Prey (Blackwater Pack, #2)

by Hannah McBride

Tate exhaled hard, hands curled into fists. “I will literally beat the shit out of you if you can’t shut up.”

know that person is taken. Mated.” “So, you’re worried about a vampire-ish version of a tattoo messing up our skin?” I sputtered, still confused as hell.

“You owe me that much.” That caught my attention. My head swung around. “I don’t owe you—” There was no mistaking the triumphant gleam in his eyes. Made ya look.

The coppery tang gave me something to focus on, the pain centering me in some grotesque way. Pain I understood. Pain I could endure.

“The choice is yours. I won’t stop you. If you want to leave, you can.” “You won’t stop me?” He took a deep, shaky breath. “No. You have a choice, Skye. You always have a choice.” He paused, hesitating. “I’m just hoping you chose me.”

Our wolves were mates for life, no matter what our human sides decided.

A low growl rumbled in his chest. A warning and a promise. “If we do this, I’m never letting you go, Skye. Ever. Are you sure?” “Even without the bond, you’re the guy who taught me how to love, Remy,” I told him, needing him to believe what I was saying. “You’re the one who taught me how to live when I didn’t know how. The only world I want to discover is the one that you’re in with me.”

He was, in a word, perfection. And he was, in another word, mine.

“You suck!” I called. His head appeared in the doorway, his eyes glittering with mirth as he smiled. “Yeah, but you like it when I do.”

Linden changed his focus to Remy. “Forcibly marking my niece in a pathetic attempt to stake your claim on her is childish. Like a dog pissing on its favorite toy. The Council will see through this.”

“She speaks for you, alpha?” Remy’s lips curved into a smirk as he stepped back so we were side by side. He folded his muscular arms across his broad chest. He was an alpha—my alpha—but he was showing Linden, and all of the men in the room that we were equals in his eyes. “Skye is my mate. She absolutely speaks for me.”

“Now, Skye,” he bit off, turning and stalking towards the front door and throwing it open. I winced as the door slammed against the wall, and wondered if Gabe would be billed for a new door before the day was done. “Think he’s mad?” Daniel asked, rubbing his jaw with a sigh. “He’s probably mad.”

“Would it kill you to be a little more selfish?”

“I’m sure you never planned on getting a mess like me as your mate.” His knuckles brushed across my jaw. “No,” he admitted. “I always hoped I would find a mate one day. I wanted what my parents have. I grew up watching them, and wanting that. I wanted someone to share my life with.”

“You’re worth a million wars. I’ll fight for you every day for the rest of our lives.”

“Why did you do that?” He shrugged. “You’d been gone for five minutes.” “And you got worried about me?” Daniel smirked. “I got worried about me, and what Remy would do if I returned you in anything less than pristine condition.

“Get your ass back here,” Remy ordered. I glanced at Daniel beside me before I dropped my voice, unable to resist teasing him. “Just my ass?” Remy chuckled. “I mean, it’s my favorite part.”

“Thank you,” Dante whispered, hugging me hard enough to crack a rib or four. “You’re welcome,” I replied, squeezing him back and making eye contact with Remy over his massive shoulder. He gave me a soft, private smile I felt down to my toes.

“It’s my birthday party. Consider yourself the only one invited.”

“Tate was … She was nothing like Maren,” his smile deepened, a rare dimple flashing in his cheek. “The second she looked at us in the front yard, you could tell she was hell on wheels. All fire and fight.” He glanced down at me. “A lot like you.”

“Punching Preston was fun. I wouldn’t hate it if he was strung up like a piñata tonight.” He laughed hard, his forehead dropping to my shoulder. “God, I love you.” I giggled. “It could be a great party game.”

“Mighty thankful my girl has a friend like you,” Luke said as he set me down. Gabe grinned at me, pulling me in for a sideways hug. “That’s why she’s my favorite kid.” “Right here, Dad,” Remy muttered, shaking his head.

“Lord knows how I would end up with a baby girl with two boys chasing her. Always figured she'd eventually pick one.” He shrugged again. “Just as well she didn’t. I love those little shits like they were my own kids.”

Nero rolled his eyes, hip checking his wife playfully. “I don’t know how happy I should be. First thing I realized after we bonded was how much I was craving dipping pickles in yogurt.”

“The pack went out for a run last night,” Larkin said softly. “Rhodes and I decided to take a detour and .... Skye, it was like magic. Everything in my world went upside down, and I knew. Rhodes is my mate. He’s my … He’s mine. We spent the night together, and … Holy shit. I can’t believe this is real.”

“Fucking hell,” Daniel muttered, standing closest to me. He splashed water into a glass from the pitcher and thrust it at me. “Tact, Elias. Try it before someone dies.”

“Yeah. That just … caught me wrong.” Daniel smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. “You mean you didn’t plan on discussing your sex life over breakfast? Weird.”

Humiliation burned in my chest as she told the camera how she knew one day her daughter would be forced into the same life. That if I ever had a child, it would either endure my fate or be ripped from my arms and given to the rapist who fathered it.

My face crumpled, all the emotion and stress of the day finally breaking the last dam in me. I ran across the floor to him, diving into his arms. I wrapped my arms and legs around him like a spider monkey, burying my face in his neck as the first sob ripped from my chest. “Shh,” he murmured, his arms wrapping around me. “I’m right here, okay?”

“You were incredible.” A devastating grin spread across his face, curling my toes. “My girl’s a badass.”

“Make sure you eat something,” he reminded me, tapping the tip of my nose. “You could stay here and I could make a meal out of you,” I suggested, grinning as I lay back against the pillows. He groaned softly, his head falling back. “I fucking wish.”

“Don’t be deliberately stupid, princess,” he told me. “It’s not a good look.”

“I can’t go to Russia!” He shrugged. “Actually, you can. That’s where this plane is headed. Conveniently, you’re on it, so you’re going to Russia, too.”

“Better?” he asked, smiling. “Much,” I agreed. Another long-suffering sigh. “The things I do for you.” “You mean the things you do to get laid,” I corrected with a giggle.