Savage Desire
Chapter 32

Jeremy woke to the feel of hair brushing over his shoulder and an arm slung across his tummy. From that delicious scent filling his nostrils, he just knew that the person sleeping beside him was none other than his mate. But how? For a moment Jeremy didn't know where he was. He was on his back in a very familiar bed. His? The room was dark but from the face of the clock on the bedside table which glowed brightly in the darkened room, it was two thirty a.m. He turned his head to look at the most beautiful person he'd ever laid eyes on and just like that, it all came rushing back...

The Fort, the sudden excruciating pain in the chest, the high priestess, Ryan, the feeling of nothingness, and then Ryan again...he'd bitten him. Why his mate had felt the need to bite him, Jeremy didn't know however. He didn't mind though because he would have made Ryan mark him too at a point anyway. But everything after Ryan bit him seemed fuzzy. He definitely didn't remember getting into bed with Ryan.

Jeremy turned on his side to face Ryan who lay on his side too, his face soft and angelic in repose, his chest rising and falling with every silent breath he took. Jeremy lifted his hand and pulled the bedside switch, flooding the room with light. He needed to clearly see that face. That face that never ceased to bring him inner joy anytime he pictured it in his mind's eye. He needed to see that face like he needed air. And when Jeremy finally focused Ryan's face, he felt his whole body go weak with emotion. F**k he'd missed his mate, Jeremy thought. As if he couldn't help himself, his hand moved to touch Ryan's hair. Jeremy gently comb through the beautiful, white, silky hair with trembling fingers. Ryan stirred, leaning into Jeremy's touch with a soft sigh. That was so adorable Jeremy actually laughed softly. But when beautiful green eyes opened and stared at Jeremy, he forgot to breathe.

"Jeremy." Ryan whispered, drawing a tortured moan from Jeremy. Just the sound of his name on Ryan's delectable lips, made his stomach flutter and his heart pound with excitement.

"Hey." Jeremy breathed. The look in his eyes was something Ryan would never forget. It was enthralling smoldering and at the same time, tender.

"Hey." Ryan whispered, feeling himself melt. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm looking at you...touching you. There's nothing better than that. The feeling is indescribable." Jeremy's eyes said all that was in his heart.

Ryan's breath hitched in his throat. Jeremy's words... His sleep-roughened voice... It sounded deeper, rougher, slower and so sexy it sent a delicious shiver down Ryan's spine.

"I love you, Jeremy." Ryan said softly. "I'm so much in love with you it terrifies me." His eyes glowed with raw emotion.

"I know." Jeremy responded softly. "I mean you did accept me despite all the shit I've put you through. There's no way you could have done that if you didn't love me. But...should you?" Jeremy's voice was barely audible. His eyes closed on a shuddering breath as his heart began to pound.

The alpha of Stanwood Pack could still feel himself actually doing cruel stuto Ryan. He could still hear Ryan's screams of pain. He tried to dispel the images but they wouldn't leave him. He was no longer in purgatory for f***s sake, he told himself as he tried to take deep breaths. Throughout his stay in purgatory, not even a single minute went by without him hearing is mate's screams of pain. Pain that he had inflicted. Even when he was reliving other tragedies that had occurred in his life, my mate's screams of pain was always in the background. Jeremy had been in his own personal hell. But for his determination to avenge the death of his mate by living long enough to rip out the heart of the high priestess, he would be dead by then from all that agony he had gone through in purgatory.

"Jeremy?" Ryan called softly, noticing how sweat had suddenly broken out on Jeremy's forehead. His eyelids lifted slowly, revealing unfocused irises. "Hey, are you okay?"

Jeremy took a deep breath and looked into Ryan's eyes. "I don't think I deserve to be loved by you, Ryan."

"What?" Ryan asked, looking totally confused. There he was professing his love for his mate, and he was telling him he didn't deserve... "Why would you say something like that?" Ryan's breath hitched in his throat.

Jeremy sighed. "Can I just... All I want to do now is just look at you."

"Jeremy..."

"Shut up." Jeremy whispered and kept combing his fingers through Ryan's tresses. "You're so beautiful." His hand moved to Ryan's face, bushing gently against his cheeks. Then it moved to his ear and then down to his neck, rubbing against the creamy flesh. Ryan knew the exact moment that Jeremy discovered the absence of his mark. The alpha tensed up. "What happened?" He rasped.

Ryan swallowed hard. "Someone...a warlock bit into my mark and broke our bond, Jere..."

"What the fuck!" Jeremy exploded, shooting of the bed. "Are you saying someone got that close to you and... How the fuck did that happen?"

"I thought I was dreaming, Jeremy. It's a long story..." Ryan groaned, rolling of the bed. "You need to calm down and listen to me, Jer." Ryan said firmly, staring at an angry Jeremy who stood on the other side of the bed.

"Oh, trust me I am calm." Jeremy rasped, but he was far from calm. His heartbeat quickened as fresh pain seared through him. Jeremy's eyes widened when he suddenly remembered that agonizing pain... He remembered how it had suddenly felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest. In fact he was sure he'd died at a point. "How long ago did this happen?" The strain in his voice showed just how hard he was holding on to control. Ryan didn't miss it.

"Jeremy, I understand your anger but really, you don't need to get worked up." Ryan said warily.

"Don't you dare tell me not to get worked up." Cold fury morphed Jeremy's gorgeous face into something so

frightening Ryan took an involuntarily step back. "Tell me... How the f**k was someone...a warlock, able to get that close to your neck? What the fuck was going on?"

"...I thought......" Ryan couldn't even get his brain to work in the face of all that rage pouring of his mate in spades.

"You thought what, Ryan?" Jeremy growled.

Ryan took a deep breath. "I thought I was having a dream. And I thought I was making out with you. I..."

"You kissed someone?" Jeremy breathed as rage fired his blood, and radiated through his entire body. It was so intense it took away his breath and almost every ounce of control he had. Jeremy felt his body tremble with the intensity of his anger. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Ebookex.com. Visit Ebookex.com to read the complete chapters for free. He had to make a conscious effort not to allow his Ojah to take over because he knew how much his red-eyed inner spirit scared his mate. "You allowed another person to touch you?" He roared, grabbing the clock on the bedside table and throwing it with all him might against the glass door that divided the bed area from the rest of the suite. The glass shattered, coming down as if it was raindrops. "Jeremy, come on I thought..."

"It was a dream. Yeah I got that." Jeremy snapped, grabbing the bedside phone. He didn't think he was in the right frame of mind to even access his mind-link. He began to punch in a number. "Whatever bullshit went on in my..." Ryan jumped onto the bed and ran across to snatch the receiver from Jeremy's hand before he could finish punching in whatever number he'd been about to punch.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jeremy growled, fixing Ryan with an icy glare. "Give it back." He looked as if he

was about to explode. Anybody would have been terrified but not his stubborn mate.

"No I won't," Ryan growled right back. "You're going to sit your butt down, calm down, and listen to what I have to say." Ryan's eyes flushed, showing just how serious he was. But then he completely ruined the eject by adding softly, "please." Jeremy stared his mate down. He wanted to fuck him and punish him at the same time. His eyes dropped to Ryan's mouth, stared hard at those beautiful full lips...the lips that gave him joy... Then he pictured somebody else kissing those lips... "Fuuuuck!" Jeremy roared. He wanted to hit something. Turning abruptly on his feet, he stormed out of the sleeping area.

Ryan watched his mate go and gave a deep sigh. He understood that Jeremy was upset but he needed to calm down and listen to him. Ryan left the sleeping area and went to the kitchen to grab a broom. Then he came back and swept the shards to one side so that Jeremy wouldn't step on them and hurt himself. When he was done, he took the broom back to the kitchen and then went to closet to pull on sweats and t-shirt. Then he entered the bathroom.

The sight that met Ryan in the bathroom, broke his heart. Jeremy was leaning over the vanity with his head in his hands. The desolation Jeremy was feeling hit Ryan with such intensity, he gasped. He definitely preferred Jeremy's anger to his current feeling of wretchedness. His anger, Ryan could handle. But that feeling of utter desolation, he didn't know how to handle.

"Jeremy?" Ryan called softly. But when Jeremy raised his head to look at him, the devastation on his face caused Ryan to lose his train of thought.

With a sigh, Ryan reached for their toothbrushes and squeezed some toothpaste onto them. Then he reached out to give Jeremy his. Jeremy took his time taking the brush from Ryan. He couldn't seem to keep his eye of Ryan's mouth. But this time, the look in the alpha's eyes wasn't the usual s****l hunger. His eyes showed how betrayed he felt.

Both brushed their teeth slowly, with Jeremy staring at Ryan's face through the mirror. After they were done, Jeremy cursed low in his throat and rubbed his face with his hands in an obvious sign of frustration.

"I'm going for a run." The alpha announced.

"I'm coming with you." Ryan responded.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now." Jeremy rasped. "You...I can't...it's not safe..."

"You mean I won't be safe around your wolf." Ryan said quietly, feeling his heart do a swan dive to the pit of his stomach.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Jeremy responded simply.

"God, Jer..." It hurt so much knowing that Jeremy's wolf was angry at him. "Let me tell you everything before you go for that run, please." Ryan pleaded. "Do this for me Jeremy."

After a hard stare, Jeremy finally nodded and moved past Ryan into the room. He went directly to the closet and pulled on black jeans and a sexy dark green tank top with low cut armholes. He looked so sexy Ryan just stared.

"You know what will last longer." Jeremy muttered and immediately wished he could take it back. That was so fourth grade. He wanted to kick himself when he saw the heat race up into Ryan's face. "If you don't mind, make whatever you want to explain snappy so that I can get out of here." His voice was low and hard.

Ryan followed Jeremy to the couch and sat beside him. He didn't miss how Jeremy moved further away from him, leaving a bigger space between them. Waves of hurt rippled across his perfect face. Although he knew that Jeremy would understand after he explained what happened, Ryan couldn't help but feel as if a dagger was being pushed into his chest at that tiny gesture by Jeremy. Ryan rubbed his chest as he cleared his throat.

"When you left, I...”

"At what point did you kiss the warlock?" Jeremy interrupted.

Ryan looked at Jeremy's grim face. "That was two days ago but..." "Skip to that part." Jeremy rasped. "What happened two days ago?"

"Jeremy, I have to start from the beginning; otherwise, you won't..."

"Hey, I agreed to listen to your explanation." Jeremy cut Ryan of. "My main interest is what happened the day you decided to kiss another person. Was it a man or a woman by the way?"

"A..."

"Never mind, that's not important." He again cut Ryan off. "Just tell me, what the f**k happened two days ago?" Ryan's eyes flared. He was narrowed, beginning dangerously, and his nostrils got angry. If that was how Jeremy wanted to play it, so be it. "Two days ago we buried Vincent, Jake, Evans, Ramsey and Nuka. After the fun..."

"What?" Jeremy roared, surging to his feet. "What the f**k?"

"You wanted to know what happened two days ago so shut up and let me tell you." Ryan's voice was dead quiet.

Jeremy wouldn't sit though. So Ryan went ahead to narrate what happened with The Jackal after the funeral of the warriors. He explained how he'd gone to the study with Paige to work but had instead fallen asleep and dreamt about him for the first time and asked him to kiss him. He then dispassionately told him what the warlock had done and concluded with Paige's plan and how it had backfired.

"I didn't know what had really happened till Paige came to explain everything to me yesterday. I'm sorry I made out with the warlock but...I didn't know it wasn't you."

"You should have known it wasn't me Ryan. You know my scent. Everybody has their own unique scent. If someone was able to get that close to you for you to demand a kiss, you should have known. Dream or no dream, Ryan." Jeremy said quietly. "Well, I didn't know and I'm sorry," Ryan said with a hint of anger.

"Now tell me about the warriors," Jeremy demanded.

Hearing that he'd lost his warriors was even more horrible than knowing that his mate had made out with someone else. After all, from what Ryan was saying, it hadn't been his intention to do so. It still hurt as fuck and he didn't know how he was going to get that silly image out of his mine but there were more important issues to think about.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan told Jeremy everything. Well, at least what he could remember. When he started the tale about the Wyatt Clan, Jeremy sat back down beside him on the couch. And as he spoke, Jeremy kept drawing closer to him. At a point, the alpha reached for Ryan's hand, but he yanked his hand from Jeremy's and folded it across his chest. Jeremy could tell how emotional Ryan got as he spoke about what the asshole who fathered him told him. By the time Ryan got to the part where his father had insinuated that he was a freak just like his siblings...and in front of Deloris too, he was shaking so hard Jeremy pulled him into his lap. The alpha had a feeling his mate didn't even notice his new position. That was how wretched Ryan felt, and the feeling hit Jeremy like a ton of bricks. Being bonded as mates, each could feel the emotions of the other. Jeremy could, therefore, feel how insignificant and worthless Ryan felt, thanks to what his father said to him. He wanted to rip the man's heart out of his chest, wherever he was. "You don't have to go on, baby." Jeremy didn't recognize his own voice. "It's okay." But Ryan kept narrating what happened.

By the time Ryan got to how Vincent and his team had lost their lives, he was sobbing so hard Jeremy wanted to kill someone...anyone. He hugged his sobbing mate to his chest so tightly it was almost as if he wanted to absorb Ryan into himself.

"Oh my god, Ryan." Jeremy groaned, rocking Ryan as he would a child. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all that without me. I'm so sorry baby." He kept murmuring soothingly to Ryan. Fuck, he needed to vent, Jeremy screamed inside. The level of anger within was absurd. But this time, Jeremy wanted to kill Phillip for exposing his mate to all that violence. His friend should have known better. He opened his mind-link to Phillip. 'My suite. Now.' Jeremy barked onto the link. His friend had better have a better explanation, he fumed.

Eventually Ryan composed himself long enough to finish the story. The look on Jeremy's face was priceless. He looked so shocked he couldn't utter a word after Ryan told him how Reynard's life had ended. He then finally told him what he'd done when their bond got broken by the warlock.

"I would appreciate it if you don't rip into Paige or anything like that when you see her." Ryan said shakily. "Much as her method was dangerous, it worked. So please..."

"Shhh..." Jeremy folded Ryan into his arms again. "She's not the one I want to kill right now. How the f**k did Phillip even think it was okay to expose you to all that violence?"

“I insisted, Jeremy.” Ryan said hoarsely. "You know how dificult it is to try to talk me out of something once my mind is made up. If I hadn't gone, you wouldn't have had anyone to come back to."

"That doesn't make it alright." Jeremy growled stubbornly. "Fuck, I'm so sorry for everything."

Ryan nodded. "I'm sorry I made out..."

"You really should have known, Ryan." Jeremy said, combing his fingers through Ryan's hair. "We're werewolves. Deloris is not a werewolf so I'm not surprised that idiot was able to fool her. But you..."

"I'm sorry." He groaned pitifully. "I shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place. If I hadn't I would have been more alert."

"What?" Jeremy asked sharply. "What do you mean you shouldn't have gotten..."

"I was totally drunk, thanks to Paige." Ryan sighed. "The plan was to get shit-faced. I did but she didn't. Said it took a lot for her to get drunk. But I was just..."

"That bitch." Jeremy growled. "She plied you with booze so that you would lose your inhibitions. Your senses were dulled. That's why you couldn't smell him. F**k!"

"Really?" Ryan's eyes widened. "That's probably why she remained sober..."

"That doesn't make it o-fucking-k." Jeremy growled.

"Hey, you promise..."

"I never promised anything." Jeremy snapped angrily. "She promised to look after you. And what did she do? Gave you to the enemy on a silver platter."

"Jeremy, she was right there." Ryan defended heatedly. "She never left my side even once. Hell, I heard her tell that warlock not to kiss me when I demanded it but it came from so far away I thought it was all part of the dream. She was with me every step of the way, Jer." He said softly. She made sure I would be okay."

"But you were clearly not." Jeremy growled angrily.

"And that wasn't her fault, baby." Ryan cupped Jeremy's cheeks. "Her only mistake was that she made a deal with the devil. Shit happens. Calm down."

"I could have lost you." Jeremy groaned, burying his face against Ryan's neck.

"But you didn't." Ryan didn't want to point out to his angry mate that if he'd anyway died, he would have died too. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not." Jeremy's words were mued against Ryan but he heard him perfectly. "I just wish..." He trailed of when the doorbell rang, signaling the presence of a visitor.

"Ryan looked up at the projected clock on the wall. It was only five fifty-four a.m. "Who would..."

"I called Phillip." Jeremy informed him in a hoarse voice, showing just how hard he was trying to keep it together.

"Oh god, Jeremy listen to me." Ryan gasped as he turned within Jeremy's arms to straddle him. He knew how angry his mate was. He could feel it. He had to somehow calm him down before Phillip walked through that door. "Everything worked out just fine." "I left the most precious thing in the world to me, in his care Ryan." Jeremy's voice was cold. Deadly cold. "And he didn't hesitate to expose you to danger."

“It wasn't up to him, Jeremy." Ryan hissed as Jeremy got of the couch with him still wrapped around him as if he weighed nothing.

"He was the alpha. He was in charge. His word was final." Jeremy tried to get Ryan to unwrap himself from around him but since his stubborn mate didn't want to because he was hell bent on convincing him not to be angry at Phillip, Jeremy began to move towards the door with Ryan's legs still locked around his waist. "I wouldn't have done that to him if he'd left his mate in my care."

And just like that, Ryan knew what to say. "Fine." He unlocked his legs from around Jeremy but didn't move away from the door. "Just go right ahead and do whatever you want to do." Ryan said quietly. "Just know this. That was a very important battle. We all fought gallantly for the pack and came out victorious. Don't rubbish everyone's effort by whining about your mate's involvement. If I hadn't insisted on going, they wouldn't have taken me. And if I hadn't been part, everyone would have perished. Deloris risked the life of her daughter. And Phillip found his mate but selflessly let him go in order to concentrate on the battle, to save your mate." Ryan moved away from the door. "Think about that as you unleash hell on your friend." With that final shot, Ryan turned to go. "Did... His mate... Lip really found his mate?" Jeremy stuttered, his eyes on his mate's retreating back.

"That's what I just said." Ryan threw over his shoulder and disappeared into the bathroom.

"Did you say him?" Jeremy shouted but Ryan didn't respond. "Fuck!" Jeremy stared at where Ryan had just disappeared and thanked his stars for sensible mates. He'd almost fucked up. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and drew an alarmed Phillip into his

arms.