Free The Wilder Alpha by Evelyn Glass

TWELVE
     
    Time passed. Kristi’s scent faded. Naps and pain interrupted Jay’s perpetual darkness. Otherwise, it felt as if a decade passed. Pain still wracked at his body, yet – over the endless time – it lessened. At least his body managed to heal itself, despite lack of nutrients – a small positive in a world full of negatives.
     
    A few times, Jay attempted to work out. He managed fifty push-ups before a combination of pain and exhaustion forced him to lay in the dirt. A far cry from the two hundred he’d accomplish every so often in his prison. Every passing second marked a growing depression in his head. Part of him wished the shadows would simply swallow him up, erasing his existence.
     
    When Gavin’s cocktail scent of blood-mildew-mud flickered through Jay’s nose, his guts cinched. Through the boulder, he heard muffled conversation, cut short by the boulder’s movement. It was time for another round with the alpha. Jay expected it.
     
    The green-eyed man stepped into the room and the alchemical lights blared to life. Jay raised his arm, blinking against the sudden illumination. Despite his sore body’s protests, Jay managed to climb to his feet, using the wall for stability. He lowered his arm, finding the alpha’s furious gaze on him.
     
    “Who did this?” Gavin waved his arm toward Jay’s body.
     
    Jay glanced down, realizing he was bare-chested. In the lights, he realized how much of a mess he looked like. Half-healed bruises, scabs, shoddy stitch work stretched across his sun-starved, pallid flesh. He looked like Frankenstein’s monster. Jay shot the alpha a look. Kristi’s scent had faded, but he didn’t want any wild goose chase to start up after this. He needed to sear this infraction from Gavin’s mind. “You sure are a shitty alpha.”
     
    “What?” Gavin’s question sounded more like a demand.
     
    “You heard me,” Jay started to circle the alpha and Gavin followed his lead. Neither tore their gazes from one another. Though Jay’s body complained with every step, he ignored the pain that rollicked over his body. “You can’t catch a scent and your pack disobeys you and helps the enemy. You must be a pisspoor alpha.”
     
    “Big words from someone so useless, their own people haven’t come looking.”
     
    “Which is sadder: a wolf who knows their subpar status,” Jay raised his eyebrows, amusement tickling at his thoughts. Was Gavin this self-conscious? Perhaps seeing Jay’s mended injuries sparked the inferior feelings. Regardless, Jay wanted Gavin to cling to that rage. He needed the alpha to completely forget someone in his pack had defied him. Jay listed his head to the side, as he added, “Or a weak alpha?”
     
    “ I’m not weak ,” snarled Gavin, a vein throbbing from his temple. His jaw flexed and bloodlust leaked into his gaze. His fingers crooked and fidgeted, as if preparing to rip Jay’s jugular out.
     
    Jay’s smirk grew as a false sense of bravado took over his mouth, “Ooh, is the widdle alpha concerned what a Sentinel thinks of him?”
     
    Gavin didn’t reply. He only forced a scornful, bitter laugh from his lips.
     
    “You must be pretty weak.” Jay spoke in a light, conversational tone, though his volume did increase. The guards had to be listening in. Jay glanced toward the boulder, while a smile broadened across his lips. The tension became hotter and sharper as Gavin narrowed his eyes. Still, Jay pressed on, “You didn’t bother with me until I was starved of food and moonlight.”
     
    A guttural growl rumbled through the air. Gavin’s pupils narrowed into slits. His fingernails grew and darkened, becoming hardened claws. Tufts of fur sprouted along his jaw,
     
    “Your beta had the guts to face me right away.”
     
    Gavin charged forward, slamming Jay against a wall. His forearm pinned Jay’s down by his throat. Spittle flew from the alpha’s mouth as he snapped, “Shut your trap, you piece of filth.”
     
    “What?