Wild Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary Book 4)

The Hellion Hunt was a place so illegal that the atmosphere was like walking into Darkmore on the night of our escape. It was ripe with excitement, the air electrified as the masked members of this underground sport let out their inner fiends.

The masks all represented different predatory animals, hiding the identities of those in attendance and we each wore one of our own as we walked deeper into the sandstone cave system. I took in the wolf mask covering Rosalie’s face, the thing carefully crafted by her earth magic with silver rivulets running through the painted fur.

She had made one for each of us, mine a bronze Lion that reminded me of my former self, while Ethan wore the face of a white bear and Cain wore a black snake with a shimmering jade gleam between the scales. Max wore the face of a savage-looking raven and Hastings hid behind the face of a donkey. Sin’s was the most ostentatious of course, his vision for the mask driving Rosalie to snap at him several times while he’d crouched on the kitchen table and kept making wild suggestions while she forged it. The mask looked to be part crocodile and part eagle with sharp teeth protruding from a golden beak that were made from pure diamonds. It should have looked ridiculous on him, but between his easy swagger and endless confidence, he somehow pulled the thing off.

To enter any of the hunts, we had to use code names to keep the secrecy of this place. In fact, it was said if a true name was spoken here and the Vampire Hellions who ran this place heard it, they would happily cut out your tongue and force you to swallow it.

The passage we followed was lit by balls of fire that rolled along glass pipes in the walls, curving overhead and spiralling away underground, leading us deeper and deeper into the unknown. The crowd around us were whooping and chattering keenly, the masks on their faces doing nothing to hide the unsavoury nature of them.

Their presence spoke of danger and I found myself stepping closer to Rosalie, noticing the other members of her newly formed pack tightening around her too. She didn’t seem to notice us protecting our Alpha, but as looks passed between us, I knew they were just as ready to fight as I was.

A drunken asshole came stumbling into me and I shoved him away with a snarl that warned him to back the fuck up. He muttered an apology as he looked up at me, taking in my height and the promise of pain in my eyes before quickly disappearing back into the crowd.

Finally, the narrow passage opened up and a roaring din of noise fell over us as we arrived on a carved balcony that ran around an enormous cave, overlooking a stomach-churning drop.

Sin pranced forward, shoving Fae aside and tugging Rosalie after him by the hand as the rest of us muscled our way after them, arriving at the very edge of the balcony. Far below was a view into a network of passages carved through red rock in a winding labyrinth. Some of the paths led underground or off into the chambers hidden beyond the outer walls, but it looked like most of the hunts could be viewed from up here.

There were balconies further down too, smaller, more private spaces where throne-like seats were filled with those who had likely paid for the privilege.

Rosalie rested her elbows on the stone railing, gazing down at the pit where all kinds of carnage was about to go down. “So how does this work?” she glanced Cain’s way as he stepped up beside her.

“The Hellion Hunt is held down there,” Cain explained. “But private hunts are held off in private chambers too. The main hunt grows progressively more savage throughout the night. Each round will have five volunteers who wish to be hunted and up to twenty Vampires will hunt them at once.”

“Fuck me, twenty?” Ethan muttered. “Don’t any of them get carried away and kill the volunteers?”

“Sometimes,” Cain said darkly. “That’s the risk the volunteers take. It’s part of what draws them here. Fear of death is often the best way to feel most alive.”

“Holy guacamole,” Hastings murmured, his eyes roaming over the arena fearfully, and I gave him a bracing pat on the back.

“I suppose I’m pretending I never saw any of this shit then?” Max muttered irritably and I breathed a laugh.

Sin climbed up to sit on the railing, swinging his legs casually. He might have had air magic, but that shit still made me uncomfortable. “Can anyone play? I want to play!”

“If you want to volunteer, be my guest,” Cain said, a smirk to his voice.

“Oh you’d just love an excuse to suck on my neck, wouldn’t you Cainy bub?” Sin slung an arm around his neck and Cain knocked it off.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked. “How is this going to help me get a hang of being a Vampire? Isn’t this exactly what Vampires aren’t supposed to do?” I shot Cain a look and he met my gaze over Rosalie’s head.

“Yes, which is precisely why it’s the perfect way to hone your skills. If you can keep your head down there and follow my lead, you’ll learn more about being a Vampire tonight than I could teach you in a year.”

“This sounds fucking dangerous,” Ethan said, moving in to lean against the railing, but it wasn’t a warning, he sounded star damned excited. “Are only the Vampires allowed to hunt?”

“There’ll be a free for all later tonight,” Cain answered. “The Vampires hunt alone because they tend to move so fast that there’s no point in other Orders running with them. There’s no chance of catching the prey before they will. It’s pointless.”

“The prey,” Rosalie purred. “Dalle stelle, you’d have to be crazy to volunteer.” She glanced Sin’s way, but I couldn’t catch the look that passed between them.

Cain moved to stand at my side. “Come on, we need to register. If we hurry, we can join the first hunt.”

“Good luck,” Ethan said, gripping my shoulder, a bright glint in his eyes. “We’ll be watching.”

I nodded to him and Rosalie purred well wishes in Faetalian, wiggling her fingers at us in goodbye before the five of them grouped closer together. Cain steered me away towards a stairwell and we circled endlessly down to the base of the cavern where a line of Vampires were queueing up to a stone booth to register for the hunt. There were snarls passing between them, a sense of rivalry thick in the air as we joined the line, and I felt that same rivalry burning through me too. My fangs lengthened and I growled at the assholes closing in behind us. Cain seemed surprisingly at ease in this situation, looking all too natural in this environment.

“How many times have you hunted here?” I asked.

“Lost count.”

“Why did you do it?” I frowned. “You risked a lot by coming here. If the FIB ever caught you, your clean slate would have been pretty damn tarnished. You might have found yourself shoulder to shoulder with the convicts in Darkmore, and I doubt they would have been kind to a former guard.”

“Mm,” he grunted, ever the cagey bastard.

I figured that he had no intention of opening up to me, so was particularly surprised when he did.

“I might have to wear a mask here, but it always felt like taking one off whenever I stepped into the Hellion Hunt. I was free in this place. Free to be the monster I always knew I was. I was raised to fight, to unleash the cruellest parts of my being, and no matter how much I despise Benjamin Acrux for the upbringing he gifted me, I do owe him one thing. In his company, I learned how far I could push myself, I found out how strong I could be, how vicious. And there is something in that which I still crave even if I spent many years trying to crush it away. It’s what I was drawn to in Rosalie, that damn wildness which knows no bounds. She has never changed who she is to fit anyone’s demands, especially not society. I tried to be someone else for so long, that sometimes even now I don’t know exactly who it is I am. I only know that the longer I spend in her company, the more I uncover it.”

I stepped closer to him, noticing that the rivalry between us was present, but I didn’t feel it as sharply as I did towards the other Vampires around us. And I was pretty sure it was because I respected him. I wasn’t sure when that had happened, but it was impossible to deny now that it was staring me in the face. “Then that’s where you belong, Mason. No one should be forced to be anything but who they are, not by themselves or anyone else in this world. You get to choose, don’t forget that.”

“Mm,” Cain grunted again but something told me he had heard me.

We moved along the line and finally made it to the booth, securing our places in the first hunt under our code names.

“Okay Lawman and Nightkeeper, you’re all signed up. You’ll need to wear these.” The woman passed us two simple white masks that would cover the top half of our faces. “Put them on just before the hunt. They will remain fixed to your face until the hunt is done and will allow ample room for biting your prey.” She took each of our hands, casting a spell that made a silver fang glow on the backs of our wrists along with the number one. “Head through the gate to my right and make your way to the starting point where private rooms will allow you to change your masks in secrecy.”

We followed her directions, passing through the iron gate, showing our fang marks to a bulky guard on the way and taking a winding passage onward.

“Keep close to me during the hunt,” Cain said firmly. “Focus on my instructions. If you feel you are starting to lose your head, then tell me and I will direct you in how to refocus.”

I nodded, my pulse quickening as the cry of the crowd rumbled through the sandstone walls. “And if I fuck up and lose my head entirely?”

“You won’t,” he said firmly. “Think of Rosalie, of your brother. Of all the reasons you have to remain rooted in your own mind.”

I nodded again as we rounded into a chamber where doors led off into private rooms. Vampires were walking in and out of them then making their way on down another passage with their white masks in place for the hunt.

It didn’t take us long to change into ours, leaving our masks behind and following the directions of another guard as we headed toward the start point.

We arrived before a long row of iron gates set into the wall, all of them leading out into a wide, brightly lit passage where the clamour of the crowd was loudest. There were Vampires already standing before many of the gates and a woman dressed in a leather jumpsuit waved us over, her mask that of a panther with glittering rhinestones around the eyes. She checked our marks then directed us to stand before two gates that were beside one another.

Cain gave me a nod as I stood in front of mine. I glanced at the Vampire to my left. Golden curls fell around the brow of his white mask and he casually flicked them back as he glanced my way.

“First time?” he asked smoothly, moving to lean his shoulder against the wall between my gate and his like he had all the time in the world to kill.

“How can you tell?” I growled, assessing him and trying to figure out if he was a threat. He was dressed in casual clothes fit for running just like the rest of us, but his voice suggested he was more highborn than most of the cretins here.

“You’ve got that jittery look about you,” he taunted, his lips lifting into a grin.

“Leave him be, Hornrider,” Cain drawled and I turned to him in surprise.

“You know this asshole?”

“He’s been running here the last year or so,” Cain said with a shrug. “Thinks he can take my place as the Elite Hunter, but I’ve been running this hunt since he was just a school boy with hopes and dreams that crashed and burned.”

“You’re just bitter you have a real challenge these days, old man. I’m faster than you by a mile,” Hornrider said.

“Faster maybe, but speed doesn’t equal skill,” Cain clipped.

“You sound like my old professor, and he was always such a sore loser too,” Hornrider said, his grin only widening.

“Nice name by the way,” I commented and his casual smile dropped a little.

“Someone else signed me up when I first came here and you can’t change it once it’s assigned,” he grumbled.

“Sure,” I said like I didn’t believe him and he opened his mouth to curse me out, but his voice was drowned out.

“Take your positions!” the woman in the panther mask shouted and Hornrider moved back in front of his own gate, readying to run.

I looked to Cain, preparing for what was to come, but how was I really supposed to do that? I had no idea what to expect beyond this gate.

“Follow me,” Cain said firmly. “Do not stray. The volunteers will have hidden themselves in the maze already. Our job is to find and bite as many as we can without killing them.”

“Got it,” I growled, planting my feet, the energy in my blood building and building.

“Hellion Hunt – begin!” a voice boomed throughout the entire cavern and the gates flew open all at once.

I took off with a bolt of adrenaline making me move in a blur of motion. Cain was a step ahead of me and Hornrider proved his word about his speed as he kept pace several feet ahead of both of us. The three of us were the fastest, gaining momentum by the second as we tore out into the maze, winding left and right through the ten-foot sandstone walls. One glance up showed the roaring crowd staring down at us from the huge balcony high above, and though I sought Rosa among the masses, there was no way I could pick her out within the throng of faces.

Cain took a hard right, yanking me after him by the arm and we chased after Hornrider who was sprinting away with apparent ease, throwing a grin back at us over his shoulder before he swung a hard left. Cain took that turn too and I followed fast, nearly tripping as a series of stone steps led down into an underground chamber. It was pitch black inside and my eyes took a second too long to adjust before I nearly ran headlong into a wall. I stumbled to the right, spotting Cain sprinting off through the chamber, still hot on the heels of Hornrider.

“Listen to the change in the wind, the vibration in the stone, forget relying on your eyes first. They come second,” Cain called to me.

I raced to catch him, attempting to do what he’d said and hearing his footfalls hit more stairs, telling me where they were. I didn’t stagger at all as I followed him down them, listening again and hearing Hornrider’s footfalls taking a turn to the right at the base of the stairs. I turned before I saw the wall looming ahead of me this time and a whoop of excitement left me as Cain picked up the pace.

We sprinted through the dark until finally making it back out to the brighter passages above where the crowd bellowed in encouragement at the sight of us. “Lawman, Lawman, Lawman!” a group were baying, and I glanced at Cain as I made it shoulder to shoulder with him.

“You’re famous here,” I jibed.

“I’m just an Elite Hunter,” he said in answer, shrugging it off as always but it was clear he had more than a small fanbase. There were plenty of Fae calling out to Hornrider too and the golden-haired man took the time to throw a wave their way.

A howl carried from the right that sounded like it had come from a man and as we all turned that way, he came into view at the end of a long passage. His long, dark hair whipped out sideways as he turned and sprinted out of sight and Hornrider cried, “Mine!” putting on a burst of speed and making a beeline for his target.

Cain grabbed my shoulder, scrunching my shirt in his fist and yanking me down a path to the left. I heard the whoosh of a blade and ducked the same moment Cain did as a giant saw swung horizontally overhead.

“Fuck,” I gasped, looking to Cain. “You didn’t mention that shit.”

“Thought it might put you off, inmate.” He smiled wide, looking more at home in this place than any person should, then he sprinted away down the passage, leaping over a pit of spikes and ducking another swinging blade. I followed fast, making it through the path of death and chasing him down one where the floor was layered with ice. I raised my hand to melt it but Cain slowed, slapping my hand back down to my side. “No magic. It’s against the rules.”

I skidded on the ice, cursing as I fought to keep my balance but Cain just gave me a look that said he wasn’t fazed by this then ran at the wall, sprinting up it, leaping to the opposite wall and doing that twice more before standing on top of it. The crowd went crazy for that move and I could tell he was lapping it up even if he didn’t so much as look their way. I prepared to attempt the same move, hoping I didn’t fall on my ass and make a fucking fool of myself in front of Rosa and the others.

I managed it though, releasing a laugh as I landed beside Cain and he braced me.

“Now, let’s see if we can spot some prey,” he said, his tone low and hungry as he gazed across the many passages spreading out around us.

“Awoooo!” a female voice made my head snap around and my heart lurched violently in my chest. Rosalie was standing up on a wall herself, gazing right at us with her wolf mask still in place.

“What the fuck is she doing in here?” I barked as I spotted several Vampires turning in the passages and heading her way with ravenous movements.

“That fucking girl,” Cain growled in fury.

“That’s our fucking girl,” I hissed. “And we’d better get to her before those pieces of shit do.”

Rosalie leapt off of the wall as a Vampire lunged up from the passage below, taking a swipe at her.

I leapt to the next wall, then the next, moving quickly as Cain kept pace with me to my left, my pulse rioting with fear. If they caught her, if they touched her-

Everything blurred in my head, my mind latching onto the hunt so keenly that there was no escape. I would catch her first. She was mine.

I made it to the passage she was running down, a female Vampire speeding along behind her, just seconds from reaching her. I threw myself from the wall with a roar of rage, landing on top of the Vampire and crushing her beneath me, making her scream as some bone broke from the impact of my weight.

Cain landed ahead of me, chasing after Rosalie who had darted away down another passage. I scrambled upright with a surge of rivalry in my chest.

“Cain!” I barked. “Get away from her!”

He didn’t slow this time, not bothering to check if I was keeping pace anymore as he raced down a set of steps after my girl.

I chased him underground into the dark, hearing him move, the sound like the shifting of the wind. My hearing was alive with it, the way the air twisted ahead of me, showing me the way through the oppressive black.

Cain was right. I didn’t need to rely on my eyes as much as this. I could hear my path far better than I could see it, and I no longer found my feet stumbling, no longer second guessed myself as I moved. This Order was so unlike my Lion, but I was starting to thrive within its shell. It offered me agility beyond bounds, my senses heightened in a way that was nothing short of a gift, and for the first time since this strange Order had taken possession of me, I revelled in its power.

I heard Cain stop a heartbeat before I was about to collide with him and came to a jarring halt behind him. I shoved him against the wall, pinning him there with a snarl. “She’s mine.”

“Listen,” he hissed, ignoring what I’d said.

Slowly, I managed to focus, the warring desire of the hunt still sharp and my mind clouding with the need of it, but I still had hold of myself. I closed my eyes, listening to the soft shuffling of a body somewhere close, just above us.

“She’s up there,” he breathed. “There must be a crawl space in the stone ceiling.”

“Then I’ll get her out.” I tried to lunge away as the need to hunt rose in me again, but it was Cain’s turn to get hold of me, shoving me against the opposite wall.

“Resist it,” he snarled. “Resist its call and turn from here. That’s how you’ll know you have mastered the desire, Roary Night. If you can turn from her blood, you can turn from any Fae’s.”

“And leave you to claim the prize of it? Never,” I spat, my fangs burning with the need to sink them into Rosalie’s skin, to claim her as my own.

“There is no better test than this,” he demanded. “Focus and turn from here. Do not seek her out.”

“I…can’t,” I said breathlessly, but he released me as if I’d said the opposite.

I looked to the stone ceiling, hearing her moving there, so near I could have her in my arms in seconds, could sink my fangs into her and claim what I so desperately craved.

But there was an alternative. I could turn away. Leave and not follow this aching thirst. It would be painful, torturous, but not impossible.

Cain gripped my cheek. “You are strong enough to do this.”

I nodded, and somehow managed to make myself retreat, backing away until that crushing need lessened. Bit by bit, until it was no longer a necessity but an option.

“I did it,” I exhaled. “I controlled it.”

“The first time is the hardest,” Cain said. “It will only get easier from here.”

A scraping of stone sounded then Rosalie dropped down into the passage lithely, casting a Faelight to see by.

“That’s against the rules,” Cain clipped but she just shrugged.

“No one can see us down here. Live a little dangerously, Mason,” she purred, stepping into his personal space and placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Thank you for teaching him the ways of your kind.”

“You should never have come down here,” Cain growled, though he pulled her closer to him by the waist possessively.

“What greater test than Roary resisting the hunt when it comes to his mate?” She looked to me, her eyes hooded seductively as she slinked out of his arms and walked in my direction. “You deserve a little reward.” She slid the hair away from her neck, revealing the rose vine tattoo curling up it as she offered me a drink. “You must be famished after all that hunting.”

Someone screamed out in the maze above us and the sound intensified the moment, the hairs on the back of my neck raising to attention.

“Rosalie,” Cain warned. “He has only just managed to resist the hunt.”

“Yes, and you said it gets easier from now.”

“Yes, but-” he snarled and Rosalie whirled toward him.

“What is it you’re really thinking?” she demanded. “Because I don’t think your concern lies with his strength of will anymore.”

Cain stepped closer to her, his hand sliding around her arm and gripping tight. The sight made my muscles tense and a deep growl rolled through my chest.

“Ah,” Rosalie said in understanding, glancing between us both. “You’re possessive of my blood.”

“I wish to stake a claim on you as my Source,” Cain announced and those words flicked a switch in my head. I lost it, tearing towards him with a furious snarl and colliding with him, forcing him away from Rosa and throwing a punch to his gut. He shoved me back with equal ire, our wrath mounting as we fought, throwing furious strikes and snarling in utter rage.

“Enough!” Rosalie commanded, forcing her way between us and planting a hand on each of our chests. “That’s enough. You will share me. I will be a Source to both of you or neither of you. That is my offer, and I will not let either of you drink from me at all ever again if the choice is neither.”

“Rosalie,” Cain rasped. “You can’t do this. It’s not natural. Vampires choose a singular Source and no other Vampire can drink from them unless they fight for the right of that Source themselves. It is the way of our Order.”

“You will share or you will both rescind your claim on my blood for good.” She thrust her chin up and I met Cain’s gaze over her shoulder, both of us growling in anger.

“You’re challenging our very instincts,” Cain snapped.

“Continue to point out the obvious if you like. But it’s my blood, so it’s my rules. Go find another Source if you like, but if you wish for it to be me, you will do so on my terms,” Rosalie said firmly. “That’s my offer. Take it or leave it. Five – four-”

“Wait,” Cain gasped.

“Three – two- one more second and the offer is not on the table anymore,” Rosalie sang.

“I agree,” I said quickly.

“One,” Rosalie said then Cain blurted

“I agree.”

“Good.” She ran her finger under Cain’s chin then beckoned me closer by it. “Now come here and show me how well you can play together.”