Page 6 of Magic Claimed
“I’m not a spy,” I said, but nobody listened to me. Instead, Jarom shifted back into his enormous and deadly wolf form in a flash of magic and together they surrounded me, leaving me no space to escape and forced me deeper into the forest.
Not that I could escape wolves bigger than me and five times as heavy. Shifted, these creatures were honed to track, hunt and kill and I was a starved, small, scrawny human.
The weather was getting worse. Lightning strobed overhead, quickly followed by a crack of thunder that vibrated through my whole body. Without the protection of the coat, I was drenched through. My thin clothing was no match for the deluge of rain. Cold bit into my bones, making my legs creak with every step and I couldn’t stop the shivers that racked my body. I was sure if I hadn’t been moving I would have frozen to death. Maybe I’d now simply die of pneumonia. Either way wasn’t a great prospect.
I’d surely die again at the hands of Esoti if he knew I’d trespassed on wolf land. I’d never be able to pick up Samuel’s wand and make it back to the castle in a timely way. Not unless I could make these wolves believe I was worthless to them, so they’d let me go. Maybe if I ran double time through the other half of the wolf territory, I’d make it to Samuel’s and back before Esoti would notice.
Yeah, and Esoti was an all-forgiving, benevolent being.
As we walked, the wolves’ eerie yellow eyes tracked my every step. Strange they all had yellow eyes, when Jarom’s were the lightest of blues.
What had happened between us? My heart had expanded for that split second, and I’d felt a wholeness I’d never known. A lie, of course. A trick. A delusion.
If I knew one thing, it was not to hope. It was far better to expect the worst and receive it, than hope and have it ripped away. Hope was a dangerous thing. There’d be an explanation for what had happened, and I knew Jarom would demand one from the Alpha.
I ignored the ice in his blue eyes with each glance he speared me with as we trudged through the wet forest. Long grass wound about my ankles and wet leaves smacked my arms and face. I shivered with the frigid air, my breath condensing with each breath. My leg muscles cramped with exhaustion. My body ran on fumes. Wrapping my arms around me did nothing to help. I was a wet, miserable, wretched mess and by the time we stepped from a line of trees and into a clearing that framed a two-story log cabin, I thanked the long-forgotten gods I didn’t believe in anymore.
I fell to my knees, unable to stay upright. One of the wolves snarled and nipped at my heels. Surprisingly, Jarom growled and charged at the wolf, who backed quickly away. He swung his heavy head in my direction and slid his snout under my arm and lifted me back onto my feet.
My fingers ploughed into his warm, thick coat. Despite the torrent of rain, it was soft and dry. I leaned into his warmth, breathing in his clean, spicy scent, strangely finding comfort in his touch, before he huffed and tossed me away with a shake of his head.
He’d only picked me up to get me standing again so I could walk on my own two feet. Nothing more. He chuffed a short, harsh breath and indicated the log cabin with a tilt of his head. He wanted me to walk. Right.
I swayed on my feet for a moment, wondering if I had it in me to actually walk but there was no way I was going to fall down again in front of these wolves. I grit my teeth and forced my legs to carry me, concentrating on the golden light spilling from the windows and anticipating the warmth inside.
“Let’s hope your Alpha is better at reading people than you all are,” I muttered as I trudged up the stairs and under the protection of the porch. It was a pleasure not to have rain beat down on my head.
The wolves followed me and in a flash of magic six men stood where there were once six wolves. Six, very huge, very naked men. My gaze bounced from solid pecs to ripples of abs before landing squarely on Jarom and sticking.
I couldn’t draw my gaze from him. The skin on his abdomen stretched tight across acres of muscles that rippled and bunched with each movement. A thin sheen of perspiration made his skin glossy and sleek.
He towered above me, a head taller. His shoulders were easily three times the width of mine. His biceps were solid rolls of muscle that led to large hands and long, elegant fingers. His shaft hung thick and heavy between muscular thighs. My stomach tumbled when I realized where my eyes had strayed.
My gaze flew to his face where he watched me with flinty iciness. A muscle ticked at his temple and his jaw clenched around the harshness of his face. He leaned past me and opened the door. His fingers curled around my bicep, solid as steel cuffs, and he hauled me inside with a flex of a huge bicep.
“Easy, wolf-boy. People are breakable. Especially me,” I said. I couldn’t die, but my bones could break. I bruised and felt pain like normal people.
Without a word, Jarom hauled me across the hallway so fast my toes barely grazed the warm, wooden floorboards polished to a shine before he pushed me into a room off to the side and into the surprised faces of two equally tall and muscular men.
The room was cosy, with a crackling fireplace framed by a deep brown, polished mantle. The walls were made from horizontal logs, from which hung beautiful paintings of the surrounding forest. Whoever had painted them certainly had more than a passing talent.
One wall was lined with shelving, upon which were hundreds of leather-bound books with gilded gold titles. A couch and two stuffed armchairs were positioned in one corner, with a small table between them overflowing with half-filled cups and plates of food. As terrified as I was, once I spied the food, my body worked automatically and a flavoursome savoury aroma filled my nostrils making my stomach twist and clench. A horrible growl erupted from my mid-section, followed by a cramp of hunger. I was too terrified to spread my hand over the offending part of my body with the chill that seeped across the room from alpha Alerick and his other second, Eike.
Ethereally handsome. Preternaturally elegant. Being this close, I could see how all shifters had once been made through magic. Clad in their leathers, the supple material clung to every hard plane of their bodies, doing nothing to hide the power of their bodies that would change into war machines, which was exactly what Esoti used them for.
It was the same reason they hated Esoti. All that power, and they were completely powerless against a man that was as much their master as mine.
Alerick’s face was constructed from harsh planes framed with a close-cropped beard, sharp angled cheeks, and fathomless eyes. The only softness about him was his thick chestnut wavy hair. A thick lock fell over his right eye, casting one side of his face into shadow. He held himself with a confident bearing that screamed Alpha.
Eike was slightly smaller than Alerick and Jarom, although all three stood a full head over my height. He was as well-muscled as the alpha, although leaner. His hair was braided into locks. They looped in thick ropes over his head from his forehead to the back of his skull and fell to the middle of his back. His lips were full in a broad face. The ends dimpled into his cheeks, as though he was on the verge of a smile. His skin was more tanned than the Alpha and his Second, and his eyes, although blue like Jarom’s, were navy instead of the colour of a mid-summer sky.
Oh yes, I knew exactly who they were. Where Eike watched me with a trace of curiosity, Alerick was devoid of anything but pure darkness. His stare was enough to make my chest work again, enough to offer a wheeze of thin air.
He was said to be made from stone and was as unmoving. Standing before his intense stare, I believed it to be true. There was no warmth, no curiosity, and although he was part animal, there was no humanity. He looked at me with as much dispassion as Esoti, and I’d thought no one would match my master.
In that dark gaze, I saw not only my new captor, but my immediate torment.
Chapter Five
