Page 34 of Forbidden Wolf

“What do you mean?”

“The hairs at the back of my neck are tingling, and I’m getting some fucked up vibes right now.”

I didn’t reply because my attention was caught by a larger red mass to my right. The others moved out of its way as it forged a route toward us. There was a darkness to this creature, something that sent a shiver rippling down my spine and the need to escape rise deep inside me.

“Are you doing that animal communication thing you used to do?” Levi asked.

“Maybe,” I admitted, my focus set on what was heading toward us.

“Should I be worried?”

As I scanned the area around us, my heart beat double time.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said without waiting for a reply. “Dig your claws into me because I’m going to try and run.”

There was no way he was outrunning that big thing to our right. I doubted my dagger would be of any help. A lump formed in my throat that I tried to swallow. Vampires were taught to fear nothing as we were able to subdue and feed from every other species.

I didn’t feel superior right now.

Levi’s arms wrapped around me, and he took off through the dense muddy water.

The red auras vibrated as if excited, bumping into each other as they surged forward.

“They’re following us!” I shouted. “I don’t think running is a good idea.”

“Neither is stopping now that we’ve got their attention,” Levi shouted back.

Water splashed up around my ass as Levi tried to get us away from that swamp to safety. Panic bloomed in my chest and contracted. My gaze never left the large mass that was heading in our direction. It closed the gap between us, and I felt its need to tear into our flesh the closer it came.

As it leapt from the murky depths, its jaw already open and sharp teeth poised to bite, I gripped Levi tightly with my legs. Heat erupted from my chest in a golden wave of light that radiated from my hands, knocking the creature back into the water and dispersing the other creatures surrounding us.

“What the fuck?” Levi screamed, still moving toward the shallow water and land.

The panic subsided as I felt their confusion. They didn’t follow us, instead remaining where the light had touched them. When we reached dry land, Levi lowered me onto my shaky legs.

He tapped buttons on the machine in his hand. His troubled gaze came up to study me. “What happened out there?”

How could I explain when I didn’t know myself?

Levi handed me the scanner and pressed a button on the top. Black orbs had coalesced around a central point until it was nothing but a black mass. Then a flash emanated from the centre of that darkness, forcing the black to form a pale grey path. The device had recorded what happened out there better than I could describe it.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” I mumbled, passing him the device. “I could sense them around us and a bigger one appeared to our right. We were going to die.”

His eyes bored into me in unspoken questions, his hands resting on his hips.

“I felt a wave of power leave me, and here we are.” I’d been weak before, but now I was exhausted. My legs gave way, and the only force that stopped me hitting the ground were Levi’s arms wrapping around my waist.

“You need to rest and feed,” he said, leaning back to study me. “You had one bite this morning, and now you have two.”

“You have lots of bites on you,” I countered, bouncing my eyebrows to try and break his serious expression.

Levi stood towering over me, his eyes impenetrable fortresses that shielded all his thoughts from me. I used to be able to know what he was thinking by looking at him; now, a stranger stared back at me. My heart sank, and I pulled away from him to find somewhere to sit.

The sun beat down overhead, and the smell of the rancid mud churned my stomach.

“I can’t believe you can sit in the sun,” he muttered. “Did the science core every find out why?”

There was no way I was ever going to hand myself over to Castus and tell him I could walk in the sun. “Nope. I’d rather not live in a petri dish.”

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