Page 24 of Hunted Ink

“I want you to feel comfortable telling me how you feel, and then it’s my choice what to do with it. Well, this is my choice.”

I could see how much this meant to him, and I was more than ready for him when he tipped up and reclaimed my mouth. He licked over my piercing before delving his tongue between my lips, and when I reached down and pulled the lever, I swallowed his gasp as his seat fell back.

“You ever fooled around in a muscle car?” I asked with a sultry purr.

He laughed from beneath me, his hands finding my hips and pushing me down on his hard-on. “You know I haven’t.”

This felt like checking something off our bucket list, and honestly, the list of things I wanted to do with my mate was getting longer every day. There wasn’t anywhere near enough space to get freaky, but blowjobs didn’t take up much room. We just had to hope nobody passing by stopped to ask if we were having car trouble.

After I had thoroughly wrecked my mate, I crawled back into my seat, wiping my thumb along the corner of my mouth, and a very rumpled Apollo struggled to zip up his pants with shaking hands. “Wow,” he sighed, maneuvering his seat back into an upright position.

“Thanks for lunch,” I teased, which reminded me that my lunch hour was just about up. I needed to get back to work since Apollo still needed to have some repairs done on his truck if we wanted his alibi to hold water.

Before I could turn the key in the ignition, though, he asked a little sheepishly, “Can I drive back?”

I’d never considered letting anyone else drive my baby before, yet I found myself saying, “Sure you can. I trust you.” It was the truest thing I’d ever said. If there was one person on this earth who would take care of my car, I knew it would be the man most devoted to keeping me safe.

We both climbed out and traded spots, and Apollo waited for me to buckle up before he even turned the key. The whole way back into the city, he obeyed every speed limit, but he did gun the engine for me as we sat at a red light.

“Maybe I’ll just get a minivan,” I said, only half joking. “I mean, it’ll be hard to fit car seats in the back of the Camaro.”

We hadn’t talked about having pups, but the smile that lit up his face was everything. At times like these, it was easy to imagine us as a normal couple, planning a future as if there wasn’t a murderous cult threatening to take both our lives. I could feel the all-too-familiar prickle of fear at the edges of my mind, but with a lot of determination, I banished the possibility of losing my mate to the dark recesses of my mind to be dealt with later. For now, it was just me and Apollo and our future children, and nothing could touch us here.

Chapter 16

Apollo

The longer I spent away from my mate, the more unsettled my wolf became, and the closer I came to my breaking point. No good would come from losing control, but try explaining that to the wild animal inside me.

The plan we’d had for “ordering parts” for the truck failed spectacularly, when at the last minute, Pater insisted I help him collect a batch of live chickens for the coop. He sent Seth to the garage with my truck in my place, and I didn’t even have a chance to dig out the burner phone I’d picked up to send Kedi a warning. I just had to hope like hell that he managed to act like a stranger and that Seth wasn’t paying attention.

Kedi bringing up the subject of kids had lit a serious fire under my ass. The thought of bringing a baby into this dangerous situation was enough to drive anyone to madness. I hated the thought of not being a part of their lives, but if staying away kept them safe, I would do it. I would do anything, even put each and every Order member down in cold blood if they stood in my way, regardless of whether I thought they could be saved or not.

To keep my wolf distracted from murderous thoughts, I went on the offensive. We needed a plan to get the hell out of this situation, and nobody was going to hand me one tied up neatly with a red bow.

First, I snuck into Pater’s office, trying to find any information on the Order or their future plans of attack. I hadn’t found much beyond a few letters. It seemed Pater kept correspondence with the leader of another branch of the Order to the south of us. That knowledge sent a sliver of ice straight through to my core. Why hadn’t I considered the possibility that there would be more of them out there? What would happen if they didn’t hear from Pater for a while? Would they come looking for vengeance?

Next, I planted a few fake shifter sightings in areas I knew to be safe. If they were going to be sending hunters out, it would be best for everyone if they came up empty.

And through it all, I searched my memories for my father. Little snippets had come back here or there, but still, his face remained a blurry smudge in my mind. He gave up his life to protect me and the other pups from our pack; he deserved to be remembered. I couldn’t help but wonder how much the other hunters could recall of their own pasts. Maybe if I could get them to remember where they came from, they might be able to reconnect with their shifter halves like I did. If I could get through to them, get them to figure out who and what they were, maybe I could find myself some true allies in taking down the Order.

So one evening, when I found Seth sitting on a stump out back near the firepit, sharpening arrowheads on a whetstone, I naturally gravitated toward him.

I sat on the stump next to him and picked up one of the arrows, testing the blade on my thumb. “Hey,” I said awkwardly. Initiating conversation was something most people learned to do as a child, but the Order kept us focused on being rivals, not equals.

Seth smirked over at me, as if he enjoyed watching me flounder. He said nothing, content to let me stumble my way through whatever I had to say. “Do you ever…” I began, then accidentally sliced my thumb on the arrow. I let out a hiss and stuck my thumb in my mouth, the sharp coppery taste reminding me of sinking my teeth into my mate, and it made me bolder. I decided to just spit it out. “Do you ever think about where you came from?”

I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction to expect, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the volatile flare of Seth’s temper. He flinched so hard the arrow’s shaft snapped in his fist, then he stood straight up and threw the whetstone at the ground. The hefty stone sank into the yard with a thud. My mouth popped open in shock as I gaped up at him, unsure what I’d said wrong.

Seth snarled at me, his eyes darkening to an unnatural black, like staring into an abyss. A chill crept up my spine. Inside, my wolf bared his teeth, ready for an attack, but Seth simply jabbed a finger in my face. “Did you ever consider for a second that there’s a reason we’ve forgotten the past, Apollo? Maybe it isn’t worth remembering. Leave it alone,” he spat, before turning on his heel and storming back toward the house.

Shaken, I turned to watch him leave and saw Brahm leaning against the house watching us, his arms crossed over his chest. Seth stormed past him without comment. Brahm and I stared silently at each other until the crickets finally resumed their chirping, then he pushed off the wall and came to join me, claiming Seth’s abandoned stump.

“You can’t blame him for not wanting to remember who he was.” Brahm turned to regard me, his eyes more amber than their usual brown. I couldn’t identify what kind of animal he was, but I could feel him there, just beneath the surface, watching me through his eyes. “When he first got here, he used to suffer from horrible nightmares. He’d wake up screaming, and Pater was the one to comfort him. For some of us, being adopted into the Order was a blessing.”

“What about you?” I asked. “Was it a blessing for you?”

There was so much he wasn’t saying, and all the questions I had were bouncing around in my head. I desperately wanted to ask, but he might just as easily tell Pater what I’d said, and then all our plans would fall apart. Did Brahm know he was a shifter, that the elders were pumping us full of poison to suppress what we were? That we were being used to eradicate our own kind? Would he be resentful… or grateful?