Wild Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary Book 4)

The raucous laughter and rampant howling of the Wolf pups greeted me as I stepped through the wide front door to Aunt Bianca’s house again, the scent of something delicious calling out to me from the kitchen.

Sin draped his arm around my shoulders, his large body enveloping mine and making me feel secure in a way that had nothing to do with him protecting me and everything to do with the way his heart thumped in time with my own.

I looked up at him, meeting his dark eyes. “Welcome home,” I murmured a beat before chaos descended and cousins, aunts, uncles and every vaguely related member of my famiglia appeared to greet us.

“Is it always this loud here?” Sin asked, smiling big.

“Usually a little less than this,” I admitted. “But often louder too.”

His smile only widened at that, his arm staying firmly locked around me as we moved deeper into the house. Gabriel had foreseen the FIB raiding the estate tomorrow in their hunt for us so we were going to have to leave tonight. Of course, in my famiglia that was the perfect excuse for a party so we would be joined by every Oscura from here to Mount Lupa and beyond.

Members of my pack reached out to brush their fingers over my arms and hands as we passed them, everyone beaming at me, clearly pleased to have me home at last. But the more wide grins I passed, the harder it became to draw a full breath, the heavier the weight in my chest felt. Until I wasn’t able to stand it any longer and I strode through the house so fast that people barely recognised me before I was gone again.

“Are we having a race?” Sin asked, keeping pace with my fast steps and letting me steer us.

“No. We’re getting out of here,” I said.

I found Cain sitting in the corner of the huge TV room watching a documentary on sharks. Hastings sat beside him, cringing as a shark lunged at the camera while stuffing his face with popcorn from the huge bowl I suspected Aunt Bianca had provided for him. A small wooden bowl sat beside Cain – only half full and mostly made up of un-popped cornels. Amusement made my lips twitch momentarily – my aunt always had made it clear when she was displeased with someone, and I got the feeling she’d been making judgements on the new house guests. Whatever Cain had done to offend her wasn’t clear – but no doubt she’d talk about it loudly from the adjacent room soon enough to fill me in. Subtle wasn’t something the Oscura women were known for.

“We need to plan our next move,” I said to the two of them. “Where are Ethan and the others?”

“Why should I know?” Cain asked, his narrowed eyes moving over the tattooed arm Sin still had draped around me. The Incubus smiled provocatively as he noticed Cain’s attention falling to him and leaned close to speak in my ear.

“Biter boy doesn’t know whether he wants to kick my ass for touching you or ask to watch while we fuck again. He’s all kinds of torn up over it,” he whispered loud enough for the pups in the yard to hear.

Hastings started choking on his popcorn, turning beetroot and doubling over while Cain irritably patted him on the back. He didn’t deny Sin’s claims though.

“Wait here, Sin,” I said, taking his arm from my shoulders and propelling him onto the seat on Hastings’s other side.

“But-” He tried to get up again but I pressed my hand to his chest and pushed him back down with a low growl.

“Stay,” I warned.

Sin submitted with a raised brow, glancing over at Cain. “I think we should all play sub for our girl once we have Roary back,” he said. “She could tie us up and use us for her pleasure however she likes. Make us into her harem of sex toys. I think she’d enjoy that.”

“I wouldn’t hate it,” I admitted, giving him a warning look before I straightened and strode from the room.

Plunger had been given a room in the cellar – though Aunt Bianca had been concerned about him touching the wine collection so he’d been given a place with the food stores instead – I hadn’t had the heart to tell her that she should probably be more concerned about what he might be doing with the root vegetables.

He’d agreed to stay put based on the idea that it was a good place for him to hide from the FIB, but in reality I just hadn’t wanted him near the pups.

I headed outside via the kitchen, skirting through the sun-soaked courtyard where my aunt’s famous lemon tree stood proudly. I took the well-worn stone stairs down to the cellar, knocking on the old wooden door and it swung wide, revealing the cool space beneath the house where shelves full of tinned goods, cleaning products and toilet paper lay stacked in neat rows. I’d once joked that Aunt Bianca kept this place ready for the apocalypse, but she’d replied that it was barely enough to keep the Oscuras fed and clean for a month. She was probably right, even if this place did feel like entering an honest to the stars store.

“Plunger?” I called, wondering if I should use his real name now or not.

There was no reply and I moved further into the dimly lit room, the cool air enveloping me. I walked down the long space and came to a halt by a wide hole which had been burrowed into it, a flagstone set aside next to a pile of dirt.

“Seriously?” I muttered.

“I do believe he thought it was time to head off alone.” Pudding’s voice had me leaping out of my skin and I whirled on the huge Bear Shifter, finding him sitting in a small alcove between jars of pickles and stacks of toilet paper.

“What the fuck, Pudding?” I gasped. “How do you even do that?”

“You are always in such a hurry, hound,” he replied, taking a bite from a whole cherry pie which he had balanced on one knee. “You do not look around you for the whos and the whats and the whys. You miss the finer details.”

“I’ve never missed a scary motherfucker lurking in the shadows aside from you.”

“I know how to be one with the world as it is. That is all. You cannot stay still long enough to understand. Neither could the mole – he left you a gift by the way.”

Pudding pointed his pie-coated fork to the other side of the hole that Plunger had made in the floor where a small pile of potatoes and a rather sorry looking carrot sat with a piece of paper.

I wrinkled my nose at the ‘gift’ and eyed the note. It wasn’t long.

I decided it was time to skedaddle. Thanking you kindly for the freedom Ma’am and wishing you well in your future endeavours. You shall remain eternally in the depths of my plunge hole – Plunger.

“Ew,” I grunted, straightening up again and glancing back at the door. “I still don’t get why he dug a hole out of here – the door wasn’t even locked.”

“That is a conundrum. Yes,” Pudding agreed, taking another bite of pie.

“Right. Well, that was why I was coming to look for him and you too – it’s time for us to get moving. The FIB will be raiding this place tomorrow and we need to be gone.”

“Gone,” Pudding agreed, taking another bite of pie.

“Yeah…Did you have a plan for somewhere to go?” I shifted a little uncomfortably.

Plunger could do what he liked and I didn’t really give a shit, but Pudding was good people. I wouldn’t have been able to orchestrate anything about the change in plans for our escape once the riot had begun if it hadn’t been for him and I didn’t want to see him getting captured and locked away again, but I also couldn’t keep him with us.

“I have family who live in the Wasted Mountains. We like to spend weeks or even months there roaming the wilds in our Order forms. There are good caves there. Good rivers too.”

I smiled, not in the least bit surprised that Pudding enjoyed spending extended periods of time in his Order form. And I seriously doubted the FIB would stand much chance of locating a Bear in the woods.

“That sounds like a great idea,” I told him, offering him a hand to shake and realising this would be goodbye.

Pudding gave me a slow smile, setting aside his demolished plate of pie and getting to his feet so he towered over me.

He ignored my hand and drew me into an embrace instead, enveloping me in his huge body and patting me roughly on the head.

“You’re a good hound,” he said, drawing a smile to my lips. “I will not forget this boon you have granted me. And I will be your loyal friend if ever you are in need of one.”

“Dante can give you some stardust so you can leave once you pass through the wards,” I told him. They’d been dropped on the night of the escape so that we could arrive here quickly but Dante had put them all back in place now, making sure that no one could arrive here unannounced as usual.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Goodbye, hound.”

“Goodbye, Pud.” I gave him a final squeeze and we broke apart, heading back out of the cellar and exchanging one last look before he lumbered away towards the vineyards where Dante was partying with the pack, and I turned back to the house.

I found Esme lurking in the kitchen, her eyes wide as I approached, a low whine sounding in the back of her throat.

“You’re sending me away?” she asked, looking like a kicked puppy and making me feel like shit. I was her Alpha and I was abandoning her. But keeping her with me would only bring her closer to danger.

“Just for a little while,” I promised her. “We have a pack house in Tucana, up in the northeast of the kingdom – ever heard of it?”

“Isn’t it that fancy town near Zodiac Academy where all the preppy assholes go to drink on the weekends?” she asked, looking utterly unenthusiastic about the place.

“It is. We have some business going down there – where there are preppy assholes there’s plenty of money, after all. And the pack there are pretty cool too – they have moon runs on the beach and party like it’s their last night on earth every damn night. There’s mountains and forests and the sky is so dark up there away from the big cities that I swear the moon shines brighter than in any other part of Solaria. I think you’d like it.”

Her expression lightened at my description and she nodded slowly. “If that’s what will make you happy, Alpha,” she said.

“Knowing you’re safe and free will make me happy,” I agreed. “And Louie said he will go with you, show you the ropes and stay up there for a few months too.” It hadn’t escaped my notice that Esme had been giving my cousin Louie the big eyes since we’d arrived back here and I figured the promise of his company would sweeten the deal for her.

As I’d guessed, her eyes brightened considerably at that announcement and she threw herself at me, a low howl escaping her as she hugged me tightly in farewell.

I found Ethan in the heart of the party taking place out by the vineyards, many of my cousins, second cousins, third cousins and assorted family friends all batting their eyelashes at him and working to gain the attention of this new and interesting Alpha.

He was drinking a beer with Dante, not seeming to notice any of his admirers but shoved to his feet at the sight of me approaching.

“Did you find what we need, love? Do you know where he is?” he asked me, striding over to close the distance between us, and some of the tension in me spilled away as he cupped my jaw in his rough palm.

“I’m working on it,” I replied, taking his hand in mine. “I’ve got the others in the TV room so we can figure out where to go from here.”

“You don’t want to stay and party with us, lupa?” Dante asked me, his knowing gaze straying over my expression. Of course the pack had turned out in full to see me off again, but I couldn’t stomach a night of partying while Roary was still locked up somewhere, and we both knew it.

“I think it’s better if we leave now,” I told him, though I could admit that my heart hurt to be parted from this place and my famiglia again so soon. But it wasn’t home without Roary and I didn’t deserve to enjoy it until I had him here with us.

Dante nodded. “Leon wants to help but the FIB are tailing him while they search for Roary themselves. I think he would be better off causing a distraction and keeping their eyes away from whatever it is you’re doing than coming with you and potentially drawing more heat your way.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “He should keep the FIB looking in another direction while we hunt. I’ll get Roary back and then we can all be together again, the way we should be,” I swore powerfully and Dante nodded his agreement, handing me a pouch of stardust.

“I know you will. A morte e ritorno, Rosa.”

“A morte e ritorno,” I replied.

Dante clapped a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Do better, stronzo. Or you might end up wishing I still had no idea who you are.”

Ethan raised his chin to that challenge but didn’t disagree with it. “I will,” he said. “You’ll see.”

I kept hold of Ethan’s hand, leading him away from the music and the party, heading back to the TV room where Cain, Hastings and Sin waited for us.

“Jack,” I said as I moved to stand before them again and Hastings raised his head to look at me, all lost lamb and still a touch besotted. I sighed. “You should go back to the FIB. You don’t have to return to Darkmore – I’m sure they’ll accept your resignation. We could wipe your memories of this place so they won’t be able to tell that you ever came here-”

“No,” Hastings said, more firmly than I had ever heard him address me. “I’m not who I was before. I’m…I think I’m a criminal now. My soul has been darkened and it won’t ever turn pure again.”

I glanced at Cain who rolled his eyes unhelpfully.

“You haven’t broken any laws,” I said slowly. “You aren’t a criminal-”

“It’s in my soul,” Hastings replied, running his hands through his blonde hair and tugging on his fringe so that it fell forward to shadow his eyes. “Look at me. I’m a completely different man now.”

I did look at him. I looked and I saw my choir boy with messy hair and a shit heap of trauma which would hopefully lessen once he got over the shock of all he’d witnessed. But a hardened criminal I did not see.

“Right…”

“Aww, can we keep him?” Sin cooed, slinging an arm around Hastings and squishing him to his side. “Look at how cute he is. And he wants to play dress up with us. I bet we could train him up to be our sub too – he already has the moon eyes for you, kitten, and he is pretty nice to look at.”

“Stop appraising him like he’s a cow come to market,” Ethan snorted and Jack’s cheeks reddened.

“I really think you should go home, Jack,” I pushed.

“Let him be,” Cain grumbled. “He’s had his eyes opened to that place and the truth of it. If the shit that was going on down in Psych is anything to judge by, then maybe this is the better side of the law to be on.”

I arched a brow at the Vampiro bastardo then gave in. “Fine. We need to move and this conversation is wasting time. There’s a safe house in Kalia, which just so happens to be where Pike’s penthouse is too, so we can head to that before making our next move. You can stick with us, Jack, and see if you really do like it on this side of the law – just let me know when you’ve had enough though and I can ship you right back home in the blink of an eye.”

Hastings straightened as if accepting a challenge and I shook my head at the sweet fool before leading the way out of the house.

Of course I couldn’t just slip out quietly; countless Oscuras including my aunt waylaid us and embraced me or slipped us supplies, lucky charms and offered out well wishes.

Mournful howls followed us down the long drive when we finally made it beyond the house and I led our band of miscreants to the edge of the magical wards which guarded this place from outside influence. Tomorrow, the FIB would show up with their shiny warrant and Dante and Aunt Bianca would graciously allow them through the wards to search to their hearts’ content. We’d be long gone by then.

My magic buzzed in my veins as the wards recognised me and I parted them for the five of us, stepping into the dark lane beyond the vineyard and taking the stardust from my pocket.

I tossed it over us, letting the world whip away as the stars claimed us for their own. I tried not to dwell on how many hours had now passed since Roary had been ripped from my arms. I was on my way to reclaim him. And nothing in this kingdom or beyond it would stop me.