There’s no need for this!my wolf protests.
Qinnu pulls back the latch, snickering. “Oh, you think he’s pissed now? Just wait until nightfall.”
I duck my head and bend forward as we begin the final descent. The stairwell to the holding cell is pitch black. I blink rapidly, eyes switching into primal mode, where canine instincts guide me through darkness.
He eventually hits the light switch and nudges me towards the first of three interrogation cells. My wolf hisses at the creaking titanium hinge as the door swings open. These walls are intended to hold enemies. To contain evil. In the direst circumstances, to contain ourselves.
Without warning, icy water is flung upon me, dropping me to my knees.
“Fuck!” I cough.Was that for Cora?
I find Qinnu glaring at me. “We need to bring your temperature down,” he says before thrusting another bucket upon me.
I swear against the impact, feeling the chill to my very core. There, a presence stirs, rumbling like a furnace. Ribcage expanding and contracting. My wolf, rebelling. Usually, we are free to roam the forests around us, where Shay is always waiting and willing. But I’m long past her now. There’s only one woman he’s dialed into tonight. The one who smells of forbidden fruit. The one whose door I guard while she sleeps.
Qinnu steps into the cell. “Stay down. I’m going to shackle your ankles.”
My hands tremble behind my back as he secures the restraints chained to the wall. His gaze lingers for a moment on the scar tissue below the knee. As I feel the savage kiss of the silver against my skin, for a moment, I recall the engulfing flames that once licked and feasted on my young limbs.
He strikes me across the cheek. Hard. “Stay in the moment, Axe. You’re safe. She’s safe. Everything’s under control.”
I blink, coming to my senses and remembering those very same words I spoke to him, when the tables were turned many months ago. When Qinnu was the poor bastard held back by these metal chains to keep him from unintentionally hurting the woman his wolf screamed for.
Tonight, the wolf cannot be trusted.
Mate. Where is she?the beast whines. My blood is pumping with anticipation. The urge to shift pulsates stronger now, like seconds ticking towards an explosion.
“More. Ice.” I grunt. Qinnu dumps another bucket of frigid water over my head, delivering a series of punches to my ribs before I can recover. I double over with a snarl. My fingers are twitching. Snapping.
She’s in the house. I smell her. We must protect her. We must claim her before another comes along and?—
Jabir suddenly appears, yanking Qinnu back by the collar. “Are you insane? He could shift at any second.”
Qinnu slams the door to the cell, turning the latch with all his strength. Jabir watches me with lips in a grim line. My canines have dropped, claws now fully protruding from my hands and feet. I’m close to losing the battle. Close enough that I’m frothing at the mouth.
“Go,” he urges the Sentinel. “Patrol regiment needs backup.”
Jabir watches me intently as he grips his pistol. He doesn’t want to use it, but if I know this male, he won’t hesitate if he’s given no other choice. Over the next hour, he stands there, listening to the muffled activity streaming from the surveillance room. Ignoring my heavy panting and searing muscles as I thrash against the force of the metal.
“Bring her to me,” I thunder. The reins are loosening now. The wolf is shoving me down, down under boiling water. “I need to see her.”
“No.”
The feral undercurrent swells with rage. My back arches, ribs expanding. I gasp at the agonizing shatter of bones. Normally, the shift is rapid and painless. Every breath I take becomes more labored. But I wrestle against the sweat-slicked chains, nonetheless, trying not to think of her. Of the scent that’s driving me to the brink of fucking insanity.
With a roar, I throw my head back and scream until my throat is raw.
“If I let you out, the only person you’ll hate more than me is yourself,” Jabir mutters. “Keep fighting it, Axe.”
For another hour, I do, thrashing, coughing, burning from the inside out. I groan her name. Wishing I could hold her. Trace her lips. Taste them and every part of her—soft moon-kissed skin, sweet wetness, and her blood coating my jaws as I clamp down on her neck.
Mine. Yes . . . mine.
Warm copper seeps along my gums, canines and incisors radiating with sharp pain. Every instinct commands me to bite. And so I bury my teeth into my arm. Again and again, crazed with the need to free myself. Even if it costs me my hands.
Through the air vents above, Vessa’s heavenly smell magnifies. Cocking my head, I listen for light footsteps drawing nearer. An accelerating heartbeat. She’s close. Close enough that if I don’t pull those pheromones in my lungs within the next few seconds, I’ll go hypoxic.
Pure carnivorous hunger envelopes me. The foul stench of my burning flesh subsides. As the trance of the moon fully sinks in, all heightened senses converge. There’s only one scent. There’s only her. And Iwillhave her.
