His Reign (The Opeth Pack Saga Book 1) (5 page)

BOOK: His Reign (The Opeth Pack Saga Book 1)
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Józsi stopped. He’d lost sight of her when he’d noticed some of the hunters speaking in fluent English. Something was definitely up, and he didn’t want to deal with it.

God damn it!

Ilona stopped running.

Józsi stopped and turned his head back at her.

She whimpered. Pawing the ground, she begged him to come back.

He started to trot off but she whimpered louder.

Damn it all.
This trip to back home had gone from bad to worse.

Józsi padded back to Ilona to see her lying in human form, a large cut across the top of her foot. Blood oozed out of the wound slowly. He sniffed it: just a scrape. Instinctively, Józsi started licking the wound, tasting salt and dirt along with the clean metallic taste of iron.

Ilona ran her fingers through his fur, comforting him even as his stress levels rose higher and higher still. “We have to find Lukina,” she sniffled.

We can’t. The hunters will kill us both. I, for one, do not plan on dying here.

“But Józsi, she could be hurt or lost. She came to America just to get you to come find me. We owe her that.”

She was right. He'd traveled nearly seven thousand miles just to…what? In the end he found Ilona, brought her back to Lukina. Then this shit happened. He stopped licking her foot and raised his head to see her expression. Her face had that terrible look on it, the one that said ‘help me, please.’

If he left Lukina, Ilona would never forgive him. If he went after her, they’d both die. Too many hunters, not enough wolves. Caught off guard at night when most humans normally slept, the hunters had an advantage by attacking. He knew the odds.

I can’t carry you and look for her at the same time.

The wound stopped bleeding. Józsi stood on two legs as a man and looked down at his little pet. With her round eyes opened, lips parted and tears streaming down her face, she looked helpless. Then she blinked, put a hand to her head, then to her heart.

“What just happened?” Ilona stretched forward and tried to stand, delicately placing weight on her foot. She stumbled but Józsi caught her and helped her balance.

“I don’t know. It’s late and we need to get back to the church. They’re not still playing concerts there, are they?”

She shook her head. “This time of year? No. It’s too cold for most people to travel out this far.”

“Good. Let’s get you back to the church and I’ll go looking for Lukina first thing in the morning.”

She tilted her chin up at him defiantly. “No. I’ll come with you.”

He caught her chin in his fingers, glared down at her. “You’re wounded. You’ll slow me down.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “If I don’t go with you, you may leave us again. I just cannot bear that right now, Józsi. I need you too much.”

The confession tore into his heart more than he thought it would. If he stayed this close to her now, he'd end up kissing her, then pulling her down onto him and fucking her before he went to retrieve her other lover.

That wouldn't do.

“Fine.”

* * *

T
he sound
of raindrops pounding on the overhang woke Józsi first. The smell rain, crisp and clean woke him. Hungary’s naturally humid climate lent itself to cover with the rain. The hunters would most likely not look for them while it poured this heavily. He found himself tangled up in Ilona’s naked body. Her body was chilly to the touch.

The scent of fresh winter and salt hung in the frigid air. If he had to guess, it was probably around fifty-five degrees outside, maybe slightly warmer inside shelter. It had been so long since he'd been back that he forgot the difference and found himself unable to convert the temperatures to Celsius.

Józsi stirred, shifted his weight to get partial distance from Ilona.

Ilona snuggled closer, murmuring something inaudible in her sleep.

He had to get up. His cock stirred, reminding him of the intensity of her gaze before the mob of hunters disturbed them from their fun the night before.

Fun. He scoffed silently. Ilona and Lukina were trouble just like the whole damn pack. Józsi looked up at the sky. Gray clouds continued to let loose with a flood of rain, soaking the ground.

Looking at Ilona, he felt a pang of loneliness with the thought that he’d have to leave her eventually. Preferably sooner rather than later, otherwise he might end up staying longer than he wanted. Hell, he’d already stayed longer than he wanted to.

The doors to the church had been locked and it was too late for Józsi to bother with picking a lock. He didn’t have any of his tools and it was just his luck that Ilona hadn’t been wearing any pins in her hair.

Lukina had to be the one who always kept her hair pinned.

Damn it
. He still had to go find her before returning to America. Where was Les in all of this mess? Surely he'd have warned the pack when the hunters were approaching but then again Józsi had no idea who rang the bell to alert the pack of approaching trouble. He’d heard that the bastard had been allowed to return to the pack after his fiasco with trying to harm Marco, but nobody knew why. There were too many questions that required him to give a damn.

He shifted to his side, draped an arm over her and rubbed her soft belly, enjoying the gentle murmurs she emitted.

What if he took Lukina and Ilona back to America with him? Ilona had never been out of Hungary. She was calling herself by an American name now. She’d…What a ludicrous thought!

She turned to face him, her bare breast brushing against his chest. She was so soft and supple. A leg caressed his. She rolled over, her pussy making full contact with his jean-clad thigh.

Sweet Jesus almighty! She was wet, soft and shaved clean. And her pussy smelled this side of sex. He moved his thigh just a little.

A small moan escaped from her.

His hand caressed her lower back, pressing against her round ass. He brushed his thigh against her pussy again, this time with more force.

She groaned again, louder.

“Józsi.” She wasn’t awake, but she was certainly aware of the sensations going through her body.

Maybe if he got her off, he could take the memory back to America. And masturbate until he found a woman he thought could sate his taste. Ultimately, he knew he’d be calling out Ilona’s name when he came. And Lukina’s. How odd that’d be for any woman he’d ever be with after all this was over.

“You can’t heal yourself, can you?” He whispered.

He shifted his weight and sat up.

Ilona stirred, moving her head down to his thigh. She wrapped her arms around his waist and muttered something else that sounded like “Don’t leave me again.”

The cold wind blew hard against them. She shivered and snuggled closer.

The fear in her voice frightened him. He’d never heard such pain and anguish in another’s voice, but Ilona had that gift. She was transparent with him, and only him. Even Lukina had to occasionally work to determine her true feelings, but protecting herself was Ilona’s natural reaction amongst wolves.

Józsi took off his shirt and wrapped it around her body. Where had her clothes gone?

"Shh." Looking around, he spotted them hanging off the railing. He slid out from beneath her and retrieved her shirt and dress. Looking back at her, he realized she was nude completely. Did the woman wear no underwear? The thought hardened his body. It was cold outside and, after all, sex would warm them both up. He shook his head. Not now.

Her leg curled up beneath her body.

Józsi’s eyes traced the curve of her luscious hip all the way to her slender calves. She had sexy legs indeed. His gaze roamed up her body, settling on the little bit of a tummy she had. He licked his lips. How would it feel to lick his favorite syrup from her navel or the swell of her luscious breasts? He shook his head again.

“Fine.” He exhaled loudly. “I’ll deal with those feelings before leaving.”

How long could he be gone while Ilona slept?

“Józsi?”

That answered that question. “Yes?”

She raised her head off the cement. Wiping the sleep out of her eyes, she rolled onto her back, arching her body upwards.

Józsi licked his lips at the sight of her breasts jutting upward. Hips mimicking her upper torso while long creamy legs spread and toes wiggled.

She relaxed her body and sat up, drawing her knees to her body and wrapping her arms around her legs. “I’m cold.”

“Get dressed.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He tossed her the shirt and dress. “You shouldn’t sleep naked when it’s so cold outside.”

“No, you should sleep naked with me and keep me warm.” There was a hint of mischief in her voice.

Setting his hands on his hips, Józsi turned his head and looked toward the forest.

“Are you going to go back for Lukina?”

Józsi nodded. “I said I would.”

She smiled weakly. “Thank you.”

Józsi didn't reply. He couldn't keep them safe unless he brought them back to America and left this godforsaken pack to its own misery. But neither of them would go back, would they?

It wasn't his concern. His only goal now was to find Lukina before he boarded that flight back to the States.

“You plan to leave us again, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Why?”

He didn't miss the longing in her voice though it made his heart ache. “Because I don’t belong here.”

She stiffened. “You belong with us, Józsi.”

“Do I?” He stared intently at her, his eyes narrowed. He saw his reflection in her eyes and would have cried if he could have. The angry scowl he wore matched the intense coldness in his eyes. Did he look like this all the time?

“If you would embrace your wolf like the rest of us—“

“I’d get killed. Just like the villagers who were slaughtered last night, wouldn’t I?” He tried to stop the rising of his voice but he had grown tired of fighting with himself over being calm with his former lovers. He'd almost lost his control earlier but wouldn't make that same mistake again. If he showed her unkindness, she'd eventually get it.

She sniffled, wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “How do you survive in the big city, away from our home, nature?”

“I’m too busy working. People in the cities are too busy doing nothing and feeling productive to notice what’s right in front of them. I get by the way I have to. I couldn’t do that here. Someone would always want something from me.”

She winced.

“Ilona, I’m sorry. I—”

“Skip it. And my name is Meredith now. I mentioned that and you refused to honor it, you ass.”

He snorted. "It's not that. It's just that I'm not the man you think I am."

"You've never let yourself see who you truly are, have you?"

"I see myself just fine, thank you. I'm not cut out for responsibility."

"You came back for me. You are going out for Lukina. Love us or not, you've still chosen to take the responsibility as a gift."

She had him there. "Yes I did come back but only because you two aren't capable of dealing with stressful situations."

"If that were truly how you felt, why the hell did you come back?" She'd moved but refused to cover herself.

"Because…fuck I don't know, Ilona. I have no idea what I'm doing here or why I bothered to come back other than…"

"Say it,
drága.
Please?"

Only her begging would bring the hardest of men to his knees.

Thankfully Józsi was harder than that. Or more stubborn. He no longer knew which by now. The truth of him returning was because some part of him loved his triad, desperately wanted to reconnect with them but on his terms. He didn't want the prophecy, had no interest in ruling an ailing pack.

Of course destiny seemed to have other plans.

Instead of responding, he let silence be his answer.

She snorted, sniffled, and wiped her nose again.

He caught sight of more tears falling down her face and wanted to wipe them away. Instead, he decided to stir the conversation in a different, somewhat safer direction. "Why Meredith? And aren't you doing the same thing you accused me of?"

“I like the name.” She turned her nose up and looked away from him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Your name is beautiful.”

“I’m not. I’m acting just like you. A being with no regard for what was given to them and no honor toward their heritage.”

She had him there. He wasn’t going to push things any further with her by asking why. The less he understood about her, the easier it would be to focus on leaving again.

Józsi started walking toward the forest. At least the rain had let up.

“Wait,” Ilona called after him. “I’ll come with you.”

“Don’t bother. How is your foot? Can you make it to Tihany?”

She looked at her foot. An angry slash showed where the cut was but in a few hours more, the skin would heal. She'd probably have to be careful walking on it though. “It feels better.”

“Good. Then stay here until I return.”

“But—”

He jerked around to face her. “Stay here. God damn it, I can’t protect you if you’re in the way.”

She gasped. “All right.”

Damn it all!

BOOK: His Reign (The Opeth Pack Saga Book 1)
3.57Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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