Maybe I am out of my depth with the dyre wolves, just like my ancestors.
Before my eyes, the wolf shifts into the largest man I have ever seen. Bigger than any fae I’ve known, and we are not a short species. The humans, in comparison, must surely be smaller, according to the stories I have heard.
Completely naked with those identical white scars cutting through his brown skin, the enormous wolfman ducks his head to enter the tree.
Everything stops, and my heart loses all beat at the picture of the wolf moving.
She’s in there.
He’s after her.
What did she do?
I was sure I was the cause of the dyre wolf’s descent into the cave, but now I understand. My bonded is in that tree, and he can’t have her.
My blood stirs, my stomach turns and I want to go slaughter the very naked dyre wolf who stepped through that tree.
It’s a struggle to keep my body still, but I do. My blood hums under the surface, making the water boil around me.
A squawk comes from the cave’s opening, and I ignore it. There’s no way I’m giving away my position to the dyre wolf. My only advantage here is the element of surprise. The water around me should be dimming any smell that exudes off my body.
Some shuffling comes from inside the tree, but no voices. I strain, trying to get any clue about the inner workings of my bonded. Shedoesn’t seem to be in distress, not like before. In fact, a heat comes through the bond, which leaves me puzzled about her relationship with the wolf.If this is some sort of lovers’ rendezvous, I will kill the bastard.
Shaking my head and pushing against the bond, I remember what I’m here to do.I will kill both of them.
My heart keens, and I want to tell it to fuck off, but… But this feeling is much too strong. Even if I had a knife poised above her heart, I don’t know if I could sink the blade through her chest.
Shuffling comes from the opening of the tree, and I look up to see the dyre wolf stalking towards the archway he entered through, now with her.
My whole body lights up at the sight of her. I don’t even need to question who she is or what she means to me. This female is why my heart beats—why it sings. My whole existence belongs to her, and I’m totally and inextricably fucked. In every way, this is both the ending and the beginning of my life.
She hangs limply over the wolf’s back, not showing any resistance. I want to rip his head off. Feed it to the daemons of the sea.
Her silken chestnut hair cascades in long tendrils down the wolf’s back, leaving me no glimpse of her face. I just need to see her eyes, her soul. She doesn’t move. She just hangs there, but the bond is telling me she is okay.
A low rumbling sound starts low in my chest when the wolf disappears.
I take a deep breath and swim under the hot water surrounding my body. Taking large strokes, I hit the rocky outcrop just outside the cave.
As my head pops from the sea, Solen swoops at me, landing on the moss-ridden rock beside me.
“Did you find her?”
“Yes,” my voice rumbles out. The bond tugs at me to follow her, my mate.
“What’s the plan, then?”
“This is a bit more complicated than we originally thought. She has some sort of connection to a dyre wolf.” My heart shrivels at the prospect.
“You saw a wolf?”
The memory of the naked wolf carrying my bonded out of the cave warms the water around me. “Yes, a very naked wolf carrying my bonded. My very pliant bonded.”
A chuckle rings in my ears. “Good for her.”
“No, not good for her. Bad for her because if she touches him, I will spank her till she’s red raw.”My hand is itching to do just that right now.
“Simmer down, prince. I thought the plan was to kill her?”
