Wild Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

“Ca-caw,” I whispered because they were here for me and I was here for them. Something roared and it wasn’t moving slowly anymore – it was fast, fast, fast and its limbs were long and tipped with razor sharp claws, its teeth bared in a hungry smile aimed right at me. We were the same. Two feral creatures ready to roam these halls. My blood was pumping all the way around my body and the room was blue in the next blink. Blue means poo. And I was on a roll. No gnashers would gnash me.

I literally cannot.

I pulled a knife from my belt and cut through the vines that had saved me, landing on my feet and taking in the scene of panic as a blur of motion ripped through the circle of guards who had been standing before a barred cage. Cain tore throats out, broke spines and caved in skulls with wicked ferocity, their screams ringing out and echoing all around us, but my eyes were on nothing aside from the man who stood behind those bars.

Oh

I took a step forward, ready to launch myself at him, but before I could do anything, a roar of utter agony broke from Cain’s lips and a rush of air swept past me as he launched himself at the huge blonde bastardo who I had barely spared a second glance for.

“The King has come to claim his vengeance on me!” he screamed, kicking and flailing where he was still grasped in the bronze Dragon’s claws, almost dropping the precious cargo which was clutched in his arms. “Go!”

If only

A furious roar echoed from the compound at our backs and Ethan turned to look at it, raising his hand in the air before closing it into a fist. All at once, the compound collapsed in on itself like the hand of some giant had swept it from existence.

Jeez

But as I sank into the taste of his mouth against mine, the rough scrape of something sharp rolled over my tongue and Roary jerked back so suddenly that I almost fell at his feet. I blinked at him in surprise, my body primed for pleasure, his hand now absent from my core and my pants hanging open and caught on my ass. It took me a moment to realise that he was covering his mouth with his hand while still backing up until his legs hit the single bed in the cabin.

My poor baby

Through the tumble down remains of the housey-pie, we ran like a raucous circus of beasties and baddies. My dark hair fell in my eyes and bounced up and down like a cricket on my crocket. I was leading the charge, the chaotic rush of dangerous animals all following me to their destiny which just so happened to be a feast of bad guys.

Oh... We forgot Jack

“We forgot Hastings,” she blurted, her eyes bright with concern.

Yep

Cain glared at him, prowling forward like he planned on punching Sin, but Rosalie placed a hand to his chest to stop him. “Wait, I think…I can hear Jack,” Cain said and I realised I could too as I angled my attention towards the sea. “Yeah, we all hear the echoes of his death cries,” Sin said morosely. “Long shall we remember little Hastlings.” “Hastings,” Cain snapped at him, then hurried to the rail and looked over the side. I shot over to join him, peering out too and blinked in surprise as I spotted Hastings far out on the water clinging to a barrel and propelling himself along with water magic. “Guysss!” he called. “I’m heeeere!”

“The sea went awoosh and asplash. Saw a sharky out there who nipped at my toes, but I’m the king of the critters now. They won’t harm me. I led them all to safety, you know? It’s their island now. Their haven of wilderness. Boom and a splash I went. I saw the fire, oh it went burn, burn, burn it did.” I noticed some scratches and small bite marks beneath the torn, dirty shirt he was wearing. Sin nudged Hastings with his toe. “He’s broken. Better put him out of his misery.” He took a damn machete from his hip which he’d gotten from the stars only knew where but Rosalie swore at him in Faetalian until he stowed it at his hip again.

fdjsl;ak

“Did you…use the jazzy eyes by any chance, Jack?” she asked softly and he grinned up at her. “You’re pretty like a strawberry cake,” he sighed. “Thanks. But, the jazzy eyes? Do you remember taking a shot of it?” Rosalie pressed. “It stabbed me in the…ass,” he whispered.

I nodded stiffly, looking to the horizon but she caught my cheek and turned me to look at her. “Se io sono la luna, allora tu sei la forza che mi sostiene,” she purred. “What does that mean?” Sin blurted, stepping close and smiling between us. “It means ‘if I am the moon then you are the force that holds me up’,” Rosalie translated then flicked Sin on the chin.

“Sei un dolce piccolo idiota,” she purred and he shivered again as she petted his head then walked away with Cain toward the cabin and I smirked at her words. “What did she say?” Sin demanded of me, moving to pick up his newfound bird friend where it was perched on the rail at the edge of the boat. I shrugged, pretending I hadn’t understood Rosalie’s words. “She called me a big-cocked bandit, didn’t she?” he called, stroking the bird’s head as I walked away to join my girl in the cabin. “Didn’t she?” I said nothing,

LOL

And all I could do was keep journeying towards the horizon and praying to the stars that the Fae I was dying to see would still love me when they saw the new and ugly truth of me.

They will

“Leon,” I rasped, my feet falling still though the need to run to him crashed through me. But it was his choice. He might reject me over this alone, but he didn’t know the half of it yet. “Roar!” Leon bellowed, leaping off the porch and sprinting for me, his eyes bright with emotion.

Ahhhhhhhgggg

“I thought you’d want nothing to do with me,” I admitted as we pulled apart. “We’re brothers,” he said passionately. “If you’d returned here as a swamp rat, you’d still be my swamp rat. There’s no form you could take that would change that.” “I don’t deserve you, but I’m fucking grateful for you,” I said. “You deserve more than me. Come on, Aunt Bianca is preparing a feast. Let’s celebrate the good and forget the bad. Everyone’s dying to see you, swamp rat or otherwise, two Fae most of all.” “The kids?” I rasped, a keen need filling me to meet my niece and nephew at long last. I’d seen pictures and heard so many tales from Leon, I had such an image of them in my mind that it was as if I knew them already. But I didn’t really. I had been denied them and that, above all my punishments, had been the cruellest.

Sobbing

“Uncle Roary!” they shouted in unison as I lunged, grabbing them mid-jump before they face-planted the ground. Their little arms came around my neck and RJ placed a kiss on my cheek before pulling my hair. “I missed you,” I told them with a grin, hugging them tight, the relief at finally uniting with them making the weight on my heart lessen. “Dad says you broke out of prison!” Luca said excitedly. “Did you punch a guard in the face?” “Or the butt?” RJ piped up and I laughed. “The face and the butt,” I said.

My heart

Bianca all but shrieked when she spotted me in the lounge, barking at the Wolves in Faetalian to let her through and they leapt aside like they’d been struck with a frying pan. I had to bend right down to embrace her, and her kisses pressed all over my face before she let me go. There was no escaping it either because she had damn strong arms on her. “Your mommas call here daily,” she told me. “Whenever you are ready for them, let me know. They’re welcome here any time.”

Im so sad

She led me into the kitchen where the huge pie was waiting on the counter, but my attention was drawn away from it to Luca and RJ who were standing up on the long dining table with a paper mâché Lion standing in front of them. It was as tall as the little one, RJ, and she hugged its neck, the painted face of it grinning at me. “Is you!” she announced. Luca did a little dance around it, showcasing the beast and despite the pain in my soul over the lack of my Lion Order, I couldn’t help but smile at what they’d made for me. “It’s purrrrfect,” I said and RJ squealed a laugh as I petted the beast’s head.

I cant

He loudly introduced the talian corvid on his shoulder as ‘Crow-thing’ and the pups at the party howled excitedly, half climbing him to pet the creature.

Cute name

“You’re leaving out the most important part,” I interrupted loudly while Sin reenacted a moment where he had supposedly wrestled eighteen alligators by hand. I wasn’t certain when the story had turned so fictional but I did have an idea of how to say sorry to Hastings for treating him like a stronzo. And for accidentally unleashing jazzy eyes on him too. “Hastings over there saved all of our asses by leading the wild beasts and monsters away from us when we needed him the most. He saved my damn life out there then swam half way across the ocean to reunite with us for good measure. He’s a motherfucking hero! And he should be rewarded for such loyalty and bravery, don’t you think?” I raised my glass to him and the Oscuras all whirled his way, calling his name out in a toast and howling in celebration of him.

Omg thats so good of her

It was still him. My Roar.

“By the stars,” I murmured as his tongue rolled up the length of my opening, tasting the combination of Roary and Ethan’s claim on me, our mixed pleasure coating his tongue.

Grrrrrrrr woof

I bit my lip, hesitating short of beckoning him into the room with us because I wasn’t even certain what he was to me or what I was to him. He took a single step closer then froze, swallowing thickly before shooting away again.

Nooooooo

Darkmore was done with me, Rosalie didn’t need me and the moon was hell bent on destroying me.

Oh shut up

“The moon marked you as good for her, while it marked me as bad for her. If that’s not proof of our differences, inmate, I don’t know what is.” “Inmate?” he mused. “I don’t see any bars out here between these trees.” “Old habits die hard.” “True. But let them die, Cain,” he said, the smile dropping from his face. “Embrace the new world.”

“So where are we going?” Sin asked, grabbing my hand and swinging our arms between us as we started the descent down the porch steps. “To the beach? Or a fair? Or an opticians? Oh I love a good squinty at the bottom line and a rage row when the scrangly bitch with the pointer stick tells me I’m wrong and it’s a W, not a penis-”

“You foolish fool,” I grinned. “Tiberius Rigel, I’m coming to get you.”

I was spoiled this is bad

Lies. Concealment. Falsehood. “Shit,” I hissed, moving closer to the wards again but I was forced to turn as that same brush of fingers ran down my spine.

“Speak,” I commanded, leaning into my connection with the moon and feeling the rippling fabric of The Veil flickering around me as if someone were trying to push through it from the other side of death. “Whitney cannot follow this path,” a voice called to me in desperation and I almost flinched at its proximity. “He is headed towards a fate that can’t be undone.” “What fate?”

Its serenity!!!!!

“Northfield is a common name,” she said mournfully. “And I was no one special.” “You were to me,” I croaked, then forced out my next words, needing to know it all. “What happened next?”

“Tiberius must know the truth,” she whispered. “He does,” a deep voice cut through the air, and Rosalie pulled back, her eyes blinking and the moonlight evaporating from them at once. Tiberius stood in the doorway in a red dressing robe, his eyes wide with shock as he stared from Rosalie to me. “I heard it all,” he breathed.

Ahhhhhhhh

“Baby brother!” I cried, running toward him, but he cast a whip of water that caught me by the wrist, yanking me back. “Max,” Rosalie said in a warning tone, something in the way she spoke to him saying she knew him already. “Let us go.”

MAX

“We can’t go yet,” Cain said, surprising us all and I looked to him with a frown. “Why not?” “Because Roary is about as useless as a lemon in a prison riot,” he growled. “Hey,” Sin barked while Max looked utterly confused and Roary scowled.

Max wore the face of a savage-looking raven and Hastings hid behind the face of a donkey.

Why is jack here

“The Hellion Hunt is held down there,”

I have two thoughts. First you have a celestial counselor at this shit. Two i thought roary needed NOT to hunt or hed get lost in it. And surprise third thing... GERRY is gonna flip her shit

“I suppose I’m pretending I never saw any of this shit then?” Max muttered irritably and I breathed a laugh.

Clearly royal boy

“So what’s the plan?” I asked. “How is this going to help me get a hang of being a Vampire? Isn’t this exactly what Vampires aren’t supposed to do?” I shot Cain a look and he met my gaze over Rosalie’s head. “Yes, which is precisely why it’s the perfect way to hone your skills. If you can keep your head down there and follow my lead, you’ll learn more about being a Vampire tonight than I could teach you in a year.”

Ok touche

Lawman and Nightkeeper,

Lol creative

“Keep close to me during the hunt,” Cain said firmly. “Focus on my instructions. If you feel you are starting to lose your head, then tell me and I will direct you in how to refocus.”

This is smart but dangerous

Cain gave me a nod as I stood in front of mine. I glanced at the Vampire to my left. Golden curls fell around the brow of his white mask and he casually flicked them back as he glanced my way.

EXCUSE ME

“First time?”

The audioook made me squeal! Hes using the caleb voice! I miss you cal!!!

“Leave him be, Hornrider,”

BAHAAAHAHAHAAHAAHAH CALEBWTF

There were plenty of Fae calling out to Hornrider too and the golden-haired man took the time to throw a wave their way. A howl carried from the right that sounded like it had come from a man and as we all turned that way, he came into view at the end of a long passage. His long, dark hair whipped out sideways as he turned and sprinted out of sight and Hornrider cried, “Mine!” putting on a burst of speed and making a beeline for his target.

Seth Capella!!!

“What the fuck is she doing in here?” I barked as I spotted several Vampires turning in the passages and heading her way with ravenous movements. “That fucking girl,” Cain growled in fury. “That’s our fucking girl,” I hissed. “And we’d better get to her before those pieces of shit do.”

Yessss

“I agree,” I said quickly. “One,” Rosalie said then Cain blurted “I agree.” “Good.” She ran her finger under Cain’s chin then beckoned me closer by it. “Now come here and show me how well you can play together.”

Damn girl

“I’m an Heir, I’ve faced bigger threats than you and seen the whole world change before my eyes. You don’t scare me, Whitney.” “Whhhhhhitney he calls me!” I laughed, howled really, then smacked the steering wheel to set the horn a-blaring. “Damn he has good comebacks. But oh Maximus, you’re not an Heir anymore, I heard.”

Lmao

“There once was a mutt who put things up his butt and he liked it more than he would say.” “Shut it,” Ethan barked, but I just sang louder. “He liked things round, grown from the ground, as big as a tree or as small as a flea, and shoved them up, up, up his butt, butt, butt.” “Sin!” Ethan snapped and Max gave him the side-eye. “What?” I smirked. “I never said it was about you, Wolf boy, you must just relate to the lyrics.”

“I’ll be back in five minutes,” I said then climbed out my open window and went swaggering up onto the porch in front of my house. There was a tea cup turned over by the door and I flipped it up, finding a slug hanging out with my key. I tipped him a salute for protecting my property and tossed the teacup back over him before heading inside.

Hes unhinged. I saw every other sin chapter

Jerome stood over me, my dear brother giving me a look that left my brain confused. Behind him were a group of Fae, his followers all clustered close to Jerome with their hands on his shoulders, power sharing to gift him unspeakable strength.

I knew id hate him