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“Maybe, but I’m still not worried.”

I grabbed the pruning shears and held one of the blades to the palm of my hand.

“What are you doing?” His voice held a note of alarm.

I looked up at him and sliced.

He flinched.

“I told you why I needed backup, that I’d be called by the mother, well it happened, and this”—I motioned to the box—“has something to do with it.”

His brows lowered.

“Now stand back.” I fisted my hand and blood dripped through my fingers and to the floor as I walked in a slow circle around the box. “Bound with blood, in this circle you will stay,” I said, starting the simple yet highly effective binding spell.

I didn’t know what these symbols were or what spells had been used on this box, which meant treading with care. Simple was the best way to go with things like this. If powerful magic had been used here, and I had to assume it was, using a spell equally as strong could set off a safeguard, if the witch who did this had spelled one, and again, I had to assume they had—which would be really, really bad.

A simple spell like the one I was doing would be less likely to activate any counter spells that might have been built in. The only downside was it wouldn’t last indefinitely, and the strength of magic used here would decide just how long mine held.

When I completed my second circle around the box and finished reciting my spell, I looked up. Draven was watching me, and he was doing that lip-curling thing he often did around me. “Let me guess, I disgust you?”

His nostrils flared. “The smell of your blood, it…I don’t.” He snarled a little. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t like the smell of my blood?” I forced a laugh. “I guess that’s not surprising since you don’t like anything about me. Still, that’s a new one. I’m trying to decide if I should be insulted or not.”

His eyes changed color, brightening to his wolf.

“There he is, the wolf’s back, huh? He pops out a lot around me. Do you want to tear my throat out, then? Or does the scent of my blood offend you so much it turns your stomach?”

“Don’t…” He held himself impossibly still. “Don’t taunt me, little witch.”

“I’m not doing anything to you. I don’t have time for it,” I said, even as nerves spiked in my gut. I grabbed his arm, about to usher him to the door.

He moved fast, so incredibly fast, pushing me against the wall. “Don’t touch me.”

I stared up at him, my heart hammering in my chest. “Don’t touch you, don’t taunt you, don’t bleed in your presence.” Yep, he had me pressed against a wall and I was still pushing the male, testing his control like a freaking lunatic. “Everything I do pisses you off. I see the way you struggle to hold yourself back, how close to the edge of your control you are.”

“Iris,” he growled, putting so much warning in my name that I shivered.

“Why are you here, Draven? Why the hell do you put yourself through this? You told me to stay away from you, yet you follow me around like a stray dog.”

His lips peeled back and his incisors elongated.

I lifted my hand slowly, and he watched me, eyes so bright they glowed in the dim light of the lantern. He shook his head, warning me not to touch him.

I ignored him and pressed my palm to his bare chest, petting the beast, pushing him harder. What are you doing? This wasn’t me.

But as I stared up at him, something like exhilaration filled me, and I realized I was lying to myself. Because I felt more like myself around this male than I had in a long time. Fearless. Strong and, yes, reckless—the Iris that Brody had slowly stripped from me. “What are you going to do about it, alpha?”

He snapped his teeth with a vicious sound and grabbed my wrist, pulling it off him and shoving it over my head. His face was in mine, harsh breaths hissing between his teeth. His chest brushed my nipples and he dipped even lower.

His gaze dropped to my mouth, and I stilled.

He was going to kiss me.

“You want me,” he hissed between clenched teeth, the words angry. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me or himself because he wanted me as well.

“No,” I lied. “And seeing as I plan on being celibate for the rest of my life, as well as a whole lot of other reasons, nothing between us will ever happen, I suggest you back up.”