Page 43 of Forbidden Wolf

“What?” I demanded.

“Since they’re gone for the moment, I wanted to take a closer look at that cave. Maybe I can pick up a scent we can use or something else that could be valuable. I have one of Radar’s scanners and my phone. Maybe I can record something to send back.”

“Are you insane?” I hissed, trying to turn around and nearly falling out of the tree.

“The next opportunity like this could be tomorrow night,” Levi said. “We need intel, and this is our first real chance to gather any. This is a massive opportunity to study our enemy.”

Part of me wanted to argue, but the remainder of me knew he was right. This war had claimed too many lives. Vampires were being forced to breed more frequently to try and repopulate our army. Rumours of eggs being harvested for vampires to carry multiple children had been circulating for a few years.

“You’re not going down there alone,” I replied, my spine straightening.

“Tasha,” Levi said, his head resting on my shoulder. “You’ve been injured. Please, can you just wait here and let me take care of this?”

“We’re a team, Levi, and lone working is not the definition of a team.”

“You’ll be the death of me one of these days,” he muttered.

“And until that time, we’ll work together,” I said.

His dramatic sigh made me smile. It was the closest I was going to get to him verbally agreeing. I may have vomited at the sight of Sam dead, but neither of us were the same people we were back then. Death had become a burden we all bore in this war. Every one of my class had become warriors. The only reason I was still alive and some of them weren’t was because I had learnt to fight hard and dirty. Head or heart. Nothing survived without them. Levi had taught me that.

Staring at the dark outline of where all the hellspawn had emerged earlier, I tried to supress the shiver that rippled down my spine. That cave would either be the key to the tide changing in this war, or it could be our eminent demise.

***

Tasha

The cave looked like any other ordinary opening into a rocky area. It was only as we approached that I could sense the strange energy radiating from it. Symbols had been engraved in the rockface. They didn’t glow but felt alive as I approached. My finger hovered over one, the trepidation in my stomach making me cautious and I stepped away from it.

Levi paced around, recording as much as possible on his phone that was connected to the device he was always typing on. Whoever this Radar was would make a fortune on the technology he created to preserve the life of a mobile phone.

I was drawn to a flat stone at the side of the cave entrance, my feet moving without conscious thought. My hand skimmed the surface of it, drawn by a magnetism I couldn’t deny. Images burst into my head of a tall man with long black hair and glowing red eyes, black tattoos snaking up the pale skin on his arms. His blood called to mine, pulling me ever closer.

“Tasha?” Levi’s hand on my shoulder brought my attention back. “That’s the second time you’ve given off that strange energy. It happened yesterday when you led us here.”

He stared at me expectantly, his eyes glowing amber in the darkness.

I shook my head. “Sometimes the voices get too much.”

It was partly true, only now they were accompanied by images of a man who attracted me to him. Not sexually, but in a way I’d never experienced before. He reminded me of Castus, but much more powerful and deadly. Castus was able to make us submit to his will by using his influence as coven leader. This man emanated true power that made me want to fall to my knees in supplication.

Levi studied me, his jaw tightening. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

My hands were on fire with itch and when I held them out golden symbols glowed in the centre of them. Levi stared at them, his brow furrowing.

“Fuck this,” Levi muttered. “We’re leaving.”

“So soon?” The man in my vision stepped out of the cave, his red eyes landing on me. “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

My mouth became the equivalent of the Sahara Desert as it dried out, my feet sticking to the ground. Every cell in my body was focused on him.

“All these years searching for one of the lost children and you wander into my lair like a gift.” He stepped forward and Levi growled, the air vibrating around us. The man flashed a lazy smile at Levi. “It looks like you’ve found yourself a daytime protector, but my spies tell me you can already walk in the light.”

Levi stepped between us, his back straight making him seem taller, his shoulders widening as his wolf joined him. “You need to back the fuck up. I don’t know who you are or who you think we are, but we’re leaving.”

“Can you, though?” the man asked. “All creatures of the night respond to my blood. You might be able to walk away, but I doubt the vampire can.”

He was right. I was struggling against the waves of seductive energy radiating from him. I wanted to crawl to him on my hands and knees and curl up at his feet. The thought shocked me, and I took a stumbling step back. His eyes narrowed on me.

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