14. Chapter Fourteen

A scream shrieked through the air. His throat, hoarse and dry, yelled her name once more. Riaz crawled through mire and dried grass, unholy things sticking to his skin, listening for the sound of her cries.

But she'd stopped screaming.

Panic bled to fear, and fear morphed to terror. His muscles quivered with adrenaline while he swung his head around, desperate to locate his mother in the deep black of night. A whimper, slight but substantive, made his heart kick, forcing away the dizziness and the despair.

Swallowing thickly, he ignored the panic that held him captive. He crawled, one hand swinging back and forth in front of him. The darkness mocked him. When his palms met a pool of sticky blood, he realized the truth of it.

Wolf. And the beast wasn't done with them.

The nightmare never left him. It'd haunted his dreams, infiltrating his sleep and sowing sorrow in its wake. Renata's company failed to keep it at bay or settle his wolf last night, so he had left his bed after only a few hours of restless sleep. She was a poor substitute for the one his other aspect truly wanted, one who was a different breed entirely.

Once he recognized it, he couldn't fulfill the yearning for her. Cortana was the sweetest chocolate and the finest wine, encased in a layer of adamantine steel she wouldn't allow him to easily breach. Her staunch resistance to him riled his wolf to no end.

He chose to chase the dregs of his nighttime terrors away at the pack's shooting range. Heavy in his hand, the Colt's trajectory aimed true, the bullets finding the center of his target in quick succession. While Riaz preferred claws to bullets, there was a ruthless practicality to the handgun that he couldn't deny, especially when he needed to keep his paws clean.

Riaz set the piece down on the surface in front of him, ammunition spent. Beside him, Gadriel rested a shoulder against the wall that separated the two compartments.

"And how's your pretty little vampire this morning, oh alpha, my alpha?"

"I'm certain she's enjoying a few exciting hours of undead-to-the-world shut eye."

"Not joining her, ay?" Ava probed from behind him.

Riaz busied himself checking the Colt, shaking off the internal flinch he'd felt at her words. "Why would I be joining her, Ava?"

"Perhaps because your tail has been in a twist since she got here?" Gadriel offered, cocking his head in an eerily wolf-like way.

Chuckling, Riaz waved off the sharks. "I'll admit it, I enjoy her company."

"And why wouldn't you? She's a sweet little package."

Riaz bristled before he could help it. To hear his beta speak of Cortana—his mate—that way sat ill with him. The predator that roamed within had gone stock-still, scenting the air for a challenge.

"Walking on thin ice, Gad." Ava warned as her eyes flipped back and forth between them, clearly sensing the building storm in Riaz.

"I'd howl at that moon all night long."

The low growl that left Riaz's throat involuntarily should've clued Gadriel into the fact that Cortana wasn't fodder for the rumor mill, but the other man pushed his luck and continued speaking.

"Those brown eyes you could get lost in, that thick brunette braid I'd love to wrap around my hand, that amazing—"

Riaz's hand cuffed around Gadriel's throat, cutting off his airway and his smirk, while he plastered his beta against the wall. Lost to his beast, he barred his teeth in threat. Every cell of his being vibrated with a viciousness that he could barely control, a seeping darkness that spread through him like wildfire.

His hand cinched tighter. Fear inundated his beta's eyes, erasing any sliver of the sarcasm that'd lived there only moments before.

Only Ava's gasp brought him back to himself.

Gadriel coughed hoarsely as Riaz loosened his grip, his beta's shoulders shuddering against the wall before he stepped away. An apology tumbled from Riaz as he tried to comprehend what'd just happened.

Cursing, Gadriel's clutched at his neck. "Forgive me, Alpha, I didn't know your wolf was already that possessive."

Footsteps slapped against the wood flooring, the door banging open to announce Arno's arrival. "Alpha, we have a rogue in our territory."

Riaz's mind instantly cleared, his pack's need always taking priority. "Where?"

Already on the move, Arno gave him a rundown of where the rogue had been spotted. The creatures were werewolves that'd given into their feral nature, the beast striking any humanity from their bones and relishing the animalistic fury that they let reign.

While Riaz was renowned for being the most jovial of all the major pack alphas, he was ruthless in his defense. Rogues desired the kill, salivated for it, and actively sought out any excuse to spill blood. He could find no room in his heart to forgive any of that.

Ava, clearly believing she'd accompany him, readied herself. His second always followed him into the field, citing the excuse that she was his backup, even though everyone knew Riaz would be taking the fights alone. The only reason Ava trailed him was to save him from his own demons.

He'd never refused her assistance, appreciating her commitment to him—but today, he wanted none of it. With the volatility of his emotions, he couldn't risk harming her should his control slip, as he'd come close to with Gadriel.

"Please stay behind this time, Ava."

The three betas stuttered to a stop behind him. Ava's sudden intake of breath was the only indicator that she'd been stunned, the other two clearly at a loss for words.

"You don't want me to run with you?"

Riaz didn't respond.

Even if anxiety crawled over his skin like a thousand biting insects, he couldn't allow another to accompany him. His wolf was straining in a way he'd seen few times and reining the beast back in wouldn't be pretty.

Darkness, thick and inky and desperate for purchase in his soul, flooded him as he shifted into the wolf. Hiding from it accomplished nothing, and he would never achieve the balance he prized so much if he repressed his nature. In exchange, he got to choose when it took control. The only time he ever allowed his instincts to rule him was when he hunted rogues.

If he let the darkness rule him at any other time, it'd never let him go.

Soft morning light cascaded through the canopy, dappling patches of shadow intersecting the sun. Mahogany brown paws tore into the path, the gritty soil dusting behind him.

Riaz felt every stride away from his den like a shard of ice piercing his heart. It conditioned him to remember the maimed existence he had led as a lone wolf, the desperate need for companionship. Perhaps he was destined to know first the life of an alpha without a pack, and now that of a man whose mate didn't want him.

Lifting his head, Riaz raised his voice to the sky in a howl. One by one, the response of his pack met his ears, reassuring him of their presence, the simple echo of their voices pushing him toward the enemy and out of his depressing thoughts.

There was work to do.