Page 58 of Hunted By Them

When Connor turned to face us, he was at his most dangerous. He took a fighting stance.

“Come on then, you fucking crazy motherfuckers,” he yelled. “You think you’re scary? You’re nothing but men dressed up like animals. A bunch of wannabes.”

Connor had wanted ownership. He had stalked my Sweet Daisy, torn through her life, tried to cage her with fear, but never again. The forest had claimed her, and the forest took care of its own.

With a roar, I let loose and lunged at Connor. My claws raked down his chest, blood flowing and dripping. He stood there, shocked, looking down at the lines of red in the moonlight. With a roar of victory, I wrapped my hand around his throat while my claws dug into his thigh.

Connor hollered as I picked him up over my head.

“No, no, no, please.”

“No one hurts my Sweet Daisy,” I growled, and brought him down on my knee. The force snapped his spine with an echoing crunch. I pushed him to the ground, and he tried to crawl away, arms dragging his body across the rocks. Blood trailed along the ground, and tears replaced his screams.

“Please…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry,” he blubbered.

I rolled him over onto his back with my boot. “It’s too late for sorry.”

Driving two claws into Connor’s neck, his eyes went wide with shock. Yanking them out, we watched him choke and clutch at his throat. It would take time. I had cut him with an exact precision that only came from lots of practice. I wanted him to suffer, but I also wanted him to see what came next.

His blood slowly spread onto the stone around him. He reached for our Sweet Daisy in a final effort for help, but she didn’t move. She didn’t blink.

Unable to contain myself any longer, I grabbed Sage around the waist. She let out a startled squeal as I picked her up and laid her down on the ground in Connor’s blood. I hovered over her, my arms flexed as I stared down into her green eyes.

“You donned the mask and ran like all the wild things do, but now you need to be blood born through our first kill.”

Kneeling back on my heels, I pulled my knife and cut through her sports bra, revealing the lines that spelled MINE. They were faint but no less true. Her nipples hardened as I gently scraped the tip of the blade over her skin. I locked eyes with my Sweet Daisy and then held the knife over the word carved beside her heart.

With slow and steady hands, I traced the lines.

“I will do this every time it starts to fade until it is as permanent as you are. Understood?”

“Yes,” Sweet Daisy panted.

“Good girl,” I growled, turning the blade to her jeans and cutting them off her body. “Are you ready?” My voice was thick with a need that consumed me.

She didn’t say a word, just spread her legs, welcoming us home.

RYDER

Dash and Jaxon growled along with me as we stared at our woman. Untying the claws, I tossed them to the ground. There was no need to ask if she was wet. I could see her arousal on her thighs, like her pussy was calling my name.

Dash already had his cock out and was stroking himself, ready to complete the ritual. I freed mine to the cool night air and groaned as I settled between her legs. I reached for her throat and let my hand feel her pulse.

“Say it.”

“I choose you,” she said, voice ragged. “I’m never going back.”

A storm crawled over my skin. “Such a good fucking girl, Sweet Daisy.”

Thunder rumbled through the mountains like it was accepting our offering. Fat raindrops hit stone, the curve of her shoulder, and the bone of the mask. It shimmered as lightning rippled across the sky.

Staring into her eyes, I thrust my cock into her in one fluid movement that had her hips lifting to meet mine.

“Ahh,” she cried out to the sky above.

I pulled out and thrust in again, the feral possessiveness taking over and pushing for more.

“You see this,” I asked Connor, as he helplessly watched in his final moments of life.