The Wicked Beasts That Roam

Chapter 10

“I think I killed her.” Damian winced as he held the phone to his ear.

“Who’re you talking about?” Aidyn’s loud voice boomed as carnival music played in the background.

“Jade.”

She’d been out for more than thirty minutes, and he hadn’t been sure whether to call Len or his brothers. Yet, he was positive they’d all say the same thing—

You killed another one?

“Jesus Christ, how the hell did you manage that? It’s not even a full moon, Dom.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over his shoulder at the human who lay unconscious on the couch. “I might’ve gotten a little . . . carried away.”

The lights of the lounge gave her skin a dusky golden hue, and blood matted her chocolate locks. It would be like him to destroy something so innocent while trying to feed his own needs. He paced in front of the far left window, gaze trained on the woods, his eyes seeing past the trees and the bushes.

“Let me guess, you were switching spit with her and got too rough?”

“Maybe.”

On the other end of the phone, his brother sighed. “Have you checked her pulse?”

“Yeah, it’s a little slow.”

“Sounds like she’ll be fine. Just watch her until I get home, and I’ll give her some pain killers to ease the headache.”

With a grimace, he left the sanctity of the window, which he’d been standing at for the last half-hour, afraid he’d somehow do more damage to her. He headed toward sleeping beauty, his chin dipping to his chest in shame.

“Next time, how ‘bout you try and tone down that rough side of yours?”

Tone down? Was he serious? If Damian toned himself down anymore, he’d be a pansy-ass.

“Women like softness, brother. You should try it sometime.” Yeah, well she seemed to like the roughness until her head bounced off the picture frame. With that, his brother hung up.

He slid his phone into his pocket and took the wet rag off of Jade’s forehead. Tonight hadn’t gone as planned at all. He came home, found no Jack, went on a rage binge, destroyed the kitchen, and nearly killed the human with a kiss.

He wrenched a hand over his buzzed hair, swearing beneath his breath. He’d been hell-bent on demolishing the whole house, but a voice full of curiosity had taken him by surprise and swept over him like a current, so ethereal that it felt as if cold water had splashed onto him. It awakened him and, like a sudden switch, he felt himself calming, all the tension in his mind easing. Out of instinct, his muscles had stiffened as he tried to brush off the feeling. Block it from his mind, at least. He preferred his fury when paralleled with the softening effect the human had on him.

And he had turned around, prepared to tell her off, prepared to send her running for the hills . . . but the way she had looked at him as if he were an actual monster . . . It made him think that he was one.

Her eyes were wide. Face pale. She hadn’t seen the real beast yet—the one lurking just beneath his skin, but she was already afraid.

Maybe it was best that it stay like that.

He had meant to intimidate her more as he pushed her up against the wall, but his entire body betrayed him. Mind included.

“You really know how to show a girl a good time.” His attention snapped to Jade as she sat up, palming the back of her head.