Page 209 of Wicked Savage Wolves
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“Hunt,”I shout, ensuring my voice carries across the Infernum field. His head jerks up and he looks around, searching for whoever called his name. As soon as he realizes it was me, he jogs his way over.
“Yo. What’s up?” He tilts his head in greeting, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. The black runes that mark his arms stand out along his flesh, and the silver bands on his fingers glint in the sunlight, making my wolf’s hackles rise.
“Meiying Liu.” I bite out her name.
He smirks, a glint of excitement in his eyes. “She’sfine,right? But she’s no wolf. I wasn’t sure if you knew her.” He rocks back on his heels and gives me a knowing look. Like we’re friends or some shit and both in on the same secret.
Until this moment, I had zero issue with Hunt. Thought he was an okay dude even for a fae. But now… I can’t stand the sight of him, and I’m two seconds away from punching him in the face, making sure to leave a mark like he left on Meiying.
But I decide to give him a chance and delay punching him right out of the gate by grabbing him by the jersey instead and shoving him against the chain-link fence that surrounds the field.
He brings his arms up in a vain attempt to stop me, the runes on his skin glowing with some sort of magic I don’t recognize, but I ensnare him in my wolf’s gaze and give him a feral look. “You can try and defend yourself or you can take the beating that is coming your way. Either way, I’m getting my pound of flesh.” Deacon is muscular, stacked like every other person on our team, but I have an easy sixty pounds of muscle on him and a pissed off wolf living beneath my skin. He’s still a kid, so fae or not, he’s weaker than I am and he’s not getting away until I get what I came for.
“What the fuck, man.” His eyes are wide and he grunts with the effort to throw me off him, but it’s of little use. Electricity sparks against my skin, his magic crashing through my veins in a painful jolt through my system, but all it does is serve to piss off my wolf even more. I make sure he gets a good look at the fury riding me. At the beast inside me looking through my eyes and marking him as prey.
“Is she yours or something? Shit, man. I thought you stuck to your own kind. I never would have hit on her if I knew it would cause problems with you or any of the wolves.” He stops fighting me, both arms raised in surrender. Idiot. So he wasn’t just trying to hurt her. He was trying to claim her too? To take what is mine? I don’t allow myself to dwell on my possessive thoughts, instead snarling into his face, “She’s seventeen.”
“So what? We’re both freshmen. I’m only a year older, probably less than that.”
I shake him before slamming him against the fence harder. I can feel the eyes of the team on me, but no one interferes. The only people dumb enough to try are Rafael and Jordy, and I made sure both were occupied in the locker room before tracking Deacon down, and that shit took some maneuvering.
“She’s a fucking minor,” I seethe.
“Bro, lay off. It’s not illegal or anything. Shifters consider anyone under twenty-one a juvenile, so what's the issue?”
Shouting comes from the other side of the field. Fuck. I thought I’d have more time, but I guess I’ll have to make do with what I have.
“Whatever you think is going on between you two, it ends now. When you see her in class you’re going to pretend like you don’t even see her. She doesn’t exist for you. And you won’t ever fucking touch her again. Got it?”
His jaw tightens, and I know he wants to smart off, but he manages to keep his mouth shut. Only the flaring of his nostrils betrays his emotions. Maybe he isn’t that stupid after all.
I drop my hold on him and turn, shouldering past the guys on the team stupid enough to have inched their way closer. Fucking gossips.
“Des—” Rafael calls out, but I shake my head. I’m good. Shit is over. Or at least it should be, but then Deacon goes and opens his fucking mouth.
“I’m not passing on her,” he shouts. “If you had your shot and missed it, that’s on you. But I’m not gonna look past a fine as fuck piece of ass for your benefit. Not until I’ve sampled her, at least. When I’m done, I might consider sharing if you still want a taste.” He laughs. Fucking fae.
My head turns almost as if in slow motion. Everything around me falls away, and all I see is the dipshit in front of me, the three meters between us, and the time it will take me to reach him so I can lay his punk ass out.
“Am I right, boys?” Deacon smirks as he looks around him, meeting the eyes of our teammates. No one responds to him and I watch in satisfaction as his smile slips, and then, I’m on him. I have my left hand on his throat, the right clenched into a tight fist and I draw my arm back.
Right as I move to swing, a hand wraps around my fist, barely managing to stop my momentum. I jerk my gaze to my right only to find Rafael holding onto me. Jordy not two steps behind him.
“You’ll start something,” he bites out.
With my left hand still holding Deacon in place, I shake my best friend off. “I don’t give a shit.” And yeah, maybe I should. I don’t know how important this asshole is to the fae faction. If beating his ass will cause problems and blow back on the Pack, but right now, I don’t care even if it does, because it will be worth it. Only Rafael doesn’t seem to agree.
“You know the rules. We can’t engage in shit like this off the field. Back off, Des. Be smart.”
With my eyes locked on his, I ignore Deacon’s failed attempts at escape. His hands swing out in a bid to hit me first, save face in front of the team, but my reach is longer than his and all he manages to hit is air. He realizes that he’ll never reach me and starts pounding his fist into my left arm, sinking his magic into my skin. It burns like a thousand fire ants biting into me. I grunt, but don’t let go.
“Don’t be stupid. You’re better than this.” Jordy says, and I can tell he’s trying to stay calm. To talk me off the ledge, only I’m not hearing him.
“Fuck you,” Deacon wheezes.
My arm is numb. He tagged me on my funny bone and the nerve is spasming, but I’m not about to let up. The glow of his runes is diminishing. His magic is running out.
