I’m supposed to be able to talk privately to the creature, but I’ve only sensed her presence so far. With as close as she feels now, I expect a reply, but there’s only silence.
Disappointment tries to flood in, but the woodsy scent I now relate to Cade invades my senses, distracting me. I should be freaked out that I can identify people by scent already. Yet, this feels like the most natural thing I’ve ever done.
When I look up at him, his presence eclipses everything else—our audience, the sky above, and even the prophecy still echoing in my veins. His voice, low and steady, coils around me like a tether. “Breathe, Rowan. You’re safe. I have you.”
Safe? With him?Ha.My erratic emotions might make me feel that way right now, but his past actions have my thoughts reminding me that’s likely the furthest thing from the truth, no matter how much my body wants me to believe otherwise.
My insides are a roiling kettle of nerves and adrenaline, and just when I think things can’t get worse, his hand brushes my elbow, gripping tightly for only a split second.
Still, it’s long enough to have some traitorous part of me begin to actually believe him.
Can I really trust the man who I saw snap Iris’s neck so easily to protect me? Just because it’s his “fated” duty doesn’t mean he’ll succeed.
I force myself to remain reserved on the matter as I huff out a laugh, sharp yet brittle. “You say that like I’m not about to explode into fur and fangs in front of a live studio audience.”
His lips twitch, almost like he’s fighting a smile, but his tone remains firm and focused. “Eyes on me, Rowan. No one else matters.”
Oh, fantastic. I’m melting again. Great job, Ro. Just stand here, swooning over your wolf-whisperer companion while your entire body prepares to play piñata with your bones.
I try to focus, to remember the steps from the book, but when I reach for the wolf spirit inside, it’s like she slips further away from me. Her light grows dimmer, and my chest seizes.
Again, I tell myself. This time, my skin burns, and then… Nope. Still just human. A very sweaty, very aggravated human.
My jaw tightens and my lip curls. “This isn’t working. She probably hates me.”
Archie snickers from his rock. “Real inspiring pep talk there.”
“You’ve got something better?” My voice cracks on the edge of frustration. Not that I’m eager for the pain that’s to come, but I was hoping if I have to feel like I’m being ripped into a million pieces before being slammed back together that at least it would happen quickly, like ripping a bandage off.
My furry bestie starts to reply, but Cade steps in front of me, so I can see only him again. He’s close enough that the heat of his body blankets mine. His gaze pins me in place, fierce and unrelenting, replacing every thought I might have had with mushy need.
There is something seriously wrong with me.
His hands come up and he places them on my shoulders. I don’t even bother to hide the shudder his touch sends through my body. Thankfully, he doesn’t comment as he says, “Youwilldo this. Now, try again.”
A desire to please this man nearly drowns me.Please do.But I manage to stay on two feet as I close my eyes to break the connection with him.
The night quiets as if even the forest creatures are waiting to see what I’ll become: the big, bad deadly prophecy wolf, or a sack of useless bones.
With the pressure on, I try once more. Fail. Again. Fail harder. My vision blurs with unshed tears from fury or fear, or maybe both, who knows? I grit my teeth, ready to scream until my lungs give out.
“Well,” Iris pipes up cheerfully, clasping her hands like we’re at a bake sale instead of my emotional breakdown. “Maybe she’s not a wolf after all. Wouldn’t that be a relief? Less fur on the furniture and no doomsday.”
I blink several times, wondering if I should be hoping she could be right, but then also knowing, she’s not.
There’s something inside me, and it better damn well be of the wolf variety. I’d rather not be some other kind of monster.
Cade snarls at her, but when his attention comes back to me, there’s a tenderness I don’t know how to process in his eyes. Before I can even try, he cups my jaw, rendering me basically useless.
There’s a commanding energy that pulses off him. One that makes me believe that Ineedto please him. Is this what my life is going to be? Am I destined to be some love-sick puppy who does whatever the man tells her to?
Destroying an entire existence almost sounds preferable now.
“Stop thinking,” Cade demands, but there’s a softness within his words that I don’t expect. He’s telling me this not because it’s what he wants, but because it’s what I need.
He’s here for me.
I suddenly know this just as much as I know I want to do everything I can to follow his command right now. It’s an innate knowledge that hits me like a ton of bricks, and has never felt more right.
