Red Velvet - Part 2: Predator

This is PART 2. If you've not read part 1 yet, please go back and read it <3 (Part 1: Prey can be found on @Vivienne Wren's page—use this link to find her page quickly: https://www.inkitt.com/viviennewrenauthor)

LYKOS

Saturday, 11:57am

Time to step into the woods, Little Red, and face the Big Bad Wolf.

The cursor blinks on the page, steady and waiting. It’s only one word, but it carries the weight of a thousand.

A minute passes. Then two.

I watch, waiting, because I can still see she’s online.

The cursor starts to slide across the screen, a single word staring back at me.

“Promise?”

I don’t have to think about the reply—it comes without hesitation.

“Pinky promise.”

The words that come next flow across the page like water—I’ve watched her write a few times now, and each time it never ceases to amaze me. Each stroke of the key is purposeful, pauses coming when she’s lost in thought about what to do next. And the bits that require no thought? The bits that just pour from her? They’re almost magical to witness.

Sunlight kisses the trees, the light of dawn scattered across the autumn leaves. This is what makes this place my favorite—the edge of darkness toes the line of safety. I’m halfway in his world, halfway in mine. Deep enough into the dimness of the woods for him to feel comfortable, but close enough to my house to make a run for it if things go south.

A crack in the danger—just enough space for me to settle into and make a home.

“I’m ready to see you now,” I murmur, skin humming with a mixture of excitement and dread. “All of you. Show me your true form.”

She wants me to come to the forest by her house.

She wants to know who I am.

Before I can decide whether she wants a reply or not, she’s offline.

I’m in motion immediately, grabbing a dark hoodie and the golden wolf mask from my desk.

I grab my keys, reaching for the door handle when my phone rings.

Fuck.

Pulling it out, I press the device between my shoulder and ear as I exit the house.

“You finally unblocked me—about damn time.” Leonidas says in way of greeting.

“What do you want, Leonidas?” I demand. “I’m going to meet my girl.”

A moment of silence greets me, the only sound my footsteps crunching through the fallen leaves.

“Wait, you blocked me for days and then the minute I get you on the phone you admit to having a girl?”

“I’m going to hang up if you don’t get to the point.” I warn, shoving my free hand into the hoodie pocket.

“Babysitting,” he blurts. “Two weeks from now—it’s Alba’s birthday.”

“At least this time you’re asking instead of tricking me into it.” I deadpan, weaving around the trees.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Leonidas argues. “Just saw an opportunity and took it.” Well, if that doesn’t sound familiar…

“Uh-huh,” I shake my head at him, even if he can’t see it. “I’m going now, see you in two weeks.”

“Don’t bring the kids anything!” He yells down the line just as I hang up.

When he asks, I definitely didn’t hear that bit.

The forest is still today, barely a whisper of wind weaving through the barren branches. The leaves make it nearly impossible to be quiet, but there are spaces where soft grass still sprouts, softening the steps.

As I draw closer, I settle the mask onto my face, pulling up my hood. The walk gives me time to think, time to prepare, and yet I spend nearly all of it day-dreaming of her instead.

I have no doubt she’s preparing something—perhaps a trap, perhaps just a lengthy lecture or warning. It doesn’t deter me, because I have plans of my own.

Excitement coils tighter with every third beat of my heart. This moment has always been coming—and I want nothing more but to have Carter in the light of day, rather than just whispers of her in the dark.

She’s always been mine, and very soon, she will realise it too.

The back of her house comes into view, and before I step from the cover of the forest, I slip my phone out and set her cameras on a loop—just in case.

Then I approach, my steps slow, loud on the twigs. My hands are shoved into my hoodie pocket, because it’s fucking cold out here and I didn’t grab gloves.

Carter stands on the patio, hands wrapped tightly around herself. She’s not wearing nearly enough for the weather, cheeks already red from the frost nipping at her skin.

Her lips part on a stuttered breath as she spots me, brows lowering into a scowl.

“Was the line about revealing yourself not clear enough?” She demands, jerking her chin towards the mask.

I reach up, grabbing the edges of the mask, but turn before I lift it from my face, wandering deeper into the forest with the golden mask hanging at my side.

“Hey!” She calls, the echo of her footsteps cutting through the stillness. “It doesn’t count if you—dammit.” The hinges of the gate squeal loudly—I’m going to need to oil that, or sneaking in through it will be a pain in the ass.

My pace increases as the stomping of her steps grow nearer, leading her towards a dense crop of evergreens. I weave between the wide, low branches quickly, glancing over my shoulder once I’m sure I’ve lost her.

I duck behind a thick trunk, listening as the crunching of her steps draws closer.

“Where did you go?” She doesn’t yell it—in fact, it’s closer to a whisper, disappointment weighing her voice down.

Sliding the mask in my pocket, I check the direction we came from—no cop follows, no trail of breadcrumbs or lentils.

She came alone.

I slip out, stepping back onto the path. My eyes dart from her back to the ground, watching my steps and my girl in equal measure.

Carter’s own movements are slow, cautious. Her hair is clipped up, my fingers itching to unravel it, wrap it around my fist and drag her lips to mine.

I resist the urge, instead choosing the normal, human way to greet someone. “Little Red, we—fuck.” I don’t even make it halfway through my sentence before Carter shrieks, spinning around and slashing out with a knife.

She’s armed.

Good girl.

I catch her wrist before she can impale me, halting her efforts. Her eyes widen, mouth dropping open, and just as I’m grabbing the knife from her, she drops it.

The blade succumbs to gravity, slicing through my palm as I snatch it, preventing it from potentially skewering her own foot, or removing a few toes. I tuck the knife into my pocket, bringing my hand up to inspect the inch long gash.

“I don’t remember Little Red stabbing the wolf in the stories.” I muse, eyes drawn to the steady stream of blood that falls from my hand to the ground below.

Great, now I’m dripping evidence everywhere. Now it really is a good thing she didn’t bring the cop.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Carter gushes, grabbing my hand to look at the wound. She glances around, before patting herself down, pausing on her pocket. “Oh tissues, perfect.” Without ceremony, she yanks a packet of tissues from her jacket, pulls one free and presses it into the wound. It doesn’t take long for the crimson to spread through, so she adds a second.

I watch, frozen, unsure what to say to that one. She is not yelling, or lecturing, or any of that—she’s tending to a wound she caused.

“Wait a minute,” her gaze snaps up, angry creases forming across her forehead.

I spoke too soon.

“Lykos? Wait, you’re the one who’s been stalking me?” She demands, dropping my hand. But she doesn’t try to move away, eyes fixed to me like mine to her. I rake my gaze over her, from the reddened tip of her nose, down her white jacket, stained with a drop of crimson.

But it’s not the only thing that catches my eyes.

Slowly, I reach for her left wrist with my good hand, bringing into the thin gap of space between us. I push the layers of fabric away, giving me a better view of the hint of red.

Deep marks cut into her skin, creating a circle around her wrist. I rub my thumb across the lines as though my touch can erase her pain. Her breathing hitches, turning shallow.

“Who hurt you, Little Red?”

“What?” She breathes, then her gaze drops to where my skin meets hers. “These? No they’re just from—err… handcuffs.”

My thumb stills. “Kade arrested you?”

“Well,” her cheeks flush. “He didn’t exactly arrest me.”

“Then what did he…” my brain catches up moments behind my mouth. “Oh fucking hell.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, attempting to scrub the mental image from my mind.

She would look good tied up.

But I hate the idea of such binds doing her harm.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Carter’s features harden. “That’s none of your damn business!”

I cock a brow. “I own your moans, Little Red, that makes it my business.”

She gaps at me, cheeks darkening. Then she pulls her wrist from my grip, the loss of contact inviting the cold back into my bones.

“We are way off track here,” she declares, looking anywhere but at me. “You’ve been stalking me—you broke into my car, into my house. What the fuck, Lykos? You-you came to my work. You clearly have no issue approaching me like a normal person, so why all of…” she trails off, gesturing to herself, the forest, and then me. “This!”

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “If I had approached you like a ‘normal person’,” I graze my knuckle down the side of her throat, her pulse hammering against my skin. “That is exactly what you’d think I am. And yes, I could have fooled you, taken you on normal dates and acted the part, and perhaps only once we were deep in the relationship let you know I’m not ‘normal’, or forever have kept it from you.”

My fingers have reached her collarbone, now drifting across the neck of her jacket, settling in the hollow of her neck. “But this way, there is no lie, there is no misconception.” In one motion, I catch her chin, dragging her eyes back up to mine.

“That’s supposed to make it okay?” She murmurs, even as she drifts closer.

“Have I hurt you?”

She shakes her head as much as she can while in my grasp. “No, but you’ve scared me.”

“Well, then I apologise. It was not my intention,” I admit, sliding my thumb along her jawline. “I figured if you could see the correlation between Riven and the gifts, you’d understand the intention.”

“Riven never killed anyone. You killed Layla!” She wrenches herself from my grasp, nearly tripping over the roots of the tree just feet away.

My face twists into confusion. “What? I didn’t kill her—what makes you think that?”

“The police told me!”

I scrub a hand over my face. “You mean Kade?” I drawl.

She nods, startling herself when her back meets the wood of the tree.

“He lied.” I say on a sigh. “I didn’t kill Layla.” I could tell her about what he’s done, that he’s the one who killed Layla. But considering the fresh marks on her wrist, it might be a little too soon to tell her the man who had her at his mercy last night killed Layla only a few hours before.

“Have you…?” She swallows thickly. “Have you ever hurt anyone?”

“Yes.”

Her brows slope, doubt creeping into her emerald gaze.“So how do I know you wouldn’t hurt me?”

I hold out my good hand, offering up my smallest finger. “Pinky promise, remember?”

Carter glances to my extended offering, hesitating. “Let’s say I believe you,” she murmurs, eyes flicking up and linger on my lips a moment too long. “Hypothetically, where do you think this would go? What’s the plan here?”

You’re mine, and the plan is to show you what that means. Imprint myself on every inch of you in the way you’re already inked across my soul. But that might be a little too much for her to handle right now.

“Hypothetically,” I state, mimicking her own stressing of the word. “I’d start by doing more normal relationship things, if that’s what you want.”

“You just admitted that you’d be acting if you did that,” she points out, raising her chin and folding her arms across her chest. “If it was really up to you, how would you start?”

I glance at her lips, set into a thin line, as though too much thought is going into keeping them together.

Reaching for her, I gauge her reaction. Like each time I’ve done it so far, she makes no move to stop me. Settling my hand along her jaw, I stroke my thumb along her bottom lip. They part in response, a quick, subtle inhale.

“I’d start like this.”

The world blurs away as my lips crash into hers, eager, demanding—all things she returns with the same passion. Her arms unfold, clutching the fabric of my hoodie as she pulls me closer.

My hand slips into her hair, angling her head to allow me to slip my tongue between her soft lips. I groan as I delve into her mouth, swallowing the soft sounds that escape her.

One of her hands slides up, nails scraping along my neck, before moving into my hair and tugging on the strands.

My control snaps, my hands wrapping beneath her thighs and hoisting her up against the tree, not ever removing my lips from hers. She gasps, locking her legs around my hips, rolling her centre against the bulge in my pants.

Fucking hell.

If I don’t put a stop to this now, I fear I won’t be able to.

I tear my lips away, breathing heavily. Her chest rises and falls with equally as desperate breaths.

“Okay,” she manages. “Good start.”

“And it’s exactly that,” I murmur, sliding her down and setting her back on her feet. “The start.”

“One date.” She bargains. “Sunday.”

A slow smirk spreads across my lips. “That’s all I need, baby.”

She scoffs, but doesn’t argue, eyes lingering just beneath my eyes.

Stepping back, before I lose the ability to be able to, I pull her knife from my pocket, offering the handle to her.

“I presume you want your kitchen knife back?”

She glances down at it, the heat of her gaze straying from the object. It’s like a goddamn branding iron, making my cock twitch.

“Uh yeah, thanks.” She accepts it, holding it carefully. “Sorry. How’s your hand?”

I shrug. “Offically marked by you. Can’t complain.”

She raises a brow, the starry-eyed looking beginning to slip from her expression. “I nearly stabbed you, and you’re not upset?”

“We have a different understanding of the word ‘nearly’,” I supply, turning towards her house and beginning to pick my way back through the forest.

She falls into step beside me, tucking the knife away. “Has anyone ever told you you’re cocky?” She muses.

“Among other things.”

A chime cuts through the thickness of the air, pulling Carter’s attention to her pocket. She pulls her phone free, stopping dead in her tracks and nearly dropping it as she hastily swipes to unlock it.

“She got in!” Carter exclaims, jumping up and waving her phone excitedly. Her chaotic movements catch me in the face, a wince pinching my face as I take a step back.

I rub the spot on my forehead where she got me. “How many marks do you intend to give me, Little Red? And who got in?”

She sobers up for a moment. “At least a couple more,” she deadpans. “And my gran, she got into the nursing home!”

Looks like my meddling paid off. It doesn’t take much to get these places to reconsider pending applicants—all they want is a bit of money. A check with the right numbers can open all kinds of doors.

This world is built to favour the rich, afterall.

“Glad to hear it,” I tell her sincerely, continuing onwards.

She hurries after me, a smile still plaster to her face. “We’ve been waiting so long for this. It should help her a lot.”

We’ve reached her house now, the gate wide open from Carter’s hasty exit.

She hesitates as she passes over the threshold, pausing and turning to look at me. “This means you’re going to stop stalking me now, right?”

I don’t answer, instead turning around and heading back into the forest, calling over my shoulder, “See you Sunday, Little Red.”