He is Ghost

Another One

She rolled over, expecting her hand to fall onto something warm. Hard skin stretched taut over a broad chest, maybe even the contours of his chiselled stomach? Anything to cement that the soreness all over her body was from something other than a fight this time.

No dice.

No matter. The soreness was too real to ignore or dismiss, especially when it lingered in areas of her body she was too ashamed to admit. Her eyes opened, taking in the empty space beside her. She could still smell him, his skin only recently detached from the sheets. Neira could even see the outline of where his body had been - where he had sat up to look at her over his shoulder.

Who knows where he went now.

She sat up, scrubbing a hand over her face and taking the sheet with her. She moved her hand from her face to cover her neck. It was swollen, the skin raised and no doubt red in patches from Judd fighting his instincts to bite her all over again. She could still feel that insufferable mark just inches from her fingertips, throbbing with the claim. It was less than yesterday, less at the forefront of her mind, but still there.

Neira shifted, and the soreness erupted in places she didn't know she could be sore. Sore and hungry, but... not aggressive, no. The wild animal below her skin was belly up, tongue lolled out the side of her mouth with a sleepy grin on her face. She felt more like herself than she had in days. She dropped her hand into her lap. Neira wanted to run, play with Sada, and eat all the potato chips she could find. No more sex. At least not until her body stopped feeling like it had been run over by a truck.

She rolled her neck and groaned as the skin pinched in the swollen patches. She stomped into the bathroom and flipped on the shower. Her reflection startled her. Her neck looked like it had been attacked by an octopus—a very angry octopus.

She swore and dropped the sheet to examine the rest of herself in the mirror. Her hair was a fucking disaster, sticking up in places it shouldn't. It desperately needed a brush and an elastic. And a fucking wash. She probably stunk, too, of sweat and sticky sex or something worse. Her shoulders and arms were covered in bruises.

Judd hadn't been gentle with her.

She could remember the hours and hours of hard sex they had just endured. A blush crept up her neck. She was a raging, ravenous animal. At least she wasn't in pain, nor had she killed anyone. Well, besides Jaro's ego. It wasn't as if she didn't like the sex with Judd. She understood now why their kind craved it like she craved potato chips; it was exhausting and time-consuming but oh so fucking good. She would much rather spend the heat getting rammed into by an angry male and loving it than be writhing in excruciating pain for weeks on end.

She moved to the wall by the facet of the shower, the sunlight streaming in through the window and beating against her naked skin. Today was going to be a hot one. Perhaps the last one of the year.

As she moved the handle to adjust the temperature, she paused. Movement caught her attention out the window. It was Aja, arms wrapped around Sada, seeming to hold her back. From up here, she couldn't see their faces, only the tops of their heads. Neira scrunched her brow. She pressed her forehead to the glass. From the edge, she could see Lincon and Landon disappear around the corner of the house.

She rushed back into the bedroom and to the window that overlooked the bed. Three figures emerged from the tree line, three people she did not know. Judd seemed to know them; his back was tight as he faced away from the window and towards the strangers. Lincon and Landon flanked his sides, shoulders tight.

Judd had to have known when they crossed the border into his territory. And he hadn't gone off to stop them at the border because he was too busy keeping down an angry shewolf.