Wild Nights (16 page)

flowing by, curling around rock protrusions and swirling over the

uneven riverbed, procured a long-forgotten sense of peace within his

spirit. His wolf was content for the first time in two and a half

decades.

This, the serenity surrounding him, anchored into that void of his

and drew him back to where he belonged. Wild nights tucked deep

within the mountains and forests of nature’s core cooed of a lost

righteousness.

But what about his pack? His father?

Immersed in deep thought, he barely picked up on the scrapes of

rock drawing closer to the boulder. He turned his head against his

bicep. His heart did the oddest flutter when his gaze landed on Aya.

Damn, she looked so beautiful with the silvery moonlight pouring

over her creamy skin. Her eyes glittered with a degree of innocence

that stole his breath. Even after her wild affair with Lenox and

himself, she continued to exhort a simplicity that ebbed from her

spirit and embraced his. She was a complete contradiction to his ideal

woman, and yet, having had her, he knew she was everything he ever

hoped for.

“I heard you and Lenox earlier.”
Aya’s sweetly soft voice filtered

through his mind like smoky tendrils, but her words drew shame from

his veins. The wolf within him padded down, relaxing in the presence

of his mate.

And mate she was. He couldn’t deny it. Not even his words held

conviction when he outlandishly rejected her to Lenox. Her

confession made him ill to his gut. He’d never been so weak, so torn,

since his father’s murder. Ayasha White elicited the deepest of

suppressed emotions within him, stirring life from the bottom of the

well.

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“I’m not about to force you to stay.”
Aya’s lush lips pulled down.

Damn, why were her eyes shimmering?
“Quite honestly, I don’t want

you to stay if you’re only here to prove something to Lenox. But I

think you need to listen to what he’s said. More than anything, he

wants for you to accept what really happened when my parents were

killed. He feels responsible for you.”

“He has no reason to feel responsible,”
Riley responded. His

voice barely thrummed the telepathic line. Had she even heard him?

Aya sighed and shook her head, the wispy ends of her dark hair

caressing her pale cheeks. A yearning to touch her face flared to life.

A need to comfort her, protect her, and have her believe in him

erupted.
“I’m a big boy. I don’t need someone watching out for me.”

“I think you do, Riley. I think you need someone to show you there

is more than the darkness and self-pity you’ve holed yourself up in.”

Riley watched as she walked past him, her fingertips pressing into

her arms. That shame snaked up his neck and warmed his face. He

fought to grab hold of his old self, the arrogant, uncaring bastard he

was most comfortable with. The emotions she brought to his surface

were confusing and unsettling. He didn’t know how to swallow them,

how to embrace them. He had claimed her body, but the idea of what

he truly starved for shocked him more than discovering the lies

surrounding him.

I want to claim her heart
.

He slid off the boulder and followed her to the river, but she

didn’t pause at the water’s edge. Instead, she padded into the

glittering river, goose bumps forming over her arms and shoulders.

Hell, he wanted to smooth those bumps and warm her skin…

“What are you doing?”
Riley quickly rubbed out the sharp edges

of his demand. Aya didn’t respond. In fact, he almost believed that if

she demanded something of him, he’d be on his knees to please her in

an instant. The change came suddenly, just like Lenox said.
“Ayasha,

you don’t need to go in the water.”

She didn’t stop. No surprise. Why would she listen to him? He

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had said some pretty abominable things about her, to her. She had no

reason to show him any respect.

He deserved her cold shoulder, but he would find a way to warm

her up to him again.

“Ayasha. Sweetheart. Wait.”

Aya paused then, turning her head enough for him to glimpse the

etch of emotions splayed over her face. He ignored the cool

temperature of the water as it climbed up his legs the farther he

waded. The dark waters swirled around Aya’s waist, but when he

reached her, the level barely reached his hips. The woman was so

tiny, so delicate, so opposite of Eliza. Eliza, a woman filled with

confidence, sexual prowess, toned muscles, and curves. A woman

whose breasts overflowed his palms, whose mouth spoke dirty, whose

eyes shadowed with lust and hunger more than anything. Eliza knew

two things. Fucking and preening.

Aya was perfect. Her breasts, though smaller, were supple and fit

in his palms. Her passion swam just below the surface of her being,

but exploded while in the thralls of sex. She took what she wanted,

but didn’t demand. Her mewls of pleasure, the soft yips and cries as

he had driven her to the edge, stoked his wolf to pleasure her more

rather than seek his own release. Aya, kind little Aya, who had more

layers to her than even the thickest flower.

He came around and blocked her from entering deeper waters. He

reached for her cheek, brushing the back of his knuckles over her soft

skin. The depth of her turmoil, the waves of emotions that churned in

her eyes became a vortex for his spirit. The gentle swaying of those

very emotions coming off her wrapped him in a tender embrace. She

held mysteries and promises he wanted to discover from this moment

on.

“I’m sorry,” Riley murmured. He straightened his fingers and

cupped the side of her face. Aya’s chin quivered, but she let out a

slow breath that steadied her just before her eyes fell shut. “You’re

right. I do need someone to show me direction.”

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“This hasn’t been easy for me either, Riley. I hope you understand

that.”
For the first time, Aya turned her face into his palm and

nuzzled him on her own accord. He wanted to smooth the pinch in her

forehead and kiss her delectable lips, which drifted apart on a heavy

breath.
“I never expected two mates.”

“Say what it is you’re thinking, little wolf,” Riley urged quietly.

He braced himself for her stabbing response, but she simply shook her

head. The only answer he received was the soothing sound of the

river. “I deserve any harsh truth you speak.”

“You speak the truth to me. I’m not going to be that lenient with

you.”

That stung, yet he knew he deserved so much more in the way of

punishment. Aya figured out one sure way to humble him. Admitting

wrong broke a man’s resolve, weakened him. Verbalizing it exposed a

man’s heart and his capacity to care.

“Perhaps I was wrong about…things. Misled. Deceived. Whatever

you want to call it.” Riley moistened his lips. He sounded like a fool.

God, he
was
a fool. He sank to his knees in the chilly waters, lowering

himself before Aya. He unleashed her arms from around her breasts—

her pearled nipples made his mouth water, and he fought to suppress

that desire—and took her hands between his. “I’m your mate, but I

led the pack that murdered your uncle.”

There it was, in the open of the night. He admitted his guilt. Aya

subjected him to humiliation he hadn’t known since the days of his

mother forcing him and Lenox to apologize for pulling pranks on

other pack mates.

“I understand loss, Aya. If I had known any of the things Lenox

suggested to me, I would’ve gone to the extreme to spare you that

grief.”

“Would you have?”

She challenged him in those three words. Riley’s jaw worked to

answer, but no sound came out. If Lenox had gotten to him before he

ordered his pack to burn Charles’s house to the ground, would he

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have stopped to spare her the heartache? Would he have believed

Lenox at all?

A merciless thought slithered into his mind. He had intended to

kill this woman. That fire was supposed to be for both Charles and

Aya.

Damn, how ruined had he become over the years? How callous

and cold and evil?

Riley swallowed back the shame that choked him and nodded

once.

“Yes,” he said. He gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “I

comprehend the changes inside me, sweetheart, but they’re alien. I

can’t explain what you’ve done to me, but I know now I will never

bring harm to you in any way.”

Static sizzled over the silent telepathic line to his pack. He ignored

the interruption, his attention brought sharply around to Lenox, who

stood calf-deep in the water. How long had he been standing there?

“We’re here to guide you, Riley,” Lenox said. Riley narrowed his

eyes as the man waded over to them. He rose to his feet when Lenox

stepped up behind Aya. His hands lowered to her shoulders while

Riley clung to her cool fingers. He dug for anger or frustration,

something that would shield his shame and humiliation from Lenox.

“Don’t bother with it. I heard everything. We’re all part of this, part

of each other, and you needn’t find a way to hide anything from us.”

“Don’t shut Lenox out,” Aya said. She leaned forward and rested

her head on his chest. Riley stared at her in awe before he snapped his

gaze to Lenox. A smile came to his old friend’s face, one that brought

back a swarm of memories. Warm memories of them dodging through

forests and hunting small game. Memories of nights going out to bars

and plotting their futures. Gratitude. Acceptance. It was all there on

Lenox’s face and shining in his eyes.

The buzz in his mind zapped to life again.

“
Ri…ley.”

Riley shook his head. The quaint rightness that had settled around

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them shattered. Aya leaned back. He caught the worrisome glance she

tossed back at Lenox.

“
She’s kil…led the…boys.”

“What’s going on?” Lenox asked. He stepped around Aya,

keeping one hand firmly on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed on Riley.

“Maddock, what the hell are you talking about?”
he demanded.

Dread breathed ice down his spine as he waited for a response.

“Riley?” Aya murmured. She was chewing her lip, concern

weighing against her delicate features.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, feeling his way along the path to

Maddock’s weak link. His wolf roused and began whimpering against

his mind. Something was amiss, whether it was from the cryptic

interruption or the wheezing words that bumped along the connection.

Instinct flashed a warning jolt, and a cringe-worthy heaviness pressed

down on him.

Aya’s soft palm brushed back over his cheek, her fingers combing

into his hair. He held her wrist, her flesh a means of grounding his

turbulent thoughts.

“Maddock? You gonna answer me?”
More sizzling. “
Fuck, man,

what the hell’s wrong with you?”

A gurgling crossed the line. Riley’s brows furrowed involuntarily.

Aya pressed up on her toes and barely brushed her lips over his.

Something new and soft brushed his spirit, his wolf. He lowered his

gaze to her, his lips tight.

Lenox clasped his shoulder.

“I’m getting residual energy over your pack’s line. Someone’s

hurt,” Lenox said, his voice lowering to a rasp. Riley caught the feral

glow of the hunter cross over his eyes.

“Something’s off. Maddock—” The telepathic line zinged. An

ethereal feeling of pain spread over him. He barked, spinning away

from Aya and Lenox as burning agony speared through his mind.

“Riley! What’s happening?” Aya rounded him, her hands

smoothing over his neck and face. Her touch did little to vanquish this

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new bout of dread. Lenox growled at his back.

“Maddock, what the fuck is going on?”
Even as he waited for a

response, he grabbed Aya’s arm and began to drag her from the water.

“Lenox, get her outta here.”

“You can’t go to him alone. Let me get in touch with my pack.

We’ll set up a search—”

“Don’t challenge me on this!” Riley snapped. Maddock was

trying to speak, his breaths labored over the line. “Get her to your

home and keep her safe.” He shot Lenox a steady glance. “I know

these wolves better than you. I’ll be fine.”

At last, Maddock filled his mind.

“Liza controls the pack. She always has. I-I’ve tried to

get…away…but she ambushed me. The others are dead…you mustn’t

come back, Riley. She’ll kill you… She’s after the white and

she’s…she’s used us all.”

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Chapter Ten

Riley vanished into the swallowing darkness of the forest with