Nelle approached with silent footsteps, coming to a halt in front of her wraith-wolf. Tufts of ghostly fur abruptly hackled into a spiky ridgeline down his spine. He fixed a wary gaze on his mistress.
I mentally dug deep and twined my will around the moonlit strands, knotting us tight. Power slid down the lines like a seductive stroke, shivering through my senses. Her trust hummed against me, and my heartbeat thundered in answer. My mind darkened, narrowing to a single, brutal truth. The tamer’s will was mine to wield. Mine alone. My godsdamned birthright. Dominance surged up, lethal and awe-inspiring, crashing through my bloodstream like a breaker slamming into rock.
Use it, use it, use it—whispered that ancient, feral part of me.
The realization hit like a punch.
I cracked my neck, and the sharp sound abruptly severed the toxic desire to pull Nelle closer, bind her tighter, control her in every way theswayallowed. This was so fuckingwrong.Deep down, I knew there was something far more menacing coming up on her twentieth birthday, and as of yet, I hadn’t figured out a way around it. However, this, right now…I didn’t want theswayto last longer than needed. I had to test it quickly and set her free.
Leaning against the dark magic, I sent an order rippling down the bindings, mentally pushing back at Nelle to make her dowhat I wanted.
Kick. Your. Dog.
The calf muscles in Nelle’s leg tightened as she drew her foot back.
Sage shifted restlessly and gave a soft whimper.
I shifted off the table, bracing myself, ready to intercede.
Except—
Utter outrage detonated through the strands of dark magic, its ferocity quaking along my bones.
Nelle centered her weight and struck.
The force of her slap whipped my head sideways.
It was a barrage of slaps. Of incensed snarls.
But the searing pain tearing at my flesh couldn’t stop my grin.
When Nelle briefly let up, her enraged fingers clenched into fists. She went for me again, lunging with a guttural growl.
I reacted faster, darting back, and clapped my hands right in front of her face.
The thunderous smack cracked through the room.
Nelle abruptly snapped out of thesway.
She jerked back instinctively, tripping over her feet and throwing out her arms to steady herself. Her eyes flared wide, and I watched the black seep away from her irises like inkthinned by a spill of water. The flecks of gold turned to speckled soot, and the ashy-gray reemerged.
An awful feeling swirled in the pit of my gut when she looked back at me, lost and confused, with shame coloring her cheeks.
She glanced furtively toward the wyrm burrow. Her blush deepened with mortification, and she jittered from foot to foot, burying her hands in her long locks, anxiously tugging at the length in distress.
Fuck, I didn’t know what to say, how to comfort her.
Sage leaped to his feet and pranced about her figure, his tail wagging happily, as he erupted in a series of relieved barks.
“Sage,” Nelle gasped. She dropped to a crouch and slid her fingers through the scruff of his neck. “Oh, puppy, I’d never hurt you.” Sage rubbed the side of his head against her cheek, and with a contented whine, licked her neck.
Nelle rose, and by the time she stood as tall as her diminutive height allowed her to, she’d recollected herself. She was tiny, but right now I felt like she loomed above me like a pissed-the-fuck-off giant. Her spine turned to steel, and there was my girl of fire and brimstone when she stabbed a finger at my face. “Of course, you’d have fucking worked it out!”
Astonishment shoved the air from my lungs.
Wait,what?
I cocked my head, realizing that she’d been under theswaybefore. “When?”
