Hunted: Primal - Book Three - A dark MM werewolf romance

“It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jagged teeth...Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person instead, and then the luckless individual became a Wendigo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh.”

— Ojibwa Legend Description

-One Week After Arrival- River Run Village-

Aiden woke up in a cold sweat, shot upright, and looked around frantically with a gasp on his lips and for a wild moment forgot where the hell he was.

Holy shit.

He raked both hands back through his hair shakily and had no idea what had woken him up, just had a vague impression of a nightmare lingering in the atmosphere, and jumped under the sudden drifting glide of a hand on his back.

“Shhh. It’s all good, babe.” River murmured, clearly still out of it, stretched out on his side on the deep, down mattress beside him. He just petted Aiden's naked stretch of spine with a delicate, soothing brush of fingers.

It was the second time that night the man had jolted awake, and River could only assume it was a product of their near murder on the mountainside.

Really, River would have liked to say he was at all shocked by that moment on the trail; it would have been a nice change of pace in his life had he been, but frankly, this was the kind of shit that he was more surprised about when it didn’t happen.

It hadn’t helped Aiden’s paranoia or abated his guilty agonizing over that fucking bear trap; he had been internalizing over dragging River along that particular path every day since, whether he said it anymore or not didn’t matter. Clearly, the near miss had struck a chord. In Aiden's mind, he should have seen the setup coming, should have expected that betrayal, and nothing River had said had fully killed that wild bleed-out of hormonal guilt.

The steel trap had sucked…a lot, but River healed faster than most, and other than a ruined boot and a shredded pant leg, he wasn’t much worse for wear.

He knew what flipped Aiden out the most about the situation was not just that unexpected betrayal, but the callous nature of it. Over everything else, that was the thing that was fucking with his head the hardest. He had asked River on the walk to River Run with wide-eyed sudden revelation, “River, um, how do you think they knew you’d step in that trap?”

It had been a moment of explanation on River’s end that had sucked, and just confirmed to himself that people in general sucked; Shifter or Human didn’t matter in that assessment.

He had looked at those beautiful hazel eyes and at times couldn’t fathom how the man managed to be at once jaded as hell and naïve to a lot of the evils of the world. It was a miracle considering how long Aiden had survived on his own.

River had flexed a smile and shook his head. “They didn’t, Aiden. They would have crippled you, and it would have had the same result for them. I still would have run over to help you, got trapped in that net, only in that scenario, we both would have been netted, overrun and they could have just carried you back to Luca after I was dead.”

The look of traumatized horror had been so complete that it had just pissed River off more. Sure as shit, he had thought all about both sides of that coin that was for sure. It made him almost cold thinking that had they literally just swapped positions on the trail or been three feet to the right, Aiden would have been caught in that fucking thing instead.

It frosted him to know it. He didn’t need to know a fucking thing about that redheaded prick, or the type of man Luca had proven himself to be, to understand that it was all relative at that point. The goal had been to kill River either way and to take Aiden back; end of story.

Pissed him right off.

It had also about quadrupled his level of respect for Dakota Little Elk in this life that was for damn sure; all of River Run Pack actually.

They had arrived the previous week about midafternoon, walked through the gates, and had Antony lying in wait, half the tribe watching the reunion while their Leads' tiny lover had launched himself on his friend. Honestly, Antony didn’t seem like he was the freest flowing creature with tears in his life, but he sure as shit cried all over Aiden as soon as they crossed the threshold safely.

River had shaken hands with Rowan and Dakota both, at a loss on how to thank them for that intervention and now hospitality, before finally just pointing up to the circling birds and spreading helpless hands.

It had amused the hell out of Dakota and was probably the first time in River’s life one of his own had hugged him. The man had clapped his back warmly and creased those dark eyes at him. “Rowan says you and Aiden are always welcome, River. Nothing else needs to be said.”

River would say this, though: the level of comfort he had achieved after slinging off his backpack, and taking a real shower in their shared cabin space while Aiden got them unpacked and settled had been almost unreal. The four sturdy walls, the hot water, and God help him, but the mattress?

It had almost broken his will to live.

Amazing, and he had caught Aiden in his own throes of delight on the way out of the bathroom. The guy had been face down on the bed, boots off with his arms spread wide, and the look on that man’s face when he had turned to look at him had been so relieved it had made River laugh for a good long while over it.

Adorable and much-needed after going through hell.

However, they were waiting on Cameron Howser and Ezra Brownsten. Dakota had assured Aiden and Antony both that Ezra and the entire crew were on their way, that no sane creature would attack Cameron’s full Pack without having a serious death wish, especially in a territory Cloud Peak knew so well, in the dead of a snowstorm to boot.

River thought that between the last week and this new waiting game, it was fraying his lover to the very edge of what he had left to give.

And that was proven right then when Aiden rubbed his face wearily before flopping down and rolling back into the circle of River's arm, tucked in, and just whispered, “Baby, I can’t handle this. I feel like the longer they’re gone the more dead they are.”

River pet over his shoulder and wasn’t sure how to placate that fear. He didn’t think he could honestly. “They’ll be okay.” He scooped Aiden closer, rested his chin on his thick hair, and petted him down with light hands. “Cameron is probably the most terrifying guy I’ve met in a quick minute, you know?” He kissed his head. “And he’s got some big, heavy-hitting boys on his team. I’m sure they’ll be good.”

Aiden just nodded and dug his face into that long, graceful throat, probably uncomfortably so on River’s end, but he desperately needed the closeness.

God, but it was bizarre to think that mere weeks ago, he hadn’t even known this guy, but suddenly, he couldn’t picture a moment ahead in his life where River wasn’t there.

It was sincerely terrifying on every level, especially in this goddamn world where anything could and would happen at the drop of a dime. Fuck, but Aiden could close his eyes and see that moment the trap had snapped River up, that net sweeping that golden glory, and every single second he thought of it, made him reel with nausea all over again.

Like right that literal second.

He shuddered and slathered himself against that strong frame, comfort be damned.

River laughed softly, shifted back a smidge to settle in, and grinned when that inch was immediately squeezed back in. “Didn’t you just tell me you weren’t a clingy guy, by the way?”

He felt that physical pause, and then Aiden laughed brightly and shook his head. “I lied.”

River chuckled, and really, in his heart of hearts, didn’t give a damn if Aiden was. He liked it better like this anyway, and nothing in him or in his very possessive wolf brain liked distance. Preferably, he would have loved to spend the entire winter, denned up, wrapped around this man, taking in the unique scents of body, his hair, and the particular flavor Aiden alone wore around him, and would have been a hell of a lot happier for it. “I don’t mind, babe. You make me happy, you know that?”

Aiden pulled his lower lip under and was precariously emotional as it was before he wrapped a leg around him for good measure. “Yeah?” God, but he could live off how good those hands on his body were alone.

“Yeah.” He agreed pleasantly and had to crane back to even see the man’s nose at this point. “Aiden?”

“Yes?” Those pretty hazel eyes shifted upward. Even in the shade of early-morning darkness, River could have closed his eyes and seen that tri-colored masterwork as if his eyes were illuminated in bright sunlight. He loved those eyes.

“Everything is good. Look around you.” Those eyes slipped around the dark space before coming back to his. River smiled and pried him back enough to put lips to that sweet mouth. “Ezra is on his way, baby. We have a roof for the first time in years over our heads, showers in the other room, full bellies, and each other.” He sprinkled a little peck onto that nose too, and saw that expression finally start to ease down. “Everything is fine. The snow will keep fuck-boy away for now, and all is good.”

Aiden looked that beautiful face over with something like deep contemplation and had never felt so fucking lucky in this life before pressing back up into that mouth a little desperately. “Goddamn, but I really love you.” River beamed at the abrupt declaration and shifted his head on the pillow, eyes languid and lovely with how pleased that made him in this life. Aiden grabbed the blanket, pulled it back up over them both, and dug back in for the literal and metaphorical long haul. “I’m really glad you’re hard to kill.” He added.

River just chuckled and agreed wholeheartedly. He was also glad he was hard to kill, but it lost a lot of its spice and ummph when contrasted against Aiden’s very mortal state of being. God, but it really was terrifying at the core of it. Even just picturing anything at all that River could have walked off easily and then imagining the consequences of those same scenarios for something human just nailed home how precarious and fragile human health and life truly were.

Who the fuck wanted to live in perfect health until they were a hundred without the person they wanted to be with by their side? That was the real disquieting question haunting River now, and that was the truth of it.

He pulled Aiden in and stroked down over his arm in comfort, felt him finally resettle, heard his breathing even, and for a long time stared at the wall, considering this new life. He thought about the people around him, a new enemy on the horizon, and thought all about that redheaded fuck getting his ass kicked by a bunch of birds.

That made his lips quirk, but to be fair, he probably would have pissed himself too the second he saw a beak that size coming for his eyeball.

Couldn’t have happened to better people, though.

This time, when River drifted off to sleep, he went out thinking all about getting claws on cowardly little pups in this life who needed big tricks to compensate for little dick energy.

River would play, and wouldn’t you know it, but he had a real big dick.