Page 55 of Forbidden Wolf

“Sir, I believe you are about to make a grave mistake,” I started.

His eyebrows rose.

Radar continued to type and brought the area around the coven up on another screen, familiar areas of light and dark overlaid on it. Fuck! She was already surrounded by hellspawn. My wolf struggled for dominance, pushing for a transformation.

“I’m sending you over some files, and then we need to meet face-to-face,” I said.

Fenris didn’t reply, his attention moving to the files Radar was sending to him with all our information on the hellspawn. An eternity later, his gaze moved back to bore into mine through the cyber connection.

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

There was no finesse and fancy speech between lycans. The high council would have been informed of my promotion within moments of Stefan being carried out on that stretcher. If I grovelled to them, they would never take me seriously. I have to act as if I had always been in charge of this base and hope that none of them realised I was terrified of being in command.

The screen went blank and silence surrounded me as everyone watched me.

“Someone organise the conference room,” I snapped. “Radar, get everything we have ready for briefing. Let’s show him that we mean business!”

Feet scrambled into action around me.

“What if he doesn’t believe you about the hellspawn?” Radar asked.

“Then it looks like I’m going to have to challenge him as well.”

My wolf howled in delight at the thought of another fight. He wanted to tear and bite until his frustration at being separated from his mate subsided.

Tonight, Tasha would be safe, or I would be dead.

***

Tasha

Castus had told me to stay in his room, but after sensing the master hellspawn out there, I needed to move and think. I wandered through the castle to one of the windows that overlooked the winding pathway and mountains in the distance. The haze I’d been living in began to lift, and my emotions finally reappeared.

The creatures outside sounded like white noise in my head. How long had they been out there, and I never detected them? Were they killing the vampires that patrolled the forest? And should I tell Castus that they were right outside our door instead of going to look for them?

My emotions began to freefall into chaos and my hands clenched at my sides, the familiar heat pulsing in them. Cautiously, I made my way through the coven and stood at another window. As if they sensed me earlier, the glowing red auras had moved closer to our compound. This castle was supposed to keep us safe from all our enemies, and for the first time, I no longer felt safe here.

Those creatures had ensured they stayed off our radar for years, slaughtering all of us indiscriminately.

“There you are.” Castus appeared beside me, his hands finding a way to touch me and draw me closer to him. “Why did you leave my room?”

I stared at him.

“What if they are out there?” I asked in a low tone.

His gaze moved to the window. “In our forest?”

I nodded and grabbed hold of the front of his coat. “I can almost feel their eyes watching me.”

Castus’ fingers beat a tribal beat on my arms. “Come with me, then I need to speak to Cooper.” He led me through the coven to the command room, settling me in a corner. “Watch her,” he instructed one of the vampires before stalking from the room.

I curled myself into the smallest ball I could make. When I closed my eyes, I could almost sense Levi standing behind me, his wolf nuzzling me. Where had he been all these lonely months? His strength gave me enough willpower to centre myself and gather my emotions together.

His wolf sat beside me, resting his head on my shoulder, his golden aura powerful and comforting. I wished the illusion was real and that I could run my fingers through his fur. It had always comforted me in the past. His presence eased the oppressive feeling of the master hellspawn breathing down my neck.

When my guard was distracted by raised voices in the corridor, I left the room and returned to a window with my spirit wolf at my side. He was bigger in this form, as if his energy was normally contained in a smaller vessel of flesh and bones. My skin tingled where he leaned against me, his aura blending with mine.

Pulsating red auras were still visible in the forest, but now there were the silver auras of the vampires as well. Castus must have sent a team into the forest to determine if there was a threat. At least he believed me.

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