Fated Hearts (Echoes of Darkness Prequel)

9

Logan

T he thick envelope filled with cash makes a hearty thwack when I plop it into the coroner’s outstretched hand. I use it as my cue to turn on my heel and make my way out of his office. The moment I step outside, I inhale deeply, grateful for the fresh, icy air filling my lungs. But the stench of death still lingers on my skin. Regretfully, I don’t have the time to shower. The Conclave awaits.

I came here half an hour ago to inspect the cadaver of the woman found in the national park. It’s the first thing I did after my month on the road to search for my fated mate. So far, I have visited all the packs that couldn’t come to the ball my mother organized and haven’t found her. But I won’t give up, not until the last moment.

I can’t believe the rogue managed to get on my turf undetected, even with the patrols my pack has been doing every single day and night for two months now. The victim was also found right at the border of our community like he was playing some kind of twisted game with me. Even worse is that a hiker found her instead of a pack member.

My phone pings with a text message, and I get it out of my pocket as I make my way to where I parked my truck on the side of the street. I open the door and get in the seat, tapping on the screen. The sudden burst of light blinds me momentarily.

Malik: Change of location. Meet us at the bar where Em works.

The drive from the coroner’s office to the Raven district, where the bar is located, is short, but I have to find a parking garage to leave my truck. Parking it on the side of the street in the district is not a possibility, especially with the drunks that get shit-faced and crowd the streets like cockroaches. Once, I found the side of my car all scratched up and the hood splattered with vomit. Let’s just say I have learned my lesson since then.

The half-moon is perched high on the night sky, the tiny glimmering lights of the stars being dwarfed by the artificial city lights as I make the pungent fifteen-minute walk to the bar. I don’t like how you can’t see the sky properly here in the city. That’s why I prefer to stay mostly in our community, located deep in the national park, surrounded by nature, and even more in my private cabin in the woods where no one can find me. Only my sister knows its location, and I like that no one can reach me there.

However, I haven’t been able to go back to the cabin in more than two months. All of my responsibilities and the children of the pack getting touched by the weakness have prevented me from taking any time off. And now the motherfucking rogue decided to come to Ashville and maul a woman on the border of my community where I’m supposed to keep everyone safe. I just can’t catch a fucking break.

As soon as I open the door and step through the bar’s threshold, I see her .

Everything disappears around me, my vision tunneling until all I can see is her . My wolf takes notice and growls loudly inside my head, “ Mine! ” My eyes are laser-focused on her as she weaves through the crowd of people drinking and laughing near the high-top tables.

She has a curvy body that would fit just perfectly against mine. I immediately get a mental image of my fingers skimming along her naked, naturally bronzed skin, making me instantly hard. Goddammit…those perfect thighs. I would sell my soul to the devil only for a couple of minutes with them wrapped around my ears or to suffocate under them as she rides my face. I’m not picky.

She tucks a wavy strand of shiny brunette hair under her ear, and I forget how to fucking breathe when I get a glimpse of a perfect heart-shaped face with luscious lips and big, expressive eyes.

Before I can process my actions, my legs move under me with long, purposeful strides and a hint of desperation, as though she is the center of my gravity. Just as I’m about to reach her, fingers trembling, a drunken asshole misses his chair by a few inches and falls on his back, sending her sprawling forward, directly into my arms. My wolf growls loudly at him in my head for bringing any sort of pain to her but is immediately settled when her body melds perfectly against mine, sending pulses of desire straight to my dick, hardening it further if that is even possible.

My arm moves on its own accord as it circles along her middle, and my hand splays on her lower back, pressing her even closer to me because even the smallest distance between us is unbearable. She lets out a tiny whimper at the touch, and that sends my wolf screaming inside of my head to claim her right this moment.

Fuck, only her scent can bring me to my knees . She smells deliciously and entirely intoxicating, like caramel and vanilla, with a hint of something flowery. It reminds me of the field of violets near my cabin in the woods.

My heart starts beating like a jackhammer inside my chest when she opens her eyes. I have never seen eyes like hers, so pale green, darker on the outside of her irises and then gradually leaching color toward the dilated pupils that hint she is as affected by me as I am by her. So up close and personal, I can see lighter streaks of color in her hair and the freckles smattered across the bridge of her upturned nose.

The impulse to touch her overtakes me completely as I lift my right hand and let my knuckles caress the side of her perfect face. Fuck me. These full sinful lips. Before I can stop myself, I am already pressing my thumb on her lower lip as my hand cradles her jaw. My wolf urges me to close the space between us and take what’s mine. Her tongue sneaks out and licks my thumb, and I can smell the musky tang of her desire mixing with her heady aroma.

Suddenly, my body bends to be closer to her, and my nose buries in her hair as I inhale her scent deeply like an addict searching for my next fix. Her perfume, mixed with the scent of her arousal, makes my head spin like a drug and shoots up my veins to fry my nerve endings. “Mmm, you smell so good I could eat you piece by piece,” I say gravelly, voicing my wolf’s thoughts.

What did I just blurt out? I sound like a creepy idiot.

I turn my head slightly, about to claim those plump lips and finally taste them, when someone knocks into us.

The reality of what I was about to do kicks in like a sucker punch. I can’t betray my mate. Not like this. Not when there is still a small chance to find her, even if my days are numbered. I can still fucking find her, dammit. I may not have dreamed about her in over two months, no matter how hard I’ve tried, but she still has to be out there. I feel it in the very fabric of my being.

I let this woman go immediately, earning a deep, menacing snarl from my wolf. I need to put as much distance between us as possible. Her scent and the feel of her skin on mine muddles my brain.

In an attempt to clear my mind, I shake my head hard. But then she sways in front of me, not being able to withstand her weight. My hand shoots out and grabs her elbow, the heat of her skin burning through mine. Her nipples are taut, pointing at me through the thin material of the shirt she is wearing, and all I want to do is bend and suck on the tiny buds until she melts in my arms and begs for my cock like a good girl.

I clear my throat loudly, trying to stay in the present. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathes in a sexy, low, raspy voice that makes my dick twitch in my pants as if I’m still a hormonal teenager.

Down boy! When the fuck did I become so pathetic?

“Thank you,” she says, looking at me with those doe-like eyes, and I almost get lost in them again.

Giving a jerky nod in response, I let go of her elbow abruptly because if I keep touching her, I will lose my fucking mind. My wolf is not happy, and my muscles are straining as he’s trying to take control of my body, warring with the rational part of my mind. I somehow manage to turn on my heel and reach the back of the bar, where I know the others are waiting for me. Every single step I have to take away from her is physically painful. Sweat drips down my spine with the sheer effort.