Page 29 of Stolen Oath
CHAPTER15
The silence which followed turned the blood in my veins into ice. An oppressive feeling spread throughout the woods, laying down the blanket of expectation so thick you could cut it with a knife. My heart was doing its damn best to bust a hole in my ribcage so it could run and hide from the accusing eyes of everyone around us.
But I couldn’t twitch a muscle.
I could barely breathe if I was being honest.
Held prisoner in the stormy gaze of Dimitri’s wolf I stood still as a statue.
In the madness of the last moments of my life I yet again regretted that Char lost her memories of Damian to help me avoid prosecution. And she didn’t even buy me a whole year of freedom for such a steep price. They must’ve had something very special for the Fates to take the Druid away from her as a counterbalance of the blood magic, I thought, not for the first time. I guess it bothered me more than I wanted to admit that she never disclosed that to me when I thought that we shared everything.
The vampire who had the misfortune of trying to kill me fell from the branch like a deadweight and the dull thump when he hit the ground made a cloud of leaves and debris arise.
He didn’t move.
That made me drag my eyes away from the wolf and glance at my friend who was still on the forest floor, alive thank the stars, her head and the cloud of chestnut curls in Angela’s lap. She was cradling one of her arms and there was blood caked in the hair stuck to her temple, but she was breathing. Warmth filled my numb body when we locked gazes and she offered me a faint smile as a tear trickled down her face. It was much easier to see when the shifters still on two legs moved the lights of their flashlights all over the place.
“What is the meaning of this?” A familiar voice snapped from somewhere to my right a second before Angela’s father stepped into my line of sight.
My head turned to the side automatically when the flashlights illuminated his naked body and although my brain was overwhelmed with the information it was trying to process at the time one thing became abundantly clear. The old alpha came to that spot in the woods in his four-legged form. And since none of the others apart from Dimitri and Angela came anywhere near the tree Char and I used as a bastion, it was only fair to think he was the grey wolf.
With that realization I forgot all about the old man’s nudity and looked at him. His face I mean, because I did my best not to allow my eyes to dip bellow his chest. Brown eyes the same as the grey wolf’s narrowed down on me for a moment but they turned back toward Dimitri immediately full with fury.
I turned to Dimitri as well thinking I would find him worried or maybe cocky as usual ready to tell the world to step aside to let him pass. Instead, he watched me levelly, his stormy blue eyes scanning me from head to toe for injury and the relief there when he found nothing more than a few scratches was palpable. Anger spiked through my numbness at the audacity. How dare he worry about me when he all but screamed that he had witch blood too by talking in his animal form.
“Apprehend the witch.” My head whipped around so I can glare at Angela’s father who gave the order. “And don’t try anything stupid or your friend will pay the price.” The old man spat at me. “And you. Dimitri. What is the meaning of this?”
“He can’t answer you right now.” I heard my voice loud and clear and I realized I have spoken without meaning too.
Dimitri’s eyes widened.
“Wait.” The old alpha raised a hand and the handful of bulky males that were looking for a way up the tree where I was still perched froze. “Are you doing that to him, witch?”
Holding Dimitri’s gaze for long enough that he knew he would owe me big time this time around, I jutted my chin out. “Of course, I am doing it. Which one of you useless creatures could do magic as refined as that if not me?”
“Release him from your spell.” The old man stomped angrily over leaves and branches and pressed his foot into Char’s neck. “Release him now!”
It would be a lie if I said I didn’t debate for a split second to drain him and leave him as a husk but even I knew that would be a point of no return for me. At least so far, I had all minor offenses, petty theft and such. Maybe my soul would be able to find peace after they burn me for the world to see. Plus, I’d go happy knowing Dimitri Bell owed me for saving his ass.
Char gasped in pain when the soon to be dead alpha if he didn’t step away from her put more pressure on her neck. The rage, which was always stewing and simmering, rushed toward the surface and I saw red.
“Remove your nasty talons from her face wolf or I’ll turn your pretty daughter inside out. I’m pretty sure her tits will look better if the muscle and fat tissue is above skin. Don’t you agree?”
“Allie, don’t.” Char rasped and clawed with her hand desperately trying to reach her tote. They removed it and placed it out of her reach when she fell.
“Oh, I will.” I glared down at the old alpha. “I said remove your nasty tentacles from my friend or I will use your entire pack as poppets not just your soon to be son-in-law.”
Wisely Dimitri stayed silent.
I had no idea what he was thinking talking like that.
“Thig adhair, dèan mar a tha mi ag àithneadh.” Come Air, do as I command.I swirled my hand and tossed the old man away from Char with a flick of a wrist because he wasn’t moving fast enough. “I told you to move. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Release him.” The old man pushed himself off the ground where I lobbed him and stood up. He was stubborn, I’d give him that much.
“I release you.” I drawled to Dimitri who was gazing at me with calculation. I could almost hear his brain working behind the storms of his irises and it rubbed me wrong for some reason. Can he just be grateful we came a full circle and I was not as petty as I thought?
I saved his perky butt, a thank you would suffice.
