A NEW PREDATOR

A NEW PREDATOR
JACK CROW

“Come on, put that damn thing away!”

I watch Belmonte from atop the wagon, my body lying on the metal, not taking my eyes off the son of a bitch jumping out of the bear’s cage. I observe everything carefully, seeing men walking toward the cage, carrying wooden crates inside. The injured animal, cornered in the left side, is so badly hurt it barely moves, which makes me understand why Dior punished it so much. He beat the poor animal until it was scared and cornered, causing no trouble for the bastards using its cage to hide the crates.

The baby elephant makes loud noises, scared by the movement of the men passing near its cage and its mother’s. It’s restless, raising its trunk and letting out a shrill trumpet.

“Shit!” Belmonte growls angrily. “Shut up, stupid animal!”

Cowardly, he kicks the cage, scaring the baby even more, which makes the mother elephant go into protective mode, getting angry, her huge body slamming against the cage and echoing a trumpet even louder than the baby’s.

“Shut the fuck up, you damn animal, Belmonte...”

My eyes fix on the man in the suit, who has a scar on his eyebrow and is inside the bear’s cage, angrily saying a few things. From atop the wagon, I have a good view of him thanks to the dim light from the streetlamp illuminating his face, letting me notice his Germanic features. He looks with even more anger at the agitated elephants, yelling in the neighboring cage.

“Shut up, damn it!” Belmonte goes back to the cage, but it only makes the mother elephant angrier.

“Just do your damn job and shut up that bastard animal!” The man in the suit inside the cage growls, then steps out.

I analyze him, studying his build, as well as the expensive shoe on his foot and the gold watch on his wrist. He walks toward Belmonte, stopping close and staring at him with hatred.

“Oh, shut them up, or I will...”

My body stiffens, and I know exactly what he’s going to do when he reaches for his waist and pulls a .45 from his holster, raising his arm quickly and firing point-blank at the mother elephant, leaving a bullet hole between her eyes. I growl, feeling hatred for such cowardice against the poor caged animal.

I act fast, bringing my fingers behind my back to draw my pistol. But I don’t, not when the wind passing through me carries the scent of strawberries, which I recognize the moment I inhale.

I turn my head almost automatically, looking for her, knowing to whom that sweet fragrance belongs. At first, I think I’m crazy, that it’s just in my head. But it’s not, not when my eyes find the silhouette behind the lion’s cage. Even though there’s little light there, I can still see hair blowing in the wind.

“Selly.” I’m practically rolling face down the moment I see her.

I crawl to the other side of the wagon, my arm gripping the iron bars as I jump down. I run fast, knowing if they look toward the lion’s cage, they’ll see her.

What the hell is she doing here, putting herself in danger?!

Fredo said no one left after Belmonte’s curfew, so how the hell did Selly come straight here?! I’m running behind the lion’s cage as fast as I can, seeing the son of a bitch staring at the dead elephant, fallen inside the cage, as his arm moves toward the baby.

I reach out for the woman’s waist and grab her as she trembles and struggles, turning her toward me. The delicate face of the little angel, who stirs my demons with such ease, makes me fix my eyes on her wet cheeks, tears rolling down them, as she gives me the same frightened look as that dirty child ten years ago, when I made her stumble and fall.

“It’s me, little bear...” I whisper, lifting her face, seeing the fear and pain reflected in her black eyes. “You’re safe.”

Her body is cold, and she cries, closing her eyes at the sound of the second shot. Her fingers clutch my arms, hiding her face against my chest, sobbing through the tears. I hug her tight, pressing her firmly to me, my fingers squeezing her.

I hold her as if she’s the most important thing I’ve ever held in my arms, and I will never let anyone take her from me or hurt her, with the damn instinct to protect taking over me, knowing I’d kill them before they even touched her.

I stare at the poor fallen, lifeless baby next to its mother’s body as I hug Selly tighter, my eyes locked on the Germanic man with the cold gaze guarding his pistol.

“It’s okay, it’s okay...” I breathe deeply, my voice heavy with hatred for the damn cowardice done to these animals, holding Selly tighter so she feels safe with me. “You’re safe, I won’t let anyone hurt you, I won’t...”

I bury my face in her hair, deeply inhaling the scent of her perfume into my lungs, hugging her as I slip my arms under her ass and lift her off the ground. Selly cries with more pain, hiding her face against my shoulder, and I turn, walking fast with her between the narrow corridor and the lion and lioness cages, where it’s much darker.

I can’t risk trying to leave here with her now. I crouch with Selly, breathing faster and turning my face as I see the bastards carrying more crates into the bear’s cage. I return my attention to her, who’s so scared and crying even harder. I hug her, and she hides her face in my chest, sobbing.

“You’re safe, little bear. You’re safe, do you hear me?!” I murmur seriously, resting my chin on her head.

I calculate the size of the damn mess that will happen here if I have to fight them to protect her. Not because I think I can’t kill Belmonte and the other five bringing crates to the cage, but because I don’t want her to see what I become when I let my demons loose.

“No one’s going to hurt you...” I say more firmly, needing to calm her, needing her to know she’s safe. I don’t want her to see what I am when the hunger for killing takes over me. “No one, no one’s going to hurt you...”

My attention splits between Selly, Belmonte, and the henchmen, and I see one of them looking toward the lion’s cage, which is standing near the water box, staring back at the man. I kiss Selly’s hair, wishing to calm her. I look at the bastard and notice he steps forward, and I know if he comes closer, he’ll hear her crying.

I turn my face forward again to kiss her hair once more and whisper something near her ear because I need her to calm down. But at that moment, she raises her face, pushing her head back, making my lips follow to meet her forehead.

My whole body stiffens feeling the softness of her skin against my lips, and I pull away, seeing her with closed eyes, sobbing quietly as tears run down her cheeks. My demons stir in rage, hating them for causing such pain to the little angel before me.

My fingers move and hold her face, wanting to take this pain from her, this fear that makes her hold onto me trembling with her mournful lament. I kiss her eyes, the impulse of desire stronger than reason. My other arm tightens around her waist, pulling her close.

“You’re safe,” I murmur, locking eyes with her, devastated, carried to the dark and lonely heaven dwelling in her tear-filled irises, which look at me with such innocence.

I trace my finger down her face, caressing her cheek, knowing the shadow inside me is not worthy to stand before her, before this innocent creature who looks at me with such purity, like a wounded bird seeking shelter in my arms.

Her eyes close, and she lays her face in my hand, making my demons even more rebellious and impulsive, wanting only to protect her. I look at the guy watching the lion’s cage and take a step forward. He’s no longer looking at the lion but at us, narrowing his eyes.

I turn my face forward and act on impulse, touching my lips to hers to silence her crying. And in that moment, everything explodes in my mind, making me feel as if a thousand volts ran through my veins, sending an electric shock straight to my heart, which pounds wildly inside my chest.

I pull my mouth away as quickly as I touched it, my eyes locked on her lips, my whole body in shock, surprised by how she makes me feel. I’m confused, not understanding why Selly affects me so much, disarms me so quickly, hypnotizing me. She’s done this since the moment I saw her hanging from the silks, in the center of the ring.

I growl in anger and confusion, not knowing why this creature makes me feel this way, why she entered my thoughts as fast as the air I suck into my lungs just by smelling her. I release her waist, my fingers clutching her neck. I despise myself for being weak before her, pressing my forehead to hers, sniffing her like a damn animal, inhaling her intoxicating scent.

I know I’m nothing but a condemned soul, that the path I walk is one of hell, revenge, and death. But for this moment, I would take the purity in her innocent gaze and surrender to her.

“Fuck it!” I growl, letting my demons decide, pressing my mouth to hers, squeezing her neck harder with my fingers.

If anyone ever asked me what it’s like to touch the sun, this moment would surely come to mind, because that’s how I feel: like a dead man who stayed in the shadows too long, slipping between his desire for reven
ge and his rage, finding the sun’s rays in the warmth of her lips for the first time.

I devour them, take them for myself without guilt, without remorse—not when, in this moment, nothing makes me feel so sordidly powerful as holding her in my arms, like a demon stealing an angel’s purity. I violate her mouth with my tongue, forcing it open for me, stealing every flavor and warmth she has.
And, damn it, I will never forget cherries again, because that’s what her lips are to me—sweet fruits I devour mercilessly. A hunger awakens inside me like never before, an urgency, a need to taste her more, to savor her flavor, to hear her low moans muffled against my mouth.
I break the kiss, my breath growing heavy as I pull air sharply, rubbing my forehead against hers while I sniff her, trying to control my demons begging for Selly, craving to make her ours.

“Come on, damn it, let’s go!” the Germanic man shouts.

That makes her turn her face, just as I turn mine, following their movement as they move away from the cage. The traitor Belmonte closes it and slowly walks toward the dead elephants’ cage.

“Selly...” I call, wanting her to look at me, not to see the cruelty of what they did.

But as soon as her face returns to me, she parts her lips and her chest rises and falls quickly, blinking rapidly, pushing her body backward immediately. I try to hold her, seeing the purest fear reflected in her eyes, knowing that it is fear of me shining in her irises. It’s clear she looks at me terrified, as she quickly turns and runs away.

“Selly...” I reach out, calling her, my body rising to go after her.

However, I freeze the moment a hot breath blows against the side of my face, making me turn to the side and find eyes fixed on me, glowing in their intense amber. The lion is so close to the cage, staring at me, that I can see its dilated pupils, possessing primal ferocity. Its eyebrows furrow slightly, intensifying its gaze even more.

It’s as if its stare could pierce me, see even the damn cursed guts of my being—rotten, dark, and cruel, as predatory as it is. Its mouth opens, exposing its fangs, with its breath released right onto my face.

I stand, my body spinning to face the lion that stares at me so intently it makes me know that if the cage bars weren’t between us, the lion would attack me.

“I’m not the only predator here, partner,” I growl at it before turning my face toward the direction Selly fled.

I shift my eyes forward, facing the lion, letting it know I’m not prey, but an equal to it, as I tilt my face forward and ba
re my teeth wide open.