Felix Read online

  He raised an eyebrow. “Did you want me to?”

  “No,” she said. “But, well, you know I’m trying to kill you. And I don’t really see any rhyme or reason in how you kill.”

  Felix shrugged. “I have my methods.”

  “Your points,” she said, taking a seat on the bench next to him, far away enough that they weren’t touching, though she was painfully aware of him being close by. “I know about those.” She nodded to the man Felix had stabbed. “But what about that guy?”

  Felix looked at her, and as a white lock of hair blew across his forehead, his beautiful violet eyes caught the sun, making it difficult to breathe.

  It had always been difficult to breathe in the face of his beauty.

  “I have my reasons,” he said softly, tossing another piece of bread. He handed a slice to her casually. “But if you’re wondering, no, I wouldn’t kill you. I very much want you alive.”

  “Why?” she asked sharply. “Why, after all this time, would you care?”

  He tossed another piece of bread toward a duckling, smiling faintly as it picked it up in its tiny bill. “People don’t come back to life every day, do they? Would be a pity to waste it.”

  She frowned. “I was never dead.”

  He sighed, rolling up the remaining bread and setting it to the side. Then he scooted in closer to her so their hips were touching. “You were dead. You just didn’t know it. You were dead to me, and now you’re back and I’m never letting go of you.” He put up his hand to reach for her hair, but she knocked it away.

  “Stop that.”

  “Oh, come on,” he said. “You know you’ve missed me.”

  She glanced at the man who was dead on the ground next to them. “Not really.”

  Felix let out an aggravated sigh. “Fine. I’ll tell you why I killed him. Because even in his dreams, he wants to kill and rape people. Like his father did. Happy?”

  She gaped. “You can see their dreams?”

  Felix nodded, looking blankly out at the lake. “Not that I take them all literally, but when they involve memories of prior crimes committed…”

  “I get it,” she said with a shudder.

  “I guess you know all of my alpha powers now,” he said softly. “Gonna use it to take me out?”

  She crossed one leg over the other and tore off a piece of bread to throw to the ducks. “I haven’t decided,” she said honestly. “Though, I admit the temptation is there.”

  This time when he looked at her, his eyes were haunted, holding some of the desperation they had the other night. “Why, Diana? I know you hate me, but I don’t understand why.”

  She stood abruptly. “Maybe you never will.” She took a step forward, toward the water, knowing she had him in the palm of her hand. It was an eerie feeling after hating him so long for not caring about her.

  Knowing he did made something twist inside her, unsure.

  He wrapped his arms around her, and she didn’t fight him, even as tears bit at her eyes because of how good it felt.

  “We can’t do this,” she said. “We shouldn’t…”

  “Where were you?” he murmured against her ear. “I looked for you everywhere.”

  “Not everywhere,” she said. “And it’s too late now. I don’t want to tell you.” Especially since he’d been the one responsible for sending her there.

  Was he just going to ignore that fact?

  He had to know that she knew he had betrayed her. Was he really going to play dumb about that fact?

  But then why was he acting so happy to see her? Why was he acting like he cared?

  The whole thing required further investigation.

  “You’re going to tell me, Diana,” he said as his lips sensually caressed the edge of her ear and she felt her knees about to give out. “You’re going to tell me everything, no matter how painful, because if I’m going to be your mate, I need to know.”

  “No,” she murmured. “I won’t mate you.”

  “You will,” he said. “Because it’s inevitable. Because we were made to be together. Because that’s all it could mean when you’ve come back to me after so long.”

  She reached down and grabbed his hands, yanking them away from her. “Maybe a long time ago, I thought you were meant for me. But that was before you chose the Tribunal over me.”

  “I thought you would be safer,” he said. “I thought it would protect you, as well as someone else.”

  “Well, it didn’t protect me,” she said sharply, watching the way his eyes widened with pain. “So you made your choice, and you’re not going to be with me.”

  “If I had known you needed protecting—”

  “I needed protecting because of you!” She jabbed a finger at him. “Because you betrayed me! Stop pretending like you don’t understand.”

  He caught her and pulled her in against him, wrapping his arms around her as she shook.

  No one had comforted her after everything had happened. No one had been there for her to come home to.

  No one had rescued her, let alone Felix.

  Yet she let him hold her in his arms because she had nowhere else to go with her pain.

  When he spoke, his voice was solemn. “I understand that I disappointed you, but I need a chance to make it right. Let me be there for you, at least this time.”

  She froze, her hands still holding on to him as if he could somehow give comfort. Then she pulled back, glaring into his eyes. “It’s too late. I don’t need you.”

  “Then come for me. Make me pay.”

  She took a step back, then another, until she was nearly to the road. “I intend to.”

  Then she disappeared.

  Chapter 8

  The Past

  Diana woke to the feeling of something over her mouth and thrashed as she looked up and saw Bernard above her, his amber eyes glowing even in the dark of the cabin.

  She struggled to pull his hand off, but she was a young female and he was a stronger male, and her efforts did nothing as he put a hand to his lips to signal for her to shut up.

  “Be quiet,” he said. “Don’t want to wake the prisoner.”

  She glanced over at Felix and saw him asleep, head bent toward his chest, hands still tied by that shifter-resistant rope. There was no way he could escape. Not that the Tribunal dog would help her if he could.

  She would have to defend herself.

  She glared up at Bernard as he straddled her, hefting one solid thigh on each side of her waist as he used one hand to grab something out of his pocket while the other stayed on her mouth.

  It tasted salty and unpleasant, and she tried to wriggle out from under him.

  “Your father is never going to listen to reason,” Bernard said in a low voice. “We’ve had multiple offers. Enough money that the pack would never have to worry. We’d be able to get weapons, take on the tribunal. Your father could have his revenge if he was just a little smarter about it. Less picky about your mate.” He stroked her cheek, then removed his hand and quickly put a strip of duct tape over her mouth, gagging her effectively.

  When she reached up to tug it off, he grabbed her hands and wrapped duct tape around those as well.

  Diana shot a glance up at Felix.

  “You think he would save you?” Bernard scoffed. “He’s a highly paid assassin, not some hero.”

  Diana worked her hands at the tape, refusing to give up.

  There was still the option of shifting, but that would make Bernard shift too, and she didn’t want his teeth and claws if she could avoid it.

  Bernard smirked, grabbing her taped hands in one of his and pinning them above her head. “If I claim you, I’ll get the power, the prestige. My own pack.” He reached for the hem of her shirt, slowly lifting it, and grinned at her as he did so. “I’ve always wanted to see what you have under here. Now just lie back and be quiet.”

  Her mind went blank from sheer panic.

  She’d been harassed before by males in the pack when her father was
n’t around, but this was different. This was worse. She could sense it.

  Diana kicked out in blind fear just as she heard a cracking sound and then a crash as wood splintered around them and something heavy hit the back wall of the cabin.

  She looked over to see Felix shoving off his ropes and kicking his legs free of the last bits of wood stuck to him.

  When his eyes met hers, cold fear went through her. Gone was the playful glint in his violet eyes. Gone was the relaxed look on his handsome features.

  He was raised to his full, intimidating height, a muscle ticking in his perfect jaw as he slowly walked over to them.

  Bernard was frozen above her, unable to even run as the scent of lavender blanketed the room, somehow signaling impending doom.

  “You know why I’m called Darkness?” Felix asked, crouching to stare at the side of Bernard’s pale face.

  Bernard refused to look at him. “This doesn’t concern you, assassin.”

  “Usually, it’s because the last thing my targets see is the dark,” Felix said, his voice utterly calm. “But I guess it’s already dark now, right?”

  Diana could feel Bernard shaking slightly.

  “Which is a pity, because I want you to see the darkness of your own blood filling your gaze, blocking out everything but the pain I’m about to deal you.”

  Felix stood slowly, then reached down a hand, catching Bernard by the collar. Bernard was a tall, burly wolf, and Diana fought back a gasp as Felix lifted him as though he were nothing and set him on his feet.

  Bernard put up his fists, looking confused to be facing Felix and not on top of an alpha female.

  Felix cocked his head, then grabbed Bernard by the neck and threw him into the opposite wall of the cabin so fast Diana could have missed it if she blinked.

  Tribunal fighters really were on another level.

  Felix reached Bernard before he could even finish slumping down the wall and groaning. He grabbed Bernard by the collar and slammed his fist into his face over and over, the mind-numbing crunching ringing out in the quiet night while Diana stayed on the ground, motionless.

  Waiting.

  Now that Felix had escaped, would he kill her too? Had he just been waiting for the right moment?

  Felix let out a breath and let the hand that was still holding Bernard by the collar sag slightly, lowering him to the ground. Then he seemed to think better of it and tossed Bernard into the wall again.

  This time, Bernard slid to the ground and didn’t move.

  Diana waited several heartbeats as Felix paced, running his hand over his long white-blond ponytail. She’d never imagined such a pretty person could be so vicious.

  Then again, the well-developed muscles on his tall body should have tipped her off.

  He looked over his shoulder at her, and she held her breath at the sight of his face. He was still clearly furious.

  His eyes moved to her hands, and his jaw clenched. The next second, he was striding over to her, dropping to one knee next to her on the ground.

  When he reached for her, she flinched. She knew he wasn’t going to try to claim her. He would have plenty of willing alpha females. But he might want to kill her for capturing him, for putting him in danger, for—

  He reached over, ripping the tape off her hands in one smooth move.

  She instantly reached up to pull the tape off her mouth, scrabbling away from him as she did.

  She still didn’t know what he intended to do next.

  His eyes softened as they ran over her. “Are you all right?”

  Her lower lip trembled. She’d always been expected to be strong, and now this Tribunal lackey was offering her kindness. After being taught to hate him, she didn’t know how to react.

  “I’m fine,” she said slowly. “But why did you do that?”

  “I can’t stand rape,” he said, reaching out a hand to help her to her feet. “Or rapists. Personal beef. The Tribunal understands.”

  Diana didn’t really want to hear anything good about the Tribunal. She hadn’t been old enough to remember when her mom died, but she’d seen the effect on her father and the pack.

  She’d been prepared to hate Felix, despite being incredibly attracted to him, but he was making it pretty hard.

  When she was on her feet, he rubbed her arms gently, bringing the circulation back.

  She glanced at the remains of the chair scattered around the cabin. “So you could escape the whole time? Why didn’t you?”

  Felix rubbed the back of his neck. “When you’re captured, you learn a lot about your captors. I like to know people before I decide whether to kill them.”

  That surprised her too. “Didn’t the Tribunal just authorize you to exterminate us? I’m sure they heard that our alpha wants to attack.”

  Felix shoved his hands in his pockets. “The Tribunal has made people angry, sometimes for justifiable reasons. When I meet someone who has every right to hate the Tribunal, I try to see if they can be talked out of attacking first. I despise unnecessary bloodshed.”

  She looked over at Bernard. “You do?”

  “That was necessary,” he said with a smile. “As I said before, I hate rapists.”

  It was really sinking in now that she’d been rescued by a Tribunal pawn. That something horrible might have happened if she hadn’t been.

  She liked to think she could have still fought Bernard off, but…

  “Thank you,” she said quietly, looking up at Felix.

  He grinned at her. “Couldn’t let anything happen to my new friend.”

  They couldn’t be friends. It wasn’t possible. Not with the ways they were different. Yet when she looked past his position with the Tribunal, he wasn’t much different from other males her age.

  Except prettier and stronger.

  She stared up at Felix, the first man to ever truly rescue her. Attraction burned through her as it had when she’d first seen him, and it made her feel ashamed.

  She’d waited to feel anything for the males around her, but she never had and it almost made her feel defective.

  So why did she have to feel this way for a Tribunal dog?

  She looked over at Bernard and shuddered. “What are we going to do with him? Is he actually dead?”

  “Dying maybe,” Felix said. “Not that I care.” He folded his arms as if daring her to challenge him.

  “We… we should tell my father. Let him decide what to do with his beta.”

  Felix narrowed his eyes. “Would he believe you?”

  “I think so,” Diana said. “We aren’t incredibly close, but—”

  “Fine, then,” Felix said. “If your father kills him, that works too.”

  “Why do you think he would kill him?”

  Felix raised a blond eyebrow. “Good God, do you realize what just almost happened? Any man with any sense in his head would want to kill him.”

  “But people deserve a fair trial. You beat the shit out of him.”

  Felix’s purple eyes were defiant. “I couldn’t do any less. Not after seeing him on top of you.”

  “Ah, right.” It was foreign to have anyone care about her. She didn’t understand this wolf at all.

  She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself, but the adrenaline was still pumping hard.

  Then something cool and soft slipped over her shoulders, and she realized Felix had given her his leather jacket.

  She pulled it tight, grateful for the warmth. The dresser with her clothes was on the other side of the cabin, and she didn’t feel like going over there yet.

  Bernard was still there.

  She realized her legs were shaking—her whole body really—as she stood there enjoying the scent of lavender on Felix’s jacket.

  He stood quietly, not asking any questions, and it was calming to have him there by her side.

  Even when her father got there, she didn’t want Felix to leave.

  Despite everything, she was drawn to him, and it felt like somehow he was drawn to her,
based on the tenderness in his eyes.

  They were from opposite worlds, on opposite sides, and there was no way they should be together.

  Yet there was a small part of her that called out to him.

  Mate.

  Chapter 9

  The Present

  As Felix worked the door that night for Club Crimson, he couldn’t help thinking of Diana.

  He’d sent out a few inquiries to some of his contacts, but he didn’t have much hope in any information coming back.

  He scanned the street, ignoring the flirtatious stares and outright come-ons from the women in line in front of the club.

  Diana was coming for him tonight. He could feel it.

  “Hey, if you give me your number, I don’t even need to go in the club,” one particularly bold woman said, grabbing Felix by the elbow of his jacket.

  He pulled away from her patiently, gently, and then ushered her and her friends into the club. “Sorry. Taken.”

  She gave him a sad look as she followed her friends in, but Felix knew she would quickly forget once she saw the other men inside.

  Right now, he had eyes for only one woman.

  As far as he was concerned, it had always been her.

  As he’d gotten older, he’d wondered if he had on rose-colored glasses about his time with Diana. About their chemistry together.

  He’d wondered if grief and not being able to see her had made everything more poignant, an excuse to never move on with his life.

  But seeing her again had put aside all of that for him.

  He couldn’t be sure because he didn’t know if it was possible for someone as rotten as him to have a fated mate, but he suspected she was the only one for him.

  An hour later, the club was jumping, loud music filtering out into the night, cars packed along both sides of the street, and Felix finally felt eyes on him. The feeling he’d been waiting for.

  He glanced around, scenting the air, but noticed, as before, that her scent was different. What did that mean?

  Felix pretended he had no idea anyone was watching, smiling politely at the guests as he estimated a wait time to get into the club.

  When he was ready to go on break and Max came out to take his position, Felix walked to the bar and took a seat, hoping Diana would come inside.