half tucked black T-shirt that looked like it would tear down the middle if he flexed his chest muscles.

His upper lip came up in a silent snarl, and the men parted, letting him into the circle. The smell of roasting meat wafted through the air as they neared a fire pit, making her stomach grumble. She was starving after her strenuous run in the forest. “That smells delicious,” she said, giving the man Khet had named Wesken a tentative smile when they arrived next to the fire.

The man’s scowl deepened before he took a seat on a stump, motioning for her and Khet to do the same. “Why do you need our help?”

Before she could sit, Khet pulled one of the logs close to his and waited for her to sit before settling himself next to her.

“I’m Delana, healer for the Komoro pack, and we are under attack. We have been for some time. Unless we have help, we will not survive the next battle,” she gave facts. That’s what these men would want, not sentiment or speculation. She continued to tell him about the killing of her Alpha, and the decimation of their neighbors. When she finished, his face was as unreadable as it had been when she started.

“I’ll talk to Argram—after we eat.” The man gave Khet a pointed look before reaching over and pulling a long stick with meat still steaming on it and handing it over.

Khet stiffened, but then after a moment’s hesitation took the offering. He held it, looking at it as though it were as poisonous as the berries he’d eaten earlier before pulling off a small piece and popping it into his mouth. Only once he’s chewed and swallowed, all the while looking at the man across from them, did he hold it out to her. “Eat,” he told her.

“There’s way too much there for me to eat. Maybe we can share it?” she suggested. Wesken looked at her, his approval evident in his nod.

“There is more than enough meat to fill every belly in this camp. Both of you eat,” the man demanded as he took a skewer for himself.

Khet’s stomach growled so loud he was sure every male still circling them, not to mention Delana, who was sitting right next to him had heard. He hadn’t tasted meat, cooked or otherwise in months. The meat from the young buck his brothers had hunted practically melted in his mouth. As delicious as it was, he wouldn’t take another bite. The only reason he had taken that one was to ensure that Wesken would bring the matter of Delana’s pack to Argram’s attention. The man was stubborn as hell. If he didn’t do it, Khet had no doubt Wesken would make good on his unspoken threat.

His suspicion that Wesken knew of his self-imposed starvation was confirmed when Delana offered to share the food with him, and the man gave her a small approving nod. Wesken didn’t approve of anything. Ever. Not since Kendra’s betrayal. Maybe even before that.

Already the beast inside him was howling, pushing him for more. Demanding fresh blood and tender flesh. Delana blinked her big brown eyes at him, and he wanted to growl. She pulled off a generous portion of meat, then held out the rest for him to take. He took a slow breath, then another. He swallowed hard and licked his lips, but didn’t reach for the skewer.

She needed his help—his pack’s help, but what good would he be to her if the madness overtook him?

Her eyes widened, and she pulled the meat back. “Are you still sick? I can get you more mint. I saw some not far from the camp.”

Khet released his breath and shook his head. “I’m sure I will be fine soon. If it worsens, I will get more leaves.”