Desire Unchained

An orderly pushing a cart with his tentacles passed by, and once he was out of earshot, Eidolon said, “Are you in danger of falling for Runa anytime soon?”


Shade closed his eyes, as if doing so would block out the truth. “No,” he lied. He didn’t want to freak out his brothers, and saying yes would put Runa in immediate danger.

“I know you don’t want to kill her, but there might be another way.”

Shade’s eyes snapped open. “What?”

“We can keep her here. Or somewhere. A special room where she’ll be comfortable. You can go to her when you need to—”

“You want to keep her caged like an animal? Like an Orgesu?”

“Shade, if she isn’t bonded to you, she can take off. Go anywhere she wants, screw anyone she wants, and where does that leave you? A strung-out beast trying to track her down before you die. Even if she were bonded, you can’t be together. You’ll fall for her. It’s inevitable. Then we lose you and you’re stuck in a fate worse than death.”

Way worse. He could picture himself as nothing more than a phantom, floating around with no way to communicate with anyone, no way to touch anyone. Stuck in a permanent state of starvation, thirst, and pain from unrelieved lust, he’d go insane. Hell, insanity was a family trait, and he was halfway there already.

“I can’t keep her as a sex slave, E. I can’t make her live out her life alone except when I come to her a few times a day for a quick fuck.”

“I’m giving you an alternative to killing her.”

Shade glanced through the lab door window, trying to imagine Runa locked away, alone in a room with nothing but maybe a television and some books to keep her company. Would she waste away, fade into a listless shell with nothing to live for as her bright spark fizzled? Would she just lie there as he took her, her empty eyes staring at the wall until he finished? Or would she grow angry and bitter, becoming a rabid beast he’d have to rape in order to get what he needed?

Gods, he wanted to throw up.

As though she felt his gaze, she turned, flashed him a little wave with one hand as she held a cotton ball over the needle puncture with the other. Frank said something that made her laugh, and she turned to him, her smile innocent and flirty all at once, and Shade wanted to barge in there and crack open the bastard’s skull.

“Fucking Roag,” he snarled. “Man, I want to make him bleed.”

“We all do.”

“Really?” Shade whipped his head around. “Do you really? Because you and Roag were always tight. You never saw the bad in him.”

Eidolon blinked a couple of times, as if he couldn’t believe Shade had said that, and yeah, that was a low blow.

“Hey,” Shade muttered, “I’m sorry. I’m frustrated. And pissed. I shouldn’t be a werewolf, I shouldn’t be bonded, and Skulk shouldn’t be dead. Oh, and my neck burns.”

Frowning, E brought his fingers to Shade’s throat. “S’genesis. It’s coming. Any minute now.”

Naturally. He rubbed his eyes, wondering how he’d backed right up to a cliff edge so quickly.

Rotating lights on the walls began to flash, and the faint warble of ambulance sirens sent a jolt of adrenaline surging through Shade’s veins. It never failed to amaze him how, when E first proposed building a hospital, Shade had resisted, having no desire to help anyone. But he’d quickly grown addicted to the excitement, the rush that came with every emergency.

He knew Eidolon was feeling the same thing, would be jonesing to sprint to the ER and take command of whatever was going to be exploding through the doors.

Shade scrubbed his palm over his face. “I need to get back to work.”

“You sure?”

“It’ll take my mind off things. Besides, who knows how my poor ambulances were being treated while I was gone?” He couldn’t leave Runa alone, though, not when it would be so easy for her to run away. “Runa can ride along on the ambulance runs.”

“As long as you think you can handle it.”

“I’ll work on the new duty schedule tomorrow and start runs as soon as the full moon phase is over.”

The lab door opened, and Runa stood there, looking adorable and lost, and he wanted to drag her into his arms and hold her. He was in so. Much. Trouble.

“Frank said I’m done.”

Frank. Not the lab technician. Or Mr. Williams. Frank.

This raging jealousy was not good.

Eidolon knew, clapped a hand on Shade’s shoulder. “It’ll get easier.”

“Whatever,” he mumbled. “You heading home?” When E nodded, Shade added, “You’re sure Wraith’s okay.”

“For now. Kynan is keeping an eye on him.”

“Kynan Morgan, right?” Runa asked.

Eidolon cocked a brow. “You know him?”