Fated Desire: A Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 1) (2 page)

CHAPTER 3

The biker bar was a deafening cacophony of rowdy shouts, full of virile male chatter and laughter. Ryan Winters leaned back in his chair and howled, the power of the wolf in him cutting through the noise in the bar. Recognizing their Alpha’s call, all his boys shut the hell up and turned to him. He grinned and howled again. They all followed, drowning the bar in their primal calls.

Ryan was in a good mood. The full moon was only two nights away. The time when a wolf was at his strongest. The time when he and his pack would run all night through the forest on the outskirts of the city and give in wholly to the wolf within.

The howls ceased and he laughed heartily. He took a large gulp of his beer.

Josh, his second-in-command, laid a strong hand on his shoulder and said, “So where to tonight, Ry? My cock is itching to be buried in some sweet, unsuspecting woman.”

Ryan couldn’t deny that he felt it too. With two days until the full moon, wolves were in a sexual frenzy, their animal instincts at their most ferocious.

He smirked and reached into his inner leather jacket pocket and withdrew a few cards. He tossed them across the table and the boys snapped them up. The rest of his boys scattered about the bar gathered around eagerly as he told them about a new club opening tonight that boasted hot, loose women for the taking.

“You’re welcome, boys. Never say that your Alpha doesn’t deliver.”

As he felt strong hands slapping his shoulders happily and excitedly, a strange feeling suddenly assaulted him. It was powerful and unnerving.
What the hell is that?
Seconds later, the entrance door to the bar chimed open.

He smelled her before he saw her.
Fucking hell, that’s the sweetest smell.

All eyes turned towards the door as a woman strode into the bar. Some sort of biker chick. She was decked out in leather from head to toe. He watched, spellbound, as she unzipped her leather jacket against the stifling heat from inside the bar—horny wolves could have that effect on non-wolves.

Big mistake, darlin’.

His cock twitched as he watched the zipper come down to reveal her full, perky breasts barely contained in her low-cut, white tank top beneath. She flung her silky, black hair back and her piercing, blue eyes searched the bar. When she turned around in her search, her tight little ass grabbed his attention.
Christ, I’d love to shove my cock in that.
To his surprise, she wasn’t the least bit afraid of being surrounded by men—worse for her—virile wolves. She strode further into the bar like she owned the place.
Interesting. Feisty.
As she moved closer he could feel her strength. Her tiny frame—barely five-foot—was clearly no indication of the power that she possessed. And there was something else he felt from her. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He didn’t understand it. And it unnerved him—something that was not easy to do to an Alpha like him.

“Blane?” she called out suddenly in a demanding tone.

Blane? Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve heard that name. Five years, at least.

The wolves laughed at the sound of that name being called out in the bar. The little thing seemed confused by their reaction. For some reason, Ryan couldn’t stomach allowing her humiliation to continue.

He rose from his seat. He raised his hand, effectively silencing the pack.

Her eyes found his and the connection was like a spike through his heart.
Fuck, what is that?

He recovered himself quickly, determined not to show any weakness in front of his boys, and told her, “Your information is old, darlin’.”

“Blane is no longer Alpha of this pack?” she asked as she strode towards him. “Who is?”

He smirked at her as he said, “That would be me. Ryan Winters. For the last five years.”

“I see,” she said.

He drew her over to the bar, away from the salivating wolves that looked like they would jump her at any moment and gang bang the shit out of her.

“Coming in here so close to the full moon is dangerous. My boys are seconds away from ripping your clothes off and fucking you right here and now,” he told her.

“I know. I can feel it,” she said, glancing around.

Feel it? Can you now?
He sniffed her. “You’re not wolf.”

“No,” she confirmed. “I’m a Seeker.”

Huh. Well that explains the power I’m sensing from her.
He nodded. “So, you knew Blane?”

“We crossed paths. He was an old
associate
.”

He smirked at her. “That right?”

Her eyes narrowed, obviously picking up on where his mind had just ventured. “We didn’t have any sort of
sexual
relationship,” she snapped.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “My apologies, darlin’.”

“The pack helped me and I helped them,” she explained.

“You want
my
help now?”

“Yes.”

He leaned into her and whispered, “Care to make it worth my while?”

She met his gaze and he watched her slowly draw her tongue over her bottom lip. Her eyes darkened as well and she released a little moan.
Hot damn.
But he wasn’t a fool. She was trying to draw him in, to manipulate him with sex. The woman had spunk, that was for damn sure.

He chuckled and shook his head at her. “Not all wolves are easy to manipulate with sex around the full moon, darlin’. There are those of us that do have some control.”

“I’ve yet to meet one that fits the bill.”

“Yeah? Well, he’s standing right in front of you.”

She scoffed. “Please. You’re right on the edge.”

“You think you’re that good, huh?”

Her eyes flashed at his challenge, but she didn’t answer him. He stepped into her, invading her personal space. It was an act of intimidation, plain and simple. But she didn’t back up, she didn’t back down. He could see he was making her uncomfortable with his close proximity. As good as she was, she couldn’t hide that.
Stubborn woman.

She broke through the tension between them, her gaze hardening, as she said, “I killed two wolves tonight.”

That caught him off guard in a big fucking way. He stepped back, shocked at her words. A chorus of low growls vibrated through the bar. The pack had heard her.

“You walk into a wolf bar and tell the Alpha that you’ve killed two of his own? Are you looking to get killed, sweet thing?”

“They were attacking a woman. Human. And I mean
attacking
. She wasn’t willing. I could feel her fear.”

Ryan took her words in. He looked her over properly, scrutinizing her with purpose instead of with sexuality this time. And that was when he saw it. Her right arm. He gripped it suddenly and studied it. “Not one of mine, darlin’.”

“What?” she asked, hastily pulling away.

“Not one of mine,” he repeated.

“How can you be so sure? I didn’t even describe them to you yet.”

“Because my pack doesn’t carry poison in their claws.”

“Poison?” she asked worriedly, glancing at her arm. “Shit,” she breathed as she noticed that it was now oozing with black blood.

Her gaze met his and she failed to hide her worry from him. He didn’t know why the hell he cared, but, for some reason, he did. There was just something about her and it had him reaching out and grasping her arm again—this time gently. “I’ll help you.”

“What? Why?” she asked, suspiciously. “Wolves don’t do favors for non-wolves. They always want something in return.” Her eyes narrowed. “What do
you
want?”

Jesus, she’s fucking paranoid.
“You killed two of my enemies tonight. This will make us even. I don’t like owing people favors.”

“Fine,” she bit back.

“Where was the attack?”

“A few blocks from here. Industrial district.”

He nodded and held her gaze even as he called over his shoulder, “Josh, you got that?”

“Yeah, boss.”

He watched her look over his shoulder at Josh. He saw her raise her eyebrows at his appearance. Yeah, he looked like he’d just stepped out of a hair-metal band from the 1980s. Long, dirty blonde hair. Tight jeans, a leather vest that exposed his hairy-ass chest and a bunch of thick gold chains hanging from his neck. Ryan was pretty sure he also had on eyeliner.

He returned his focus to the task at hand and asked her, “How long ago?”

“Just a few minutes.”

“Good.” He called out to Josh, “J, send three of the boys out with you to check it out. Then head to the club and chill.”

“You’re not coming?” Josh asked, disbelief obvious in his tone. Ryan knew it was shocking. It wasn’t often that he’d turn down an evening of rough and wild sex, especially this close to the full moon.

“I need to take care of this,” he said. And then he nodded at the girl.

She followed behind him as he led her to the flight of stairs at the back of the bar. He took them two at a time in long, determined strides and he eyed her over his shoulder, seeing her struggling to keep up with him. They made a sharp left and he stopped outside a door.

As he opened it and stepped aside to allow her through, he noticed her surprise.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said, shrugging. “I’ve just never known any wolf to act like a gentleman before.”

“Glad to be your first,” he said, with a sly smirk.

She flinched at the obvious sexual subtext and stepped into the apartment. He watched her scrunch up her face as she took in the mess. She was turning her nose up at his place. Instead of being offended, though, he was amused by her reaction. “Not up to your standards, darlin’?”

“My
standards
?” she shot back. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You’re a prim and proper little angel,” he said, simply. “It was obvious the minute you started speaking to me.”

Her eyes narrowed and she stepped into him, glaring up at him heatedly. “You don’t know me, wolf. You wanna throw down and see how wrong you are about me?”

Wow, feisty! I love it!
“You think you can take
me
?”

Her eyes flashed. “I’m ready to find out.”

He grinned and stepped back. “Let’s rain check that.”

“Right, I almost forgot how misogynistic wolves are.”

He shot out his hand and gripped her good arm, jerking her towards him. He leaned down and whispered huskily in her ear, “No, because if I’m gonna lay my hands on you, gorgeous, I’d rather it was under different circumstances. Me bending you over the couch and fucking the shit out of you, for instance.”

He released her suddenly and turned around, just managing to stifle a laugh. Damn, the look on her face had been priceless. She was so shocked by his words. He was just messing with her. There was nothing prim and proper about her. She was all attitude and toughness. Just like a wolf, actually. He crossed to the kitchen and called over his shoulder, “Have a seat on the couch. I’ll get the antidote.”

She crossed to the couch and perched on the edge and eyed her wounded arm. The black blood was oozing from it now. He had to hurry this along.

He joined her on the couch a moment later and placed a roll of gauze and a small, purple vial on the well-worn wooden coffee table in front of them. He swallowed hard as his eyes wandered over her sexy, tight body.
Jesus Christ, the woman’s a looker.
“Take off your jacket,” he told her.

As she peeled it off, he shook off his own and tossed it on the other end of the couch.

He caught her eyeing him in question.

“I don’t want that shit staining the leather.”

Her eyes roamed over him, drinking him in and clearly liking the sight of him in nothing but a black wife-beater. They flicked back and forth from his muscled arms and then dipped lower to his abs. He watched her bite her lip.

Mmm. Interesting.

He cleared his throat and her gaze snapped to his. The intensity in her eyes caught him off guard. Desire, for sure.
Jesus fuck.
She drew him into her with some sort of invisible pull that’d seemed to come out of nowhere. He could barely breathe through it.

He broke her gaze quickly and looked away, running his hands over his rough stubble, anything to distract himself from whatever the hell that was that he’d just felt from her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Shit. What’s wrong is that you’re making my cock hard, woman. I’ve barely touched you and I’m on the verge of blowing my load here. How the fuck is that possible? No one has more control than me.
“What are you?” he asked, his gaze raking over her.

Her eyes narrowed, offended by his rude tone. “I already told you. A Seeker.”

“Seekers are part human,” he said as he grabbed her arm. “This would have killed any one of your kind. Only someone completely supernatural could survive this.”