Page 72 of Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane

At that knowledge, his wolf went from starting-to-listen-to-reason to let-me-do-her-hard-and-now.

Mine.

He balled his hands into fists and knew his claws were digging into his palms, making him bleed. The bite of pain was welcomed. He’d hoped it would jar him back from the brink of no return.

It didn’t.

Jonathan’s control snapped. Flashes of pain, blood, and death raced through his mind, warning him what was to come should he lose the inner battle he was waging. It would be so easy to surrender himself to the beast. To let it do as it may. He’d end up like Digby.

He could stop hiding behind a false smile. Stop bothering with trying to make everyone think he was easygoing and less than alpha. He could do as he pleased. He could rule over all wolves. He could seek out and destroy all their enemies. He could claim the woman before him.

Claim her?He jerked back fast, nearly falling on his ass as he did.Whoa. This went from going dark and ruling the world to a life commitment fast!

The thought alone should have been enough to sober him or, at the very least, help him gather enough control to cage the wolf for now. It wasn’t.

As he stared at the chained woman, Jonathan found the idea of sinking his teeth into her and marking her as his forever more and more appealing. Fuck his vow never to pass on his curse again. He wanted her. And she was his mate. He knew it in his bones.

She growled so viciously that it jarred him from the thought of rushing to her and laying claim. Fear pushed out at him from her. She might desire him, but the fact was, she was also afraid of him.

It was then he wrapped his mind around the sight he presented. A random shifter male bursting into the area, radiating claiming energy, all while partially shifted. No wonder she was afraid. Knowing she was scared of him ripped at his gut.

He tried to pull back on his wolf to show her he wasn’t a threat, but his wolf wasn’t having any part in it. He snarled and tried to link to her on a mental pathway, one he used for his line of wolves because it was automatic in him and took little to no concentration. When that didn’t work, he tried one he used for the local pack.

Still nothing.

As a final resort, he used one that should, in theory, work for any wolf-shifter.

Nothing.

Who the hell was she, and why was she in the cave, chained?

Was she so new to having a wolf in her that she’d never actually encountered another shifter? Or maybe very few. So few that she’d never had anyone connect with her mentally?

Better yet, why was his entire body buzzing with the need to be closer to her?

She growled, rage, fear, and arousal all coming from her in waves.

“N-no…threat,” he managed from his misshapen mouth as he raised a bloody hand and tapped his chest. The imagery wasn’t stellar, and he knew as much, but it was better than nothing.

She jerked at the chains wildly, her eyes flashing with terror.

He stepped forward to try again to stress how much he wasn’t there to harm her. He repeated the words again, this time doing his utmost best to pronounce them fully since his wolf was still being a dick and refusing to back down enough to let him shift back to normal.

She yanked at her restraints to the point that her wrists began to bleed.

With a roar, Jonathan was to her, wanting to soothe her pain.

She had enough leeway in the chains to reach him now. With a snarl, she slashed her free hand out toward his exposed throat.

He made no move to protect himself, fearful he’d harm her in the process.

The woman stopped just shy of cutting him. She looked confused by her actions and then somewhat horrified.

In all his days as a wolf-shifter, Jonathan couldn’t recall a time when he’d seen a partially shifted one cry. Yet her tears were suddenly evident.

He touched her face gently, wiping away the tears.

The next he knew, she was stepping into him, pressing herself to his frame as much as she could since she was bound.

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