“Wildcat.” Her name was thunder in my chest. I closed my eyes and leaned down. With every breath, I tasted her. With every exhale, I craved her. “Mine.” The beast staked its claim.
I ran my nose along her neck, licking her skin, triggering a primal, seductive sound in the back of her throat. Underneath the pain and burn, my body responded. I pressed against her, thrusting my hips before I gave one hard lick, then pushed away and stumbled through the open door of my cell.
“Colt!” The call came behind me. “COLT!”
They called.
But there was no Colt here.
There was only the beast.
TWENTY-FOUR
Vivienne
“COLT!” Carven roared.
All I heard was the boom…boom…boom.
But I didn’t know if it came from my heart or Colt’s fading footsteps. They all ran out, every single one, leaving me behind. I lifted my hand to touch the slick from Colt’s tongue on my neck as it cooled against my skin and tried to understand what the fuck just happened.
“Vivienne!” London roared.
Thunder sounded once more, then he was there, filling up the doorway of the cell where we’d found Colt.
“Pet?” London gasped, and reached for my hand.
I met his stare, gave a nod, and finally moved, following him out of there. He held me as we ran, following the others along the dark, dank hall of the slaughterhouse until we came to the metal stairs we’d descended minutes before.
It felt like hours…days, almost. Days in that cold and the dank and the smell…oh, God. The smell.