Page 5 of Forbidden Wolf

I nodded frantically, my stomach in knots of apprehension.

No one had ever tried to protect me like this before. My father rarely paid me any attention and my mother was too far away. For the first time in my life, I felt what it was like for someone to care for me.

“When I transform, it will probably be easier for you to tuck yourself in against my wolf to ensure you’re fully shielded from the sunlight.”

My chin wobbled, and my lips trembled. “Thank you, Levi.”

He nodded, pressing a kiss to my forehead absently. My emotions were in turmoil and I had no idea why I felt safe in the arms of a lycan. There was something magnetic about him that constantly drew me to him without reason, a power that I was helpless to resist.

I whimpered when the first beams of the sun began to permeate into our small cave. Cracking his neck from side to side, Levi turned to stare at me, his eyes boring into mine. His bones moved and his jaw widened, fur ripping through his flesh. His huge body took up most of the space, his legs bent in what looked like an uncomfortable angle.

Crawling toward him, I tucked myself in and rested my head between his two front legs. “Your fur is so soft.”

My hands roamed over his belly and I felt his leg moving as if to scratch an itch I’d found. My nails dug in and caressed his fur, his low growl sending shivers of arousal deep into my core.

“We used to have a dog when we were younger. She liked belly rubs too. I’m normally cold, but you make me cosy warm.” I continued to natter in the background, telling Levi about my family and being recruited into a war I didn’t believe in. There was freedom talking to someone when they couldn’t reply to you.

The heat from the sun permeated into the cave and made my skin rise in goosebumps. Vampires should be hiding in light tight facilities behind shutters. Hour after hour, Levi shielded me from my biggest enemy, protecting me with a beast that should terrify me. Instead, his energy washed over me, making me feel safe.

We were enemies, yet in this cave we’d brokered peace, neither of us dying from the other’s bite. Normally, I kept moving, constantly avoiding my thoughts and feelings. Lying here, I finally confronted them. Levi wasn’t the monster from the childhood tales they read to us in college. He was kind and gentle, protecting me when he could have watched me burn in the sun. Over the years, our coven had been decimated. Vampires were immortal unless they sent us into battle. Nothing survived without a head or a heart. We were slender, built for speed and agility, slaughtering lycans from aerial attacks. Wolves had bulk and strength; their jaws large enough to tear a vampire in half.

The thought of injuring or killing the man currently defending me made bile burn a path up my throat. He stretched and I finally comprehended that it was cooling outside as dusk descended. We’d survived the day.

When I heard the sounds of the night-time creatures emerging, Levi changed back into a man. My right arm and leg were numb from lying on them all day and I had a creak in my neck. But I’d survived my first day outside a vampire facility without dying.

“Shit,” Levi said, slowly crawling out of the cave. He sat outside to stretch his neck.

“Here.” Feeling guilty that he was experiencing discomfort because of me, I dug my fingers deep into the muscles of his neck and manipulated them until he could move without them complaining. His skin was soft over the hard muscles that covered his body in solid ropes.

“So, we didn’t die,” I said because suddenly I was aware of everything we’d been through and sitting here with him like this felt intimate. He was naked without his wolf fur, and his body tempted me in a way that a vampire male never had.

“Doesn’t look like it. Any idea why our bites didn’t kill each other? It certainly felt like we were dying there for a while.”

“No idea.”

His stomach growled and I giggled at something so normal among my turbulent emotions.

Levi groaned. “I was heading home to get dinner when you jumped out of that tree and bit me.”

I slapped his left shoulder. “You bit me first, wolf.”

A grin tugged his lips. “You bit me twice.”

I sat beside him, my leg touching his because I needed contact with him. “The sad thing is, I’ve been gone for over a day and I doubt anyone has noticed. My sister and I stay on that base because the college term ended, and people treat us as if we don’t exist. Dad gives her some of his blood ration and I sneak down every night to see if there’s anything left for me to eat.”

His arm moved around my waist and I sighed, my head resting on his shoulder. I never let anyone touch me, yet his touch comforted and soothed me. I struggled to find an explanation, but none appeared.

“Don’t you eat people?” Levi asked.

My head jerked back. “What? No! I mean, I guess some vamps do, but it’s consensual.”

“Why would you consent to someone biting you?” He quirked an eyebrow at my horrified expression.

“Um, our bite can be used as a weapon, but when we’re aroused it releases a toxin that is highly erotic.”

“Gotcha.” He winked at me. “Next time you jump out and attack me, lead with the erotic bite.”

A shy smile curved over my mouth, and my gaze dipped to the ground. “Did you want me to jump out and attack you again?”

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