Chapter Ten
Elijah stood in the entrance to the hallway for the longest moment, his lips still tingling, his body still burning. Had he really let Matias claim him? They hadn’t been able to get enough of each other. Tongues, teeth, and bodies.
As he dressed, Elijah felt hot, his breathing speeding up again, even though Matias had taken off.
“Fuck.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and caught himself smiling, his cheeks hurting from his grin while Matias’s dark, earthy scent still clung to him.
A reminder that he’d actually had sex with someone who wasn’t human. He gripped his shirt and inhaled the fabric, eyes briefly closing. Like he could still feel the pressure of Matias’s hands on him.
Stop before you drive yourself crazy.
Swiping a bottle of juice from the kitchen, Elijah went in search of Percy. The smile refused to fade. Elijah pressed his hand against his stomach, butterflies knocking around inside of him, causing his skin to flush.
Had that really happened? It didn’t seem real, but Elijah had the body aches as a receipt that Matias really had rocked his world.
There were six rooms in the back, every one of them unlocked.
Every one of them empty.
Maybe Percy was at the bar sipping on a Cosmos and mooning over Santiago like a lust-struck teenager. His best friend was the biggest flirt when he was wasted, but an even bigger flirt when sober. Percy had confidence Elijah would never possess. If it had been Percy and Matias, they would’ve fucked—
Elijah quickly evicted that thought right out of his mind like it was three months late on rent.
A hard spike of jealousy settled in his chest, making his temper snarl like he was one of the wolves.
It wasn’t like Elijah to become so jealous. No other guy had made him feel like a caged animal ready to rip someone’s head off.
Maybe Elijah needed to knock back a few himself. He caught the sound of music, rock, but at a decent, low level.
But he didn’t hear voices. Just the music. He glanced around the room when he entered. Chairs were pushed away from empty tables, glasses sitting on most of them—some still holding liquor like they were waiting for their owners to retrieve them.
Elijah pulled out his phone as a familiar song played. He couldn’t recall the band but was pretty sure of the song title. “Wrong Side of Heaven.”
After dialing Percy, Elijah pressed his phone to his ear, murmuring the lyrics. The call went straight to voicemail.
“Damn it.”
He hung up, jerking slightly when he noticed a good-looking guy behind the counter. Dark hair, slim but powerful build.
The stranger was leaning his arms on the counter, texting on his phone. Elijah started to back away but stilled when those dark eyes raised to stare at him like some horror movie moment.
There was a slight glow to his eyes, almost as if sunlight was reflecting in them. Nope. Not a horror movie in the slightest.
“You’re safe, Elijah.”
He set his phone face down on the polished, scratched wood. “Want a drink? Or I’ve got snacks back here.”
His voice was deep and soothing, the kind Elijah listened to late at night on his favorite podcast.
“I’ll take a soda if you don’t mind.”
He really didn’t want one but felt it was a good way to break the ice. “You are?”
Elijah had to use the rungs on the stool to mount it. Sometimes it sucked to be short.
“Tito.”
The guy flashed him a pirate smile, pretty white teeth included. “Nice to finally meet you one on one.”
He filled a tall glass with Coke from a soda gun. “That was a solid you did for Diablo.”
Tito dropped a few cherries into the glass. “Not many people are brave enough to approach him under normal circumstances.”
“Like you?”
Elijah smiled, curling his fingers around the glass Tito sat in front of him. The cherries sank, only the stems floating near the surface like tiny buoys.
“Nah.”
Tito grinned. He seemed like an easygoing guy. “I’m talking about—”
Elijah plucked at a steam, his mouth watering for a Coke-soaked cherry. He could eat a stack of them when he was out drinking. There was something addictive about them when he was drunk and looking for something to chew on.
“Humans?”
Elijah pulled a cherry free. “You’re talking to me with glowing eyes, and you think it’s some sort of secret I don’t know about?”
Oh god . The cherry tasted so good. Elijah eyed the caddy where the fruit was kept, wondering how many he could talk Tito into giving him.
The mind reader grabbed a small glass bowl from under the counter and filled it with the red deliciousness before sliding it across the wood. He really didn’t think the guy was a mind reader considering Elijah had been eye-banging the fruit caddy.
“Hell yeah.”
He snatched the bowl and hugged it but stopped himself from growling, “Mine”
like a greedy little cherry gremlin.
“Never saw anyone calm the big guy down so quickly.”
Tito went back to leaning his arms on the bar top, as well as his conversation about Diablo. “Then you drop a fucking miracle on us.”
Elijah had stuffed too many cherries into his mouth like a squirrel packing away nuts for the winter. He just tilted his head to the side, furrowed brows.
“Diablo let you tend to his wounds.”
Tito gave a low whistle. “That’s huge.”
He winked, his thick lashes briefly kissing his skin. “Cemented you as a pack member. You’re officially one of us, little bunny.”
He stopped chewing to stare wide-eyed at Tito. A small amount of juice escaped, dribbling down Elijah’s chin. Leaning forward, Elijah grabbed some napkins and used them to spit out the cherries so he could talk.
“Elijah,”
he said firmly. “My name is Elijah, not Thumper.”
Wolves didn’t seem to care about renaming someone. But just like with Diablo, Elijah refused to be looked at as prey.
“It’s not an insult.”
Tito chuckled. “We got mad respect for our alpha’s elegido .”
“His what?”
Elijah needed to learn Spanish. Rápido . No tongue roll. Not even in his head. He needed to learn how. He remembered Matias saying that earlier, but Elijah still didn’t know what it meant.
Tito nibbled on the side of his lower lip, his gaze locked on Elijah, but he didn’t say anything.
Elijah was putting mileage on his translator. “I just need you to repeat what you said. Would be grateful if you could spell it out for me.”
Tito shook his head, looking at him like Elijah had lost his mind. Then he looked toward the ceiling as he spoke, like he was over it already. Over what?.
“ No serás la causa de mi muerte .”
You are not going to be the cause of my death.
“I’ll figure out what el hero means.”
Elijah had no such luck, unless Tito was actually calling him a hero. That hadn’t been the word though.
Tito softly chuckled. “I like your sense of humor, Elijah bunny.”
“Where did everyone go?”
Elijah purposely ignored the bunny comment. He was not about to keep arguing. Some battles weren’t worth fighting, and he was still riding his post-orgasmic high. He wasn’t letting anyone ruin that.
Tito shrugged.
“Let me guess. Pack business.”
Elijah dropped the few remaining cherries into his glass. “If I recall, you just said I was one of you now.”
Tito grabbed a bottle off the shelf behind him. “Matias didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
Elijah’s lips tingled, once again remembering the kiss they’d shared. He was greedy for another one. “Are you gonna tell me?”
The bottle made a plunk sound when Tito plopped it onto the counter. “Matias didn’t tell you.”
A statement.
It dawned on Elijah what Tito was conveying. If Matias didn’t tell him, stop asking. Clearly Elijah wasn’t high enough in the pecking order. “Fine. I’ll be a good little boy and keep in my own bunny lane.”
Relief flared in Tito’s eyes. It seemed Elijah and Matias had a lot to talk about when he got back from wherever he’d gone.
“Just tell me where Percy is, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
Unease slid into Tito’s dark eyes. “He’s with you,”
he said slowly, looking around like he somehow missed a whole other person in the room.
Elijah tried calling Percy again but was sent straight to voicemail again. When was the last time he saw the guy? It struck him that Percy hadn’t been in the room when Elijah bandaged Diablo.
That had been over two hours ago.
Percy lived for drama, as long as he wasn’t a part of it. Though Elijah had to give credit where it was due. His best friend wasn’t a gossiper. He just loved watching the drama unfold in real time—couples arguing and blasting each other’s business, nasty bitches getting their comeuppance. Drama at its peak.
He should have been hovering over Elijah’s shoulder when Diablo had stormed through the doors. Then again, Percy would’ve yanked Elijah back, refusing to let him get anywhere near the guy.
Tito briefly closed his eyes, muttering something under his breath. “Tell me you’re just fucking with me because I wouldn’t translate for you.”
Had Percy gone home to check on his mom? He glanced toward the windows. The blinds were drawn, but it wasn’t like he could see where Percy had run off to. All Elijah saw was the flicker of shadows, probably passing cars, reflecting across the blinds.
“I think he went home to check on his mom.”
Elijah slid from his stool, forgetting the one he was on was much taller. He stumbled but grabbed the counter to steady himself, panic beginning to set in.
Percy hadn’t seen the wreck Diablo had been. If someone could inflict that kind of pain on a guy Diablo’s size, Percy didn’t stand a chance. “We have to go get him.”
“You are not stepping foot outside this tavern, Elijah bunny,”
Tito snarled. “I already have one human missing. Matias will rip my throat out if something happens to you.”
“What’re you gonna do, leave me here alone?”
Elijah couldn’t stop his voice from rising. Percy might not run into trouble as far as the pack, but his father could show up. With Santiago gone, and Elijah stuck at Sin & Steel, he would have to face Jacob by himself. And Jacob, the piece of shit, had no qualms about laying a hand on his son. Hell, he had no problem laying his hands on his ex-wife.
Which was the reason he was an ex.
“Don’t have to.”
Tito’s gaze drilled into his. “Matias put someone on Percy’s mom. I’ll call him. We’re keeping our asses put. Sit on your stool, drink your cherries, and let me handle this.”
He muttered something Elijah couldn’t understand.
Unable to sit still, Elijah tried three more times to call Percy as Tito spoke on the phone. It was just like Percy to get an idea and run with it, sometimes not a single brain cell behind the thought. But Matias himself had told him not to leave the tavern.
When Percy returned, Elijah was going to hug him then proceed to wring his skinny neck.
Elijah glanced toward Tito when the guy ended the call.
“Well?”
He gripped his phone tightly in his hand. “Is he there?”
Tito pressed his lips together, his dark eyes burning. “No.”
* * * *
Matias raised his hand, signaling his men to pull over. One by one, all nine motorcycles veered off the long, deserted road, their engines rumbling to a halt on the sun-scorched grass. Up ahead loomed a building that had been abandoned for five long years. Once a bustling tile factory, it now stood silent and forlorn, an isolated relic of the past. The driveway stretched languidly toward the building, its surface marred by a network of cracks and choked with weeds, while forlorn scraps of litter danced sporadically in the hot, restless breeze.
As everyone parked, Matias swung his leg over his ride with a practiced ease, scanning the area with a keen eye.
The surrounding grass was too short, offering no cover for anyone or anything that might try to hide. Like cheetahs. He’d tried reaching out to the alpha, but his calls had gone unanswered.
They were still inside wolf territory, but dangerously close to the border, which would make the cats restless.
Matias felt a knot of apprehension tightening inside of him. An eerie sensation hung heavily in the air, more stifling than the oppressive relentless heat. He turned to his men, who sat quietly on their bikes, awaiting his command.
“We go on foot from here.”
The rumble of bikes fell silent, leaving behind a profound stillness, broken only by the persistent whisper of the wind. It swept unrestrained across the wide-open plain, as if reveling in the absence of obstacles to its path.
Matias gestured toward them, outlining the plan. “I want you three to cover the left side of the building,”
he instructed. “And you two, check out the roof. Make sure we don’t have any surprises lurking up there,”
he added, his tone firm with the gravity of the situation.
“You never told us what was going on,”
Suero said. His leather jacket creaked softly as he shrugged. “I’m down for whatever. Just wanted to know if you had any intel.”
“I don’t know what we’re up against.”
Taking out his phone, Matias read the text message.
He recalled Diablo’s demeanor at the tavern, a storm brewing behind his eyes. Instinct had told Matias not to let him leave. But today was crucial for the wolf. So much so that he knew Diablo would’ve defied any order to stay.
“Keep your head on a swivel at all times and prepare for the worst.”
Whatever unfolded today, his priority was bringing his men home.
Hopefully alive.
If they weren’t, he wouldn’t rest until every last hyena lay dead at his feet. Blood would spill if he lost even one of them.
“You four,”
Matias turned his attention to the men who hadn’t been given specific roles. “Stay on my six.”
The directive was clear, as resolute as the steely determination etched across their faces.
Throughout the entire ride, Matias’s thoughts had been consumed by Elijah. His feelings for the human had been apparent to his men, even though Matias had fought against the connection every step of the way, convincing himself that his interest was purely physical. Then, his desire shifted toward a fierce need to protect him. Even his wolf recognized the truth, snarling to get to their bunny. The wolf was primal, operating on pure instinct.
The realization hadn’t fully struck Matias until he’d walked into the kitchen and found Elijah absorbed in the simple act of making a sandwich.
In that quiet moment, everything clicked. The undeniable attraction, the heated arguments, the fierce urge to keep Elijah safe. All of it had suddenly made sense.
His wolf had chosen Elijah the very moment the human had staked his claim on Matias by the pool table. From that point onward, there would be no room for anyone else.
Elijah was all it desired. And he’d just claimed his little bunny.
Matias cleared his mind as he drew closer to the building. The air was saturated with the noxious scent of hyena, so dense that it couldn’t possibly belong to just one individual.
His men caught the scent as well. They inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring, low growls vibrating in their throats.
As they rounded the corner of the dilapidated building, Matias’s gaze caught sight of Diablo’s and Santiago’s bikes parked side by side. The polished chrome stood out against the backdrop of muddy earth and the rusted hues that dominated the landscape.
As he stood there, Matias surveyed the building, wondering how many hyenas might be inside. They were walking in blind.
Ever since they had trespassed into wolf territory, Matias had tasked his men with keeping a detailed account of the ones they’d encountered, striving for an accurate headcount.
So far, they had identified fifteen. Originally, there had been twenty, but five had met their end. Three of those by Matias’s own hand.
Movement overhead caused Matias to raise his eyes. Above, Suero peered cautiously over the edge of the roof, scanning the area below. Then he gave a slight shake of his head, a silent confirmation the roof was empty.
The others circled the building, their footsteps silent over the gravel. They, too, communicated with simple, wordless gestures—a shake of their heads. However many hyenas had shown up, they were all inside the building.
Matias approached a rusted, weather-beaten door but turned to face his pack. “Suero, you’re with me,”
he instructed. “The rest of you, hold your positions. I’ll signal if I need you inside. Stay alert and watch your backs.”
If there were only a few hyenas inside, Matias didn’t want to aggravate the situation by walking in, nine deep.
The door creak loudly as he opened it. So much for stealth. He might as well have shouted his arrival. He stepped inside to the sight of Santiago in this third form, snarling at five hyenas still in their human forms. He stood at his full height, his massive frame eclipsing the dim light filtering through the warehouse’s grime-streaked windows. A towering lycanthrope, well over eight feet, muscles stretched tight beneath a thick coat of slate-gray fur. His elongated muzzle parted just enough to reveal razor-sharp canines.
Beside him stood Diablo, nostrils flaring, the promise of death in his eyes.
But he hadn’t shifted. Why?
The hyenas turned their heads to glance at Matias. Santiago’s and Diablo’s gazes remained locked on the enemy.
Matias walked closer, his steps casual as his gaze flicked over them. Then he pulled his gun from inside his jacket, clasping his hands in front of him as he came to a stop. “Which one of you ladies is in charge?”
The guy on the far right smiled widely, exposing the huge gap between his front teeth. “Looks like we have more wolves to play with.”
Matias shot him between the eyes, the gunshot loud and echoing in the open space. The man crumpled to the floor. “Anyone else think I came to play?”
A slow exhale. “Now, once last time, boys and girls. Who. Is. In. Charge?”
The tallest shook his head, eyes wide. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “None of us.”
The eight wolves stepped into the building but stayed behind Matias. He took a step forward. The hyenas flinched. “Who gave the order to come here?”
Santiago snarled, his voice gravely as he spoke. “Answer him.”
“Rico,”
the one on the far left said, gaining hostile glares from the other three. The guy gestured to everyone in the room. “We’re outnumbered. There is an actual fucking lycanthrope right in front of us and a trigger-happy guy ten feet away. I’m not trying to die today.”
Matias stepped even closer, his gaze sweeping over their trembling forms. “Oh, you’re not leaving here alive. You had a choice, and you made the wrong one.”
He shot the guy on the right, dropping him. “You came after my men. Your dead friend thought it was playtime. Well, it is. Just not for you.”
The memory of his two dead pack members still burned brightly in Matias’s mind. Their deaths had been senseless, torn apart by the hyenas. They hadn’t shown any mercy, and neither would he. They’d infiltrated wolf territory, intent on killing Matias’s pack, so now they would suffer the consequences. Matias wasn’t acting out of blind rage. They had taken the lives of his men, and now they would pay for it. No hesitation. No guilt.
This wasn’t revenge. It was justice.
“Since I’m a fair man, I’ll offer you a choice.”
Matias rolled his shoulders, letting the tension settle. “Whoever gives me vital information on your pack gets to live.”
If he was going to cleanse his territory of hyenas, he needed to find out where they were hiding. He also wanted to know who Rico was.
The guy in the middle stared incredulously at him. “Would one of your men give you up?”
He crumpled like the other two.
Matias glanced at the two remaining hyenas. “I don’t have all day.”
Not when he wanted to get back to Elijah and claim the human as his mate. Just thinking about how he’d been ripped away for this bullshit made him want to shoot the other two and be done with this.
“Rico Diego,”
the one on the left said.
Matias clenched his jaw, annoyed and losing his patience. “I am not going to ask you a million questions.”
“What do you want to know?”
The taller of the two scowled. “His height, weight, dating preferences? Bubble baths or showers?”
The other hyena scooted away from him.
With a deep sigh, Matias shot the smartass then turned his gaze to the last man standing. “Information or bullet?”
The guy began to talk so fast his words started blending together.
Matias held up a hand. The man fell silent. “Suero, take him somewhere safe and extract as much information as you can.”
“And when I’m done?”
Suero asked. “What should I do with him?”
“Not kill me?”
the guy suggested timidly, hope shining in his eyes.
With a frown, Matias stepped into his personal space and deeply inhaled. “What is a cheetah doing with filthy hyenas?”
“A piss-poor job of gathering intel,”
he answered, trembling slightly. “I’ll share what I know, only if you promise to let me go afterward… please .”
The last thing Matias needed was another war on his hands. “What’s your name?”
“Kia.”
He glanced around at the men then lowered his gaze. “Maybe I should let you kill me, because my alpha just might when he finds out the boneheaded thing I’ve done.”
Matias lifted his hand and twirled his finger. “Roll out. Suero, you’re in charge of Kia. I want the information before sundown.”
He turned to Diablo, his jaw clenched. “You’re going to tell me what the fuck this was about and why you were willing to forego your annual visit for this shitshow.”
The rest of the men filtered out of the warehouse, the sound of motorcycles roaring to life.
Santiago slowly shifted back to his human form then headed out the door to presumably grab the backpack of clothes in his saddlebag.
“This is where I was kept,”
Diablo finally confessed, telling Matias how he was herded into the picnic area, the tranquilizer that stopped him from shifting and rendered him unconscious, and how he’d woken up hanging from the hook above them.
Matias took it all in, his anger and worry growing with every word Diablo spoke. A drug that could trap their forms inside of them? Fuck. He glanced at Diablo. “Can you shift yet?”
He shook his head, rage and fear simmering in his dark eyes.
Matias ran his hand over his mouth, cursing.
“I feel my forms inside of me, struggling to get out.”
Diablo spat on the ground, fury blazing. “When I find those pendejos , I’m going to gut them.”
And no one would blame him. “Right now, I want you to go see the doctor. We need to figure out what they gave you and if it will wear off or can be countered.”
Matias pressed his lips together. “You should’ve told me about this before you took off. A drug like that is a danger to us all.”
“Do you think I was in my right frame of mind?”
Diablo stabbed his finger against his temple.
“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t have left in the first place,”
Matias snarled. “Are you still going to see your parents or not?”
Rage turned to confusion. “You would still let me?”
Matias slid his gun back into his jacket then took a few steps away, hands on hips. “If it were anything else, I would order you back to the tavern.”
He sighed. “But I know how important this is to you, regardless of your side trip.”
He pointed a finger at Diablo. “Straight there and back, understood?”
“ Sí .”
“And you’re still taking Santiago with you.”
Matias threw his hands up, talking to himself in his native tongue, loathing the fact he was pacing.
“The little bunny,”
Diablo said. “Has your wolf chosen him?”
Matias stopped pacing and faced him, possessiveness ripping through him. “Yes. Why?”
The side of Diablo’s mouth curled upward. “Needed to know if he was off-limits.”
A snarl ripped from Matias. The thought of any other man touching Elijah made him feel feral.
Diablo chuckled. “Your control just slipped.”
He shrugged, heading for the door. “Your wolf made a good choice, hermano .”
A choice Matias was anxious to get back to.
* * * *
Diablo hadn’t been poking the bear. He’d been dead serious. Elijah, even terrified, had taken care of him. The human had proved his worth, and Diablo had been ready to pursue the little bunny if Matias’s wolf hadn’t already chosen him.
Elijah had been on the table for him, and he would’ve gone for it. Because if Matias hadn’t wanted the male, Diablo damn sure would’ve stepped up.
It hadn’t been Matias who snarled. It had been his wolf, making it clear as hell that Elijah was already his.
And now that Diablo knew the truth, that was it. He was done looking at the human in that way. Matias was not only his alpha but his brother-in-arms, and Diablo respected the hell out of him. Now, he would treat the bunny like a little brother instead.
But he hadn’t just told Matias that his wolf had made a good choice, which it had. It was Diablo telling Matias that he wasn’t a threat. No challenge. No resentment. Just pure respect. He also liked that Elijah had gotten under Matias’s skin. That was a good thing, because everyone knew how stoic Matias was, and a little shaking up never hurt anyone.