The Fervor: A Sinful Supes Story Read online

  I just had to keep telling myself that. Affirmations or something like that.

  I hooked my glasses to the sun visor then thought better of it and snagged them back. What if the seat closest to the door was in the back of the room? And let’s face it; I’m definitely sitting near the exit. Without my corrective lenses, the teacher would be a blur let alone any notes I’d need to copy. So I stuffed my spectacles on the bridge of my nose.

  I slid out of my crappy Honda, compulsively checking for the keys I clipped to the strap of my bag. After confirming that I did in fact have a means to get back into said shitbucket, I slammed the door shut with my rump. That’s right I slam doors, like a badass.

  Never mind that the beep of my alarm activation almost had me jumping out of my skin.

  So what if fragments of the sharp sound echoed through the deserted parking garage, making me realize how creepy Fort Lawrence college is at night, peppered with its sickly yellow streetlights. I shivered. Like a badass.

  I clung tightly to the strap of my satchel as I slunk toward the stairs and the nearest map of the sprawling campus—never mind that the flight of stairs winded me. A few minutes later, I had the general direction deciphered and shuffled off.

  I pulled open the door to the 800 building, like a bada—“AHHHH!” I screamed.

  Someone had just inhaled deeply next to my ear. I spun around and jerked back directly into the glass door—which nearly landed me on my ass as the door gave way and closed under my weight.

  A tall Mexican guy who had two thin lines in the ends of his eyebrows invaded my personal space. I scrambled to the right before a hand landed next to my head, almost clothes-lining me on his muscular arm. The stranger repeated the action with his other arm, successfully trapping me.

  He leaned in, closed his eyes, and inhaled my scent again.

  What the fucking fuck? Who the hell liked to corner girls and sniff them?

  I froze. To do otherwise would mean contact and I really, really didn’t want to be touched by this sniff-happy psycho. My breaths gasped a frantic tempo. His face whittled my personal space down to six violating inches.

  He stood a head taller than me, tanned face somewhat hidden in shadows. He had the type of neutral face that wasn’t attractive or hideous, the kind of appeal that rested entirely on the shoulders of his character. From what I’d seen so far, I stood before a monster.

  I didn’t have any words, couldn’t even form a response to this bizarre situation. I wanted to scream at him for making me feel helpless, but I’d gone from badass to voiceless in 3 seconds flat.

  “What a skittish little thing you are,” Sniff-Psycho whispered. I shrunk back as far as the cold glass permitted. I smelled sour blood on his breath. A vampire? But his eyes weren’t red. He might be wearing contacts, though.

  My assailant barked a high-pitched laugh.

  Oh God, I was going to die by the hands of a crazy Supe with a freaky cackle. That sound was eerie and more ominous than any horn of war. My heart slammed into my ribs as I stared into the face of my death, wide-eyed and hyperventilating.

  “What kind of Supe are you? Your survival instincts are a joke. And you smell...” He leaned in taking another deep drag of my scent, “delicious.”

  I nearly screamed from his close proximity, shrinking to the point of feeling his words on the shell of my ear. I snapped my mouth shut, hating the pitiful whimper that still escaped.

  In response, he pulled back to stare at me, his dark eyes flashed with a reflective glint. Fuck! He was a feral and his beast was already peeking out! Motherfuck, I was screwed.

  Why did my mind have to blank out at the worst times? Get it together, Claire. Fucking think!

  OK, I could do this. I could get myself out of this.

  Rule one of dealing with feral Supes: Do not act like food.

  I straightened my spine and dropped my stare to his nose, wary of initiating a challenge with eye contact. I certainly couldn’t act too tough unless I wanted to get beat down in a dominance demonstration. But at the same time being a little bitch baby would make me easy pickings. I’d have to dance on a knife’s edge to come out of this intact.

  “L-leave me alone,” I said. When that got no such reaction I tacked on a pitiful, “Or I’m going to have to defend myself.”

  Oh shit, what the hell was I talking about? I couldn’t step up to a feral. I was all but human without the citizen protections. I didn’t stand a chance. I slowly slipped my hand in my satchel, discreetly searching for a metal cylinder. He was so close that he’d have to look down to see it so I prayed the movement went undetected.

  “Answer my question, little bunny.” He grinned, exposing elongated teeth. “I want to know what I’ll be feasting on tonight.” He flicked the tip of his tongue across his lower lip.

  I stopped breathing, too chilled to the bone to even consider either option of the double entendre. I refused to be that girl on the six o’clock news. This shit won’t happen to me.

  My hand finally latched on to the pepper spray hidden in the depths of my bag and I knew my answer to his question. It was time I told him what kind of Supe I am.

  “The kind you don’t want to mess with. Walk away.” My voice didn’t even shake. I slyly pulled the pepper spray out of my satchel, clutching it for dear life. What if it was pointed the wrong way, and I ended up spraying myself?

  Then I remembered I bought the idiot-proof kind. Without looking I unhitched and twisted the safety top that prevented spraying in the wrong direction. Now I only had to worry about being downwind…

  I could do this.

  “Really now, and what exactly do you think you can do to me? Beg me to death?”

  “This…” I shoved him back (or at least tried to) and pointed the pepper spray directly at his face. “… is my special brand of chemical warfare.”

  The cocky smirk fell off his face.

  “First, it will blind you and decimate your olfactory system. I know how you ferals care about your sense of smell. You can’t even imagine the agony when the acid melts your skin off. Your body will try to heal itself but it won’t be enough. Not even your kind can survive this.” By this point of my speech he had backed up a few steps, staring at the canister.

  And then this evil grin split his face, exposing a mouth full of carnivorous teeth. His jaw no longer looked as human as it did a few seconds ago. Not quite full beast mode… but it certainly seemed off.

  “It says pepper spray.” Sniff-Psycho said, unimpressed. Something told me he could have ripped my arm off, and the canister with it, faster than a bat of an eyelash.

  Oh God, he knew I’d been bluffing. Had he been playing along simply to toy with me?

  “Yes it does.” I spoke like I was questioning his intelligence. “They’re not going to label it Illegal Death Spray: Please Confiscate. Now back the fuck off. Unless you want your face melted, then by all means, try me.”

  He barked his high, keening laugh again. “I’m going to enjoy you, bitch.”

  One moment I was making my stand, the next, I was pinned face first against the glass door so hard I saw spider web cracks at the corner of my eye. My glasses skewed on my face.

  I tried to unload my aerosol weapon but my hands were empty and uselessly stuck between the door and the rest of me. There I was, disoriented and caught and vulnerable with his heavy body pressing into me from behind.

  Oh God. I felt something hard prodding my ass. I snapped my head back, hoping to break his nose. Instead of a satisfying crunch, the side of my face was forced back into the glass. I tried to scramble free but he had control of my head and he was fucking feral strong.

  He must’ve sensed what I was about to do because a clawed hand suddenly clamped over my mouth, muffling my scream. I struggled as much as I could for what felt like an eternity then gave up, breathing hard through my nose. It was futile, better to save my strength for when an opportunity presented itself.

  “In fact,” he whispered into my ear, grin
ding his pelvis against my backside. “I’m going to enjoy you way too much.”

  A wretched sound of despair crawled out of my throat. My eyes started to water. This was really happening. I was about to be raped and murdered, or God forbid, claimed by this monster. Oh fuck, I was going to break.

  “That’s enough, hyena,” someone growled.

  My captor spun around, taking me with him. In a fraction of a second, I found my front squished to his chest. Sniff-Psycho had a firm grip on the back of my neck, forcing my forehead to his shoulder. My nose pressed uncomfortably into his clavicle.

  He reeked of musk and fur.

  I wanted to puke.

  The firm press of his extended nails acted as little knives pricking my throat. These knives could speak; they told me I was going to be slit to ribbons if I tried anything. A single dribble of warm liquid said I’d already struggled too much.

  My captor’s other forearm pinned my arms behind my back. This didn’t stop him from firmly grasping my ass and pressing me disgustingly against his hardened prick. Bile collected at the back of my throat.

  “This doesn’t concern you, wolf.” My captor snarled the last word like an expletive. “Find your own bitch.” He squeezed my ass. “This one’s mine.”

  “Not his anything,” I squeaked, voice muffled against his shirt. I slammed the heel of my chucks on his instep with the full force of my weight. Much to my chagrin, I didn’t even feel him flinch.

  Sniff-Psycho’s grip around my neck tightened. “Quiet now.”

  More blood trickled down my throat. Breath hissed between my teeth.

  “Release the girl. I won’t repeat myself.” The stranger’s snarl deepened. Power rumbled out of that voice, vibrated down to my marrow.

  “You challenging me?” Sniff-Psycho spat. A surge of energy crackled outward from my captor, knocking into me with the sensation of crawling things on my skin. What the hell was that?

  From behind, an answering wave of power bowled me over onto my knees, so blistering hot it fucking burned. The phenomenon was so immense and overwhelming I couldn’t even breathe.

  I blinked.

  What the—?

  I was free. My captor had released me, had fallen to his knees, too.

  I crab-scuttled away from Sniff-Psycho. My hand slid across something hard. I looked down to see my pepper spray. I stood, not taking my eyes off the fucker who flipped a switch and looked less like my captor and more like he was about to shit himself.

  I checked my neck. Relief flushed through me. I wasn’t bleeding nearly as much as I feared. It stung. I could live with that.

  “Forgive me.” Sniff-Psycho cowered against the door where he’d pinned me. “I did not realize you were the new Alpha.”

  Good God, the stranger was an alpha wolf… but the only wolf ferals in these parts were from Red Crescent, as in the Red Crescent pack. Holy shit…

  Maybe I could just slink away and disappear before they decided to pay any attention to me?

  “Grovel and beg the girl for forgiveness and I may spare your life,” the Alpha said.

  The power in his voice sent shivers down my spine. Ugh, I was such a coward. The alpha guy saved me and I didn’t even have the balls to take my eyes off Sniff-Psycho. I really should say thank you at the very least.

  It took all of my self-control to drag my glare away from the threat of the sniveling hyena feral and glance over my shoulder.

  My eyes widened.

  Whatever words of gratitude I was about to spew died on my lips and crumbled down my chin.

  Instead of the mutton-chopped bulky giant I expected, a sparkle-eyed, pretty boy fresh out of his teens stood before me wearing designer jeans and a white button down. He looked like he belonged to a cutting edge boy-band with thirteen-year-old girls screaming his name, not like the leader of the largest, most brutal pack in North America.

  He was beautiful, borderline adorable. If anyone could give me a staring problem, it’d be this angel. He was handsome with his chiseled jaw and tousled dark brown hair. It should be illegal to be that attractive. He could create traffic accidents just by walking on the sidewalk. God, was this what it felt like to be glazed by a vamp?

  The feeling of something nestling against my left hand startled me out of my astonishment. Sniff-Psycho whimpered at my feet, trying to lick my fingers. I ripped my hand away, and shoved my pepper spray in his face.

  “I don’t forgive you,” I spat with as much venom this fucker deserved. “Don’t you ever come near me again.”

  The only thing keeping me from mace-facing him was the possibility of accidentally hurting the Alpha’s sensitive nose. And even then, I was still tempted. Maybe just a little squeeze…

  “Please, I’m just a low-ranking male. I just wanted to feel powerful for once,” the hyena begged, shrinking in on himself. “I swear I wasn’t going to do it.”

  My thumb tightened on the red button. “I don’t believe you.”

  The hyena started to scream.

  I looked down at my shaking hand, shocked.

  I hadn’t even pulled the trigger yet.

  Sometimes your brain needs a moment to catch up with what your eyes see. It can play tricks on you, can’t compute quickly enough to register that the thing you threatened with a canister of pepper spray now writhed on the floor with compound fractures poking out of his legs. And the part of your brain that’s really in shock might observe in a terrifyingly nonchalant manner that splintered bone isn’t as bleach white as one would expect.

  After a while, I realized he no longer screamed, just keened like an injured dog; the kind of sound that would break my heart if it came from an animal.

  It took all my considerable rage to remind myself that he didn’t deserve my sympathy, that I should stop feeling the need to hold his hand and tell him everything would be OK. Some victims deserved what they got.

  “Do you want me to kill him?” The Alpha asked. I didn’t know if it was his intimidating, deep voice or the ease in which he asked me if I wanted to be an accessory to murder, but suddenly the new wolf king in town was the last person I wanted to be standing next to.

  If he could do that kind of damage to a fellow feral in the blink of an eye, I wouldn’t stand a chance if he decided to turn his wrath on me.

  “Um… I think that’s enough,” I gestured vaguely to the suffering hyena that resembled a fucked-up bone porcupine, “punishment?” I trailed off awkwardly, not sure if punishment was the right word, perhaps torture or sadism were more appropriate.

  The Alpha stared at me. “You were all for melting his face off a moment ago.” His emphasis on my threat probably meant he knew I had been all bluff and no bite. Had he stepped in to help me save face? Or maybe he was just a bloodthirsty feral who jumped at any opportune violence.

  “Yeah… well… I think that will suffice.” I smile-winced. “Uh, thanks for your help.”

  The Alpha stepped closer to me, livid. “You’d really just let that mongrel crawl away after the way he disrespected you?” He snarled, power radiated from his body and I could almost taste the acrid contempt. For me or the hyena, I wasn't sure.

  I took a step back, eyes wide. “Well I think, um, lesson learned?”

  He stared me down, gaze hard as if he could force his will upon me. I held the burning contact for a few seconds then remembered exactly whose eyes I met. I averted mine, but not so much as to miss the slight shake of his head or him mutter something. I think it was the word weak.

  Relief washed over me when he retracted his attention and focused on my attacker. If being weak meant I’d be beneath his notice, I sure as hell didn’t mind.

  “Your life is spared for the time being. I will personally inform Selena of your misconduct.” The wolf king squatted down, getting into the hyena’s face and lowered his voice into a dangerous growl. “If I ever see you near the girl again, your life will be forfeit.”

  It was weird being referred to as a girl by someone who couldn’t be more than
a few years older than me. Then again, most Supes didn’t age like humans.

  The hyena quickly ducked his head as if waiting for one last send-off blow. Instead, the Alpha reached down, ripped the hyena’s right pant leg from groin to ankle and efficiently jammed the bone back into place. The hyena’s sharp scream punctured the night air.

  I quickly turned around, hand to mouth. Oh God.

  Another round of ripped fabric and more screams perforated the air. Bile rose. I swallowed it back down. I will not puke like a baby back bitch, I mentally chanted. I will not puke.

  I had focused so hard on keeping the nausea in check, I hadn’t realized that my throat tightened. I wheezed as I pawed past the variety of snacks in my bag and dug into the discreet tampon pocket. My fingers latched onto the stunted L-shaped chunk of plastic there. I shook my inhaler and quickly sucked in the life-saving chemicals.

  While inhaling the delicious air, the hyena’s voice whispered, “Th-thank you.”

  I had bigger problems than shitty breathing skills.

  I stared at the cracked glass door long and hard, set my focus past being light-headed. I didn’t know why jamming his fucking bone back into his body would affect me more than snapping his legs in the first place; maybe because I didn’t actually see the breaking part; maybe my shock was simply wearing off; or maybe it didn’t matter and I just needed to get the hell out of here.

  I turned around. The hyena had dragged himself a rather impressive distance. My eyes darted to the Alpha who glared at the hyena’s retreating form, tension coiled tight through his body. It looked like he wanted to finish the job. I wanted to leave before the Alpha decided to turn that deathly glare on me.

  I clutched the pepper spray close to my chest. God, what was I going to do? If I walked alone back to my car, I risked repeating this debacle without a random wolf king around to save my ass. At the same time, being left alone with said wolf king felt more and more hazardous to my health…