Chapter Eight
Demon heard the excited murmurs of the shifters within the trees, but he never took his gaze from Ezra. He had no idea how many of his own pack he had drained in order to come at Demon all hyped up and uber dominant like he was, but it had Demon’s stomach turning and his rage building at the thought.
“You killed my brother.” Ezra’s voice was barely recognizable as human.
“I did,” Demon agreed with a nod, “and I enjoyed every fucking minute of it. My boar particularly enjoyed gouging a gaping hole in his stomach.”
That was all it took to drive Ezra to the edge. He roared with rage and then leaped in Demon’s direction, shifting within the blink of an eye mid stride. Demon allowed his boar to rise within him, but held him caged. He allowed Ezra to think he had Demon at a disadvantage, and drew him closer before he embraced the change and allowed his beast full rein.
The giant boar met the oncoming wolf with a grunt, and the two of them began to fight. Demon swung his giant head at the faster shifter, attempting to get to the soft belly of the wolf with one of his massive tusks, but the prick jumped out of range. The wolf leaped around him until he was able to use his speed to get past Demon’s tusks and leap onto his back, biting deep into the flesh and muscle across the back of his neck, no doubt attempting to severe his spinal column.
This was a battle tactic many wolves used on animals, but he should have done his fucking homework. Razorbacks had a large amount of muscle and fat between their skin and their vertebrae around the neck. There was no way in hell Ezra could reach it, despite his strength. Oh, the bite hurt like a bitch, but it wasn’t deadly. Demon bunched the muscles in his neck and then threw his head from side to side as violently as he could, absorbing the pain and throwing the wolf from him. As soon as he was free, he stalked his prey.
The two of them fought back and forth, each of them scoring a few bloody hits against the other. Demon favored his right back leg, his left mangled and bleeding heavily, and there were more than a few long deep gashes along his sides where the wolf had achieved a direct hit against him. Although he hated to admit it, Demon knew he was facing a skilled fighter made even deadlier by the additional strength he had absorbed, but Ezra’s determination and motivation were nowhere near as powerful as Demon’s.
Demon was a patient fighter, he always had been, and Ezra was fighting on pure rage and emotion. A lethal mix that would only make him more prone to making a mistake, and then Demon would capitalize. He wanted this over with as quickly as possible. Demon had hurt his mate and the need to apologize and take care of her was riding him almost as hard as the desire to see this prick bleed out before him.
He watched as Ezra moved to the left, but from the way his muscles tensed, Demon knew he was going to leap right and come at him. A split second after Ezra committed to jumping in from the right, Demon swung his head with a growl of triumph. There was nowhere for the wolf to go. Only death and the giant tusk of an enraged razorback waiting for him. Ezra slammed onto his right tusk and Demon moved his head, making sure to gouge deep and true, ensuring the blow was lethal.
Ezra yelped in pain, the sound of a wolf that knew the end was near, and the cry morphed half way through to that of a man who faced his death. Demon waited, still in his animal form as Ezra bled out fast before his eyes. The two men’s gazes remained locked together, and Demon read the fear shining in Ezra’s eyes. Demon had heard his mate’s approach so didn’t even flinch when she stepped up beside him, her hand reaching out to press against his heaving side.
“There’s my Demon,” she crooned as she soothed the beast, touching him for the first time. “I pledge to you my Alpha.”
Demon jolted as a second bond slammed into place between him and his angel. He grunted and Ana smiled at him. “Yeah, I know, you had the whole go rogue speech down, but I make up my own mind now. I am yours. Completely.”
Demon grunted again when his mate moved to stand closer to the dying wolf, and moved with her so that if by some miracle Ezra could strike out at her, he was there to stop it, but he needn’t have worried. Ezra had already slipped into death. The two of them stood there for a moment and Demon sensed the other shifters in the woods moving away.
It was over. The Eastlands Alpha was dead, his mate was bound to him in all ways, and the Razorback Demon finally had a future to look forward to. Perhaps the Fates weren’t as clueless as he had originally thought.
****
“You know I never wanted to be your Alpha.” Demon growled against her neck, making her shiver. “I’m your mate.”
Ana reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders with a sigh. “I know, my love, but I’m yours, and I want you to be mine in all ways possible.”
Demon growled and held her tighter. He pulled back, thrust steadily into her, and the pleasure built within her with every stroke. “I like the sound of that. Does that mean I can give you orders and you have to comply?”
Ana laughed breathlessly. “No, my mate. Orders will never work on the mate of an Alpha.”
Demon pulled back to lean on his elbows, resting his forehead on hers. “What if I asked you nicely and promised to behave?”
Ana giggled, undulating her hips and reveling in his groan of appreciation. “I wouldn’t believe you. Demon by name and Demon by nature, remember?”
Demon laughed, a sound she was coming to crave. “Too true, my mate. Then how about I promise to fuck you the way you like it for the rest of our lives?” Demon began to piston his hips in a rhythm designed to drive her to the edge of sanity in an embarrassingly short amount of time, and she cried out his name. He lifted her legs to wrap them around his hips and she squeezed her internal muscles reflexively, wanting to hold him inside her.
“Fuck! Ana!” Demon roared as his rhythm faltered and he began to pound into her, deep furious thrusts that had her sobbing mindlessly as her orgasm built. Just when she thought she might shatter with the anticipation of what was building, her release rushed over. She screamed Demon’s name as her body began to convulse beneath the waves of pleasure. Before she completely lost her mind to the bliss, she leaned up and bit deep into her mate’s neck, cementing their bond, and completing her claim. She heard Demon’s answering curse as her release and no doubt her claiming bite triggered his own.
Ana gripped onto her mate as the world spun uncontrollably around her. Demon would hold her safe, and be her anchor in whatever storm came their way, just as she would be the same for him. How could it be any other way? She was the fated mate of the Razorback Demon, after all.