Page 18 of Forbidden Wolf

My heart stumbled over its beat. He had always pretended to be so pleasant in the facility, now I saw the monster that lurked behind that mask. It made nausea burn a trail up my throat.

Levi shook himself, spinning his body to swipe Sam off his back, his claws digging into Sam’s clothes to drag him onto the ground. Sam released a dagger from a holder at his ankle and stabbed it deep into Levi’s shoulder.

I winced as smoke swirled up from the wound and I realised Sam had used a silver blade. Levi dragged his leg, the toxin from the silver paralysing his powerful muscle.

Sam stood back, his hands on his hips. “I’ve carved wolves up before. If you slice thinly enough, the silver almost cooks you.”

Levi’s muzzle wrinkled up in a ferocious snarl, his teeth showing. He lunged forward, his jaw clamping onto Sam’s arm to tear it from his torso.

Sam’s screech sent a ripple of fear up my spine, his eyes staring in horror at his twitching limb as he tried to crawl backward away from the wolf. Levi paced forward step by step to loom over Sam.

Sam cast his eyes toward me.

“Stop him,” he stuttered in a faint voice. “He’s a monster.”

My hand covered my mouth to stop the scream that wanted to emerge, my gaze locked on Sam. “Levi’s not the monster. Kimber is innocent and you would willingly put her to death.”

I knew what was about to happen. Levi’s wolf gave me a sad look before turning back to Sam. There was nothing I could do to stop Sam’s fate, so I became a coward and covered my face with my hands.

Out of the gap between my fingers I saw Levi pace forward slowly toward Sam who was bleeding out on the ground. His fangs flashed, and he sprang at Levi, his features sharpening into a crazed monster.

Levi leapt up and met him halfway, grabbing Sam by the throat.

My knees gave way and I collapsed to the ground as Sam flailed and tried to free himself, his claws digging into Levi. Never once did Levi relinquish his hold on Sam’s neck. Levi’s paws eviscerated him, and flesh tore from bone until Sam’s eyes stared vacantly somewhere into the distance. His disarticulated body lay on the ground.

Levi slowly turned to face me.

“You killed him,” I whispered, my eyes locked on the pieces of flesh that had been a man a few moments ago.

Levi’s head lowered, and he slowly returned to his bipedal human form. “He would have allowed you to be raped and murdered. He would have ordained the same fate to befall your sister too. I couldn’t let that happen, Tasha, not when I could prevent it.”

My gaze moved from the body to Levi, my hand trembling as it landed on my stomach. My head unconsciously kept moving from side to side no matter how much I tried to stop the movement. The burning in my throat intensified until I began to retch over and over again. My body shook uncontrollably, and tears poured down my face.

Levi knelt beside me, his arm snaking around my waist to steady me. When I finally stopped crying, he lifted me to beside a tree.

He’d murdered a vampire. Panic erupted in my chest and I began to struggle, needing to run and keep running. Levi’s arms were bands of steel holding me in place until I calmed down.

“Stay here,” he said.

I watched as he gathered the pieces of the body and carried them away. Sam’s foot was on his shoulder. First, I wanted to cry, then giggle, them scream. What the hell was happening to me?

Even though I’d wanted to run earlier, I was still sitting at the base of the tree, my arms wrapped around my legs, when Levi returned a few minutes later. He lifted me, his touch gentle as he carried me to the river. I watched in puzzlement as he began to wash me, my limbs refusing to move to help him. He kept touching my face and saying my name, but I couldn’t find the ability to respond. Someone had found my off switch and pressed it.

Blood polluted the water, forming ribbons of red in the river as Levi washed himself. His arm hung at a strange angle and he hissed as he poured water over his wound. That noise switched me back on again. I found some moss close to the river and cleaned his wound, packing it with the plant that I knew had medicinal properties.

Levi cupped my face in his hands. “Listen to me, Tasha. I don’t regret what I did. If I had to choose between him and you again, I would choose you every single time. I can’t apologise for that.”

I blinked.

“If he returned to your base and told them about us, the vampires would have stormed my village and killed my people. In retaliation, the lycan high council would have bombed your base. I couldn’t let that happen or let him punish you for the crime of loving me.”

Levi’s hands shook, and mine slowly came up to hold them.

“Have you ever killed anyone before?” I asked, cautiously touching his stab wound, my teeth biting into my bottom lip.

Levi wordlessly shook his head. There was a haunted look in his eyes that hadn’t been there before tonight. His chin wobbled as if to suppress his emotion. I could do nothing to change what had happened tonight, so I merely wrapped my arms around his trembling body and held him. He’d killed to keep me safe, sacrificing a piece of his soul.

Eventually, we helped each other dress. Levi looked pale through his tan. Even as the last of our time ran out, I stared at him, memorising every aspect of him. My feet were filled with lead as we walked to our rendezvous point, where I found freedom every night.

---