Unwanted (Devilish #5)

Chapter One

The city lights twinkled across the sky, blotting out the stars.

All it had taken was a simple thought. Fen had gone from his home deep in the secluded mountains of Wulfe, Washington to the bustling heart of Seattle.

Fen had been born and raised in the forests of Scotland.

He was more accustomed to the silence. So, he couldn’t explain why he loved the city so much.

Everything was loud and busy. The lights were too bright, and life moved at a clipped pace.

There was all the entertainment he lacked back in Wulfe, where he had been assigned to protect Frost. It was a lofty position.

Frost was important. Not only was he the town’s Druid healer, but he was also special in ways even Frost didn’t know yet.

Fen had been a personal guard to the Scottish vampire king for more years than he could recall before he had been called to serve in the U.S.

His position in Scotland had been a dangerous job, but familiar.

Still, when he had been called by his Goddess, Celeste, to protect Frost, he hadn’t hesitated.

It was an honor to serve, but sometimes he wished he could settle here where no one knew his past.

Fen was restless in a town where everyone knew everyone.

Joy had vanished from his life overnight after being abducted in a feud between gods.

He didn’t recall a thing thanks to Celeste wiping his memory.

The effects lingered nonetheless. Food tasted disgusting.

He wasn’t one of those vampires who had tired of eating and stopped.

Fen still wanted to savor life. He just didn’t know how anymore.

His life had dimmed and everyone knew it in Wulfe.

That was why he had come to the city. There was a restaurant he wanted to try, and he was out from beneath a suffocating microscope.

He was certain if he tried the right dish, things would turn around.

Maybe his life could go back to normal. As he pulled open the door of the small Italian restaurant, the most delicious scents he ever encountered slapped him in the face.

A waiter turned. Their gazes met. A smile exploded across Fen’s face.

Just seeing Kyrie always made him beam. Kyrie was a young Arctic wolf from Wulfe. The world was truly a small place.

Yellow eyes, too bright to be human, headed his way. Obviously. Fen knew the eyes were connected to Kyrie’s body, but they were the only thing he saw as the space between lessened.

“Hey.” The breathless greeting pulled Fen from the edge of saying something dumb about Kyrie not hiding his animal side.

Fen’s smile wouldn’t dim. “Hey. I didn’t know you worked here.”

Kyrie’s smile stayed intact too. “Yeah. For a few years, actually. I’ve never seen you come in.”

“This is my first visit. I’m still on the hunt for something that doesn’t taste horrible after my…” They were in public. He didn’t know what to say.

“Since Monnie,” Kyrie finished for him.

Fen’s smile fell. He snapped to attention. Fen hadn’t heard anyone use that name for Jormungandr except in his weird dreams that wouldn’t stop. “Why did you call him that?”

Someone waved for Kyrie’s attention.

Kyrie made an oops face. “Sorry. I have to get back to work. Sit anywhere you like. I get off in fifteen and I’ll join you.”

Fen wanted to laugh at the audacity, but he couldn’t say he didn’t want Kyrie to join him. He picked a table and sat to wait. Kyrie’s gaze kept sliding his way. Fen couldn’t stop staring. He wondered if he made Kyrie uncomfortable. A certain intensity vibrated from him and Fen couldn’t rein it in.

“You have to tell me where you get your contacts. They’re amazing.”

Fen hid a smile when the question floated his way from a nearby table.

“Sure thing. I’m at the end of my shift, but I’ll write the website on your check.”

Fen wondered if the guy had set up an affiliate account at some costume contacts site. Surely he got asked that a lot. Kyrie disappeared into the kitchen. A good ten minutes passed before he reappeared, carrying a tray of food.

He paused at the table with the contacts inquiry. “I wrote the web address, as promised. You can pay upfront whenever you’re ready. No rush.”

After a few more pleasantries, Kyrie headed his way with the tray. Fen expected him to drop it at a different table. Instead, he sat with the food at Fen’s table.

“I haven’t ordered anything yet.”

Kyrie’s eyes danced with laughter. “I know, but I’m the expert here. Trust me, you’ll like this. It’s not on the menu. I made it especially for you.”

Fen’s eyebrows rose. “You cooked this?”

Kyrie smiled. “Aye,” he said, mocking Fen’s thick Scottish accent.

For the first time in a long time, Fen didn’t think about anything but the moment.

Kyrie was breathtaking. That had nothing to do with looks, even though the guy was arguably a bonnie lad.

He shone brightly from the inside. Kyrie was sunshine in a bottle.

Fen couldn’t stop staring at the way his eyes lit with mischief and humor.

“Take a bite,” Kyrie urged, obviously impatient with Fen’s hesitation. Little did Kyrie know Fen had forgotten there was food.

He scooped a bite of some sort of ravioli or tortellini looking stuff into his mouth.

Something indescribable melted on his tongue.

His insides sang. While Fen’s heightened senses picked apart every flavor, they came together to create the perfect combination.

For the first time in forever, Fen was famished and knew he would walk away satisfied.

“Well?” Kyrie looked as if he held his breath.

There was something else about his expression too.

Fen fought the urge to scrape the thoughts from his mind.

Wolves were lesser beings than vampires.

He could easily pluck anything he wanted from Kyrie’s head.

For once, Fen didn’t want that. He wanted to be surprised by what came next.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. How did you do this? It’s like you’re magical or something.”

Kyrie made a dismissive gesture. “My best friend and I used to stay up cooking all night, trying to find combinations of food he could eat without gagging. He was a vampire. I lived with his family,” Kyrie added, as if that wasn’t unusual, before moving on.

“His mom used to stay so angry with us for destroying her kitchen. Then I started cooking for them too and she didn’t care anymore about the mess. ”

Fen was fascinated as hell. “Do you have nae kin?”

Kyrie lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.

“My mom died in childbirth, which is pretty common among our species. My dad didn’t stick around.

I was sent to Wulfe to be raised by my mom’s pack.

They passed me from home to home until I was twelve.

That’s when they called me grown and said I could choose who I wanted to live with full time.

I chose Neo’s family. They were the only constant in my life.

They were the steadiest I felt. What about you? Do you have any family?”

Except for the fact that Kyrie wasn’t eating, this felt like a date. Kyrie picked up a breadstick and started picking it apart before popping bits into his mouth. If he didn’t know better, Fen might’ve thought Kyrie read his mind and challenged him to deny it was a date.

Fen bit back a smile. Kyrie was cheeky. Fen liked him. “Aye. I have a brother in Scotland. My brothers and father were on the battlefield with me when we were cut down. Only my older brother and I survived long enough to be turned. My mam died from old age a long time ago.”

“How old were you when you were turned? You look to be in your early twenties.”

Fen nodded as he chewed. He took a drink of the water Kyrie had brought him before answering. “Twenty-five. How old are you?” He took another bite.

“Twenty-one.”

Fen nearly spit out his food. While Fen had been turned at twenty-five, he had been that age for many a century. He had never felt so old…or perverted, honestly. This wolf was a child.

Kyrie’s eyes flashed dangerously. “I’m not a child.”

“Did you just read my mind?”

Kyrie chuckled. It was a soft sound that caused goosebumps to rise on Fen’s skin. “Your thoughts were in your eyes. Enjoy your meal. It’s on me.”

Kyrie stood.

Fen panicked a bit. “I did nae mean to offend. You just made me feel verra old for a moment.”

Kyrie held his stare. It was the most serious Fen had seen him. “I’m not offended. It’s a long drive home. I know when I’ve outstayed my welcome and I can’t be home in a flash the way you can. Like I said, enjoy your meal. I’m glad I could help.”

Before Fen could think of a way to stop Kyrie from leaving, Kyrie was out the door.

All Fen could do was stare at the space where he had been.

If Fen was good at one thing, he excelled at ruining dates.

That truly sucked. When Celeste had asked him to move to Wulfe, he had secretly hoped he would find his fated mate.

After all, Celeste paired the souls. Surely she wouldn’t continue asking him to serve for the rest of eternity without honoring him with a mate.

Life was incredibly lonely after hundreds of years of meaningless encounters.

He craved a soft place to land. Each day that passed without that blessing got harder than the last. Between the emptiness, the dreams, and the voices in his head, Fen didn’t know how much he had left to give.

Maybe it was time to walk into the fire.

Bring me the wolf.

Like conjuring the devil, the words brushed his brain. He had no idea where the demand came from or what the words meant. It was possible he had gone around the bend. And fuck, he had completely forgotten to ask how Kyrie knew the name Monnie. Everything was a disaster. That tracked.