THE DEVIL I TAMED

The woods were too quiet.

Nate sat stiffly in the chariot, brows furrowed, knuckles pale where they gripped the armrest. Jake hadn't spoken in ten minutes.

Which was unnerving enough.

"Why are you quiet?" Nate asked without turning.

Jake was still. Watching. Listening.

"We're being watched."

That was all he said.

Before Nate could reply, the horses screamed.

The chariot jerked hard to the left, wheels scraping against uneven rock. The driver yelled—but his voice was cut off in an instant. A blur of movement. A crunch.

And then—howls.

Not wolves.

Not men.

Both.

The night wolves.

Creatures cursed to walk as humans by day, but twisted into savage beasts by the moon's rise. They were neither entirely flesh nor spirit—feral things with eyes like coals and mouths too wide.

The chariot splintered as one of them lunged.

"Stay in the damn seat," Jake snarled, materializing at Nate's side just as the beast crashed into the wall of the carriage. His arms shielded the prince, his back catching the blow. Bone cracked. Smoke burst.

"Jake!" Nate shouted.

The chariot toppled.

They hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and shattered wood. A blur of silver and teeth shot past. Nate rolled to his feet, drawing the ceremonial dagger from his belt, already lunging toward one of the creatures that bore down on them.

But Jake was faster.

A whip of flame lashed from his hand, wrapping around the beast's throat and snapping it to the side.

Another lunged. Jake turned—and this time, Nate saw it.

The demon didn't protect himself.

He shielded Nate.

The claw ripped into Jake's side, slicing through muscle. He let out a growl—not of pain, but fury. Nate threw his dagger into another's eye. It screeched and staggered back.

"I had it!" Nate shouted.

Jake's lips twisted. "You'd be half a prince by now if I hadn't."

"You could've let me die."

Jake hesitated.

And in that moment—his eyes changed.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I could've."

Another beast lunged—and this time, together, they turned on it. Nate slicing low, Jake burning high, their movements wild but fluid, back to back. Two against six. Then four. Then one.

Finally—silence.

Their breath came hard. Steam rising from Jake's shoulder where blood still dripped in thick, black trails. He staggered.

"Don't be dramatic," Nate said, already panting. "You've had worse."

Jake chuckled weakly. "Didn't do it for you."

"Liar."

Jake opened his mouth to reply, but his legs gave out.

Nate caught him—one arm under his ribs, scowling.

"You're burning through too much energy in this form," Nate muttered. "Damn it... Fine. Just this once."

Jake blinked. "What?"

"I'm letting you in. My body. You'll heal faster. But don't push it."

A beat.

Then a slow, spreading grin.

"You sure?" Jake breathed. "I'm told it's intimate."

"Jake—" Nate's warning was sharp.

"Understood." Jake raised his hands in surrender, blood smeared on his palms. "Grateful. Muzzled. Yours."

The mark on Nate's chest pulsed.

Jake's body shimmered, fading into a rush of smoky warmth—and then—into him.

It was like swallowing fire and storm. Nate's spine locked. His vision flared with red and gold. He could feel Jake curled within him now—like coiled lightning in his bones, waiting.

"I said silence," Nate muttered, dragging himself up into what remained of the carriage.

> "Mm. You didn't say I couldn't think loudly."

"Jake."

> "Too late. I'm already admiring how you fight. You're elegant. Like a knife made to seduce."

Nate groaned.

> "I mean, if you weren't already mine—"

"I'm not."

> "Tell that to the part of you that let me inside."

"You were injured."

> "You were worried."

A pause.

Nate closed his eyes. "You protected me."

> "Yes."

"You didn't have to."

> "No."

"Why did you?"

> "…I don't know."

---

The journey resumed in tense silence.

But inside, Nate's head was no longer his own. Jake poked at his thoughts, hummed through his memories, curled lazily around his senses.

At one point, Nate reached for his water flask.

> "Hydration. How responsible of you."

"Stop."

> "Oh? Can I comment when you reach for the ceremonial blade? Because that was very hot."

"Jake."

> "Say my name again like that, and I'll heal twice as fast."

---

Nate sat back, letting his head rest.

But inside, everything buzzed—anger, guilt, confusion… and that awful ache of knowing that the creature haunting his every thought might not be the villain he feared.

Or worse—

He might be.

And Nate still didn't want to let him go.