The Hybrid Trials Book 2: The Hybrid Hunt
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Jen Cooper
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Chapter 1
Book 2: The Hybrid Hunt
RYKEN
“Hurry up,” she whispered, her breath brushing my lips before she crushed hers on them.
I tore her ripped clothes from her thin body, desperate to feel her skin beneath mine.
“Bottoms,” I urged, undoing my own and kicking my boots off.
The abandoned cabin on the edge of the Storm Blood Pack boundary was rundown, freezing, and bereft of anything other than a few scratchy blankets.
Leaves littered the ground from the hole in the roof. Drops of rain fell through, and I shoved our bodies out from under them.
We tumbled to the ground, and I caught her under me, our lips never parting.
My skin burned despite the chill of the air around us. Her body shivered as I ran my fingers over it, loving the feel of her even more every time we met.
“I’ve only got ten minutes before I have to get to the kitchen to prep dinner,” she whispered.
“I’m hungry now,” I said, rolling us so she was arching up from the blankets as I lowered my mouth down the hard ridges of her body.
“Ryken,” she murmured, her hands already buried in my hair, “there’s no time.” But I silenced her protests.
I buried my mouth between her legs, licking up her wet center and stroking her clit with my tongue. She moaned, her voice hoarse as she tried not to be too loud.
I gripped her thighs on either side of my head and devoured her.
She tasted like fucking heaven. Sweet and salty in one pretty package that I opened as often as I could.
She bit into her hand as I teased her. Her thighs trembled the more I tasted her, and it only took a few seconds before her body was in full convulsions, giving in to the wave of pleasure I gave her.
I grinned and wiped my mouth, climbing over her, dragging my cock between her folds.
“Open your eyes, Kenz,” I whispered against her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and I stared down at her big blue eyes. They were addictive, expressive, and drowned in heat.
I spread her wide, lifting her thigh before sinking into her.
She let out a sigh from deep in her chest, and I growled, the connection between us burning inside.
My balls ached, my cock so damn hard as I buried myself inside her.
I wanted to savor the feeling and take my time with her, but there was never time for that.
We only had moments. Moments between my patrols, my duties, and her schedule, which was overloaded at all times, my father punishing her every day.
But she stayed. She never backed down.
And she always met me here, ready to feed whatever we had in the hopes that one of these days, our bond would come back.
I fucked her hard, stroking her walls with my length like the right thrust would connect us on that next level. It never did, but damn, it was fun trying.
She wrapped her legs around me, her moans and sighs falling from her swollen lips as I kissed her again.
I groaned as she rolled her hips against me.
She rose up to hold me as I slammed inside her, moving us fast against the broken, rotting floorboards.
It wasn’t a romantic setting at all, but meeting her behind my father’s back? It was a death wish that made us both hot and desperate every time.
She shuddered around me, her black hair tumbling over her shoulders as she clenched her eyes shut.
Her pussy clamped down on my cock, and I groaned, the tight grip on my length forcing my balls to react. They drew up, the pleasure swelling inside me.
I came with her, my release surging through me at the same time her orgasm claimed her.
She bit into my shoulder, her muffled cries falling on my skin as I buried my face in her neck and filled her with my seed.
Her breaths came hard against my skin as she slowly pulled away. I laid her back on the floor and kissed her softly.
“One of these days, Kenzie,” I whispered.
She smiled. “Arlo thinks he’s close. After last time, my mating markers have changed. Whatever that means.”
She pushed me back and grabbed for her clothes. I grimaced and looked away.
It hurt every time she got dressed straight away and left. I knew she had to, but the connection burned to take care of her, to spend time making her feel loved and worshipped.
The bond niggled, and I rubbed my chest.
It was doing something. That was enough to prove we were on the right track.
She didn’t show any sign of discomfort, though. If it was affecting her too, she kept it hidden.
Which I understood. I knew the pack was putting her through hell.
“You’ve lost weight,” I murmured, eyeing the way her bones pulled at her skin. It was just like when I had first seen her in the Nexus.
“And you expected something different?” she said defensively. “The runt gets scraps. But the baby is okay. Arlo is making sure of it.”
The baby.
That word was an arrow to my heart.
She was pregnant.
And I wasn’t with her.
I heard her getting sick every morning through the grate that separated our rooms in the pack house, heard her tears at night, heard her fight to survive every day. But I didn’t want her to have to fight.
Not when she was meant to be mine, and our child rested inside her.
But I wasn’t strong enough yet.
I had one shot at my father, and I had to make sure it was a good one.
I had been training relentlessly for the last month. If I wasn’t in the gym, I was in the arena, sparring, fighting, building strength.
But that wasn’t the only obstacle.
Cecilia.
She had become the biggest pain in my ass.
Her father was as ruthless as mine and wouldn’t hesitate to kill my mate and my child if I tried to leave the marriage.
“I’ll try to get you some more food. It’s hard with my father and Cec—”
“No mentioning her name. That’s the rule,” Kenzie growled.
I swallowed the name and eyed my mate as I pulled my own clothes on. “Have you heard anything from the faction?”
She shoved her feet into her boots. “Arlo set up a meeting. A fortnight from today. I’m meeting with one of their inside men on the Black Moon Pack boundary.”
I froze. A man? Alone in the woods with my mate?
A deep growl erupted from my chest, and I pursed my lips. “I’m coming,” I said.
She scoffed. “No, you’re not. They said to come alone.”
“And let you around another male? Alone?” I snarled.
She shrugged. “You’re the married one, not me.” Her words seemed intentionally sharp.
My scowl deepened. “My father threatened your life if I didn’t marry her, Kenzie. What was I meant to do?”
She shrugged again, but I knew she was still seething about it. I didn’t blame her. If I had seen her get married, even if it was to save my own life, I would have behaved much less honorably than she had.
“I haven’t signed anything, Kenzie. The second I found out you carried my heir, I refused,” I said, but that just had her angry, flushed cheeks darkening.
“Wow, good on you, Ryken. So if I hadn’t been pregnant, where would that leave me?”
I was not explaining myself well. She had that effect on me. Everything made sense in my head, and then she scrambled it.
I let out a tense breath and stood, holding my hand out to help her up. She ignored it and brought herself to her feet.
“I’m not refusing to sign the papers because you’re pregnant, Mackenzie. I’m refusing because Cerberus lost his leverage over me. He won’t kill you now. Not while you carry a true Storm Blood heir.”
She looked toward the wooden walls before sighing and nodding. “I know. It’s just getting harder to see you with her. With them.”
I pulled her into me, holding her close as she breathed in my scent. It soothed her sickness, and I had given her countless shirts because of it, but it wasn’t the same as when we were together.
Her aura felt calm, like it knew there was a bond.
Like it could sense the connection my father had sliced away when we were only children.
I held Mackenzie tighter, and she closed her eyes against my chest.
“I can challenge him. If that’s what you want?” I offered.
She shook her head quickly. “No. Not until you’re strong enough. He’ll kill you otherwise,” she whispered, shuddering, her fingers clutching my shirt tightly.
“That would be an easier fate than this.”
She pulled back then and gazed at me. “We have to do this right. I want him to pay for what he did, what he’s doing. We can’t afford to make a move too early.”
I knew she was right, but it was hard to listen to. Especially when she was losing weight, with dark circles under her eyes and her skin paling.
“It’s getting harder to wait for that time,” I said, looking over her.
She smiled and leaned up to kiss me softly. “I know. I feel it too, every time I see you sit with her at dinner, at events. I can’t stand it when she touches you, knowing there’s nothing I can do.”
I kissed her deeper, my tongue brushing along her lips before slipping between them.
I moved my mouth with hers, my hand holding the side of her face as she sighed against me.
“I am yours, Mackenzie. No matter how many times she touches me, she will never have me inside of her. I promise you,” I said against her mouth before kissing her again.
She met my kiss, deepening it, tangling her tongue with mine as I held her against me.
I lifted her onto my waist, moving us to the wall so I could press her against it.
She moaned as I ran my hand along her thigh, squeezing her tight ass as I held it.
I had every intention of taking her again when there was a rap of knuckles on the door.
A second later, it opened.
I spun, snarling at the intrusion.
“Your father is looking for you,” Viking said, not a hint of fear at my bared teeth.
“How long?” I asked.
Viking’s voice lowered. “He’s already torturing his way through the last place you were.”
“Fuck,” I growled, turning to Kenzie.
She had already put her walls back up, her eyes like steel as they connected with mine. “Go. I can’t lose this time with you. If he finds out—” She shook her head, and I knew what she meant.
If he found out we were seeing each other, he’d lock us both up, and we would never regain our bond.
Arlo was sure it wouldn’t come back, but he was helping us try. The time we spent together nurturing the connection seemed to be doing…something…but I had no idea whether that was going to bring the full bond back or not.
Still, we had to try. And that meant finding time together whether it risked our lives or not.
I pulled back from Kenzie and put her on the ground. I kissed her cheek and then turned to Viking. He chucked me a vial.
I popped the cork off and downed the contents. It was fucking disgusting, and I growled as it went down.
Pain latched onto every part of my mind, and I gritted my teeth, clenching my eyes shut.
It hurt like a bitch, but it was necessary.
It kept me from the link for the half hour I was with Mackenzie and kept the time I spent with her burned from my memories so it couldn’t be accessed.
It was another risk, since it could affect the progress we’d made, but so far we hadn’t seen any adverse effects. I had to hope that was a good sign.
“I’ll see you soon,” I told Kenzie, leaving the cabin with Viking. I glanced over my shoulder as I left and wished I hadn’t.
She had tears in her eyes as she watched me go. I knew she was going to cry as soon as I was gone. She always did.
It broke me, but I had to stay strong. We both did.
Not just for ourselves—for our child.
We couldn’t take over the pack yet, and we couldn’t raise our child on the run.
We had no option except to survive.
