Page 79 of Forbidden Wolf

“I haven’t agreed to any of this!” Castus snapped. “You are my subjects and will be leaving with me.”

His anger pulsed off him in waves that crashed into me and left me shaking.

We stood at a precipice which could swallow us all whole. My heart beat double time, and my breath caught in my chest as I stared at Castus. Levi’s biceps bunched in preparation of a fight.

“Castus, I signed the treaty on your behalf, when you went to get reinforcements,” Dean interrupted. “We’ve been training with the wolves, and each side brings a different strength to this war. Together we may be able to force these creatures back to wherever they belong.”

“Tell me about these hellspawn.” Dominic stepped out from among the vampires gathered. He was leader of the coven closest to us geographically. Dominic was around five foot ten with short brown hair and a sculpted short beard. His sharp features were handsome but there was a coldness in his eyes that made me weary.

Dean shook his head and trailed his fingers through his already messy hair. “They’re unlike anything I’ve fought before, stronger than the lycans and faster than the vampires. Even if you cut a limb off, they keep coming after you. They are smart and ruthless, pursuing you with a relentless determination.”

Dominic wasn’t like Castus; he was well known among the vampires as a strategist. He was cold and calculating, determining his moves, and incorporating acceptable losses. Dominic stared at Levi in contemplation, then his gaze moved to Dean.

“An alliance has been made between our people by your highest-ranking officer,” Dominic said with a drawl in his deep voice. “If you wanted a different agreement, then you should have been there yourself, Castus.”

His crimson eyes flashed a warning to our coven leader. Castus stiffened, his expression freezing in that furious mask that was never a good sign for the next person who annoyed him. Dominic was well liked within the vampire hierarchy and Castus wouldn’t want to piss him off.

Dominic finally turned to Levi. “Since we appear to be allies, maybe you can share your gathered intelligence with me?”

Levi continued to glare at Castus. “The vampires who are here have formed bonds with their fighting partners. We need to continue that.”

“Agreed,” Dominic replied instead of Castus. “If there is a threat to my coven, I want to stamp it out. I have already spoken to the high council and have their full backing.”

Castus glowered at him from the corner of his eye. Obviously, there was a hierarchy to the coven leaders that I was unaware of. Dominic seemed to hold more power than Castus and wasn’t afraid to flaunt it. He followed Levi with the confidence of a man who knew he was in charge of those around him.

Castus moved toward me, but Radar appeared at my side.

“Hey, Tasha, can you take a look at this new data for me?” He ushered me from the room without a backward glance at Castus. I’d never examined data for him before, and knew he was under orders from Levi when he escorted me to a small command room with huge solid locks on the inside of the door.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Do I just sit here?”

He had the decency to look away, his cheeks flushed. “Levi said your coven leader wasn’t to get within reaching distance of you. I didn’t know what else to do.”

There were times I could strangle Levi. In front of the world, he was cold and domineering, and in private he was warm and affectionate. He gave me emotional whiplash.

There was no doubt in my mind that I fell in love with him long ago. He was the only man who manifested those butterflies in my stomach and made me dizzy with desire. He’d never given me any indication that he reciprocated those feelings. Growling and declaring me as belonging to him wasn’t the same thing. I owned my silver blade that I liked to stab my enemy with. It didn’t mean I was in love with it.

Radar scraped his foot on the floor while staring at the wall. We’d never even had a proper conversation before without Levi present.

“Why don’t you show me these famous devices and the readings from them that Levi always talks about? He said you’re interested in some monster in a lake.” I tried my best to put him at ease.

A grin spread across his lips and lit his eyes. He took a seat at one of the computers and started typing, images displaying on screens around the room. “Pull up a seat and let me introduce you to the wonders of the Loch Ness monster.”

“Is it a hellspawn?” I asked.

“No. She is the greatest monster mystery in the world, and the reason I designed my scanners.”

He pressed a few more buttons to show Levi and Dominic moving through the base in the background.

“Do you think Levi will keep Castus at bay?” I asked in a quiet voice.

Radar took a deep breath and released it in a sigh. He spun in his chair to give me his full attention. “I’ve known Levi most of my life. He arrived at military camp a different guy to the one who I finished school with. Six months ago, he could have knocked me over when I found out the girl he’d been obsessed with for years was a vamp. That wolf damn near killed himself to take over this base so he could save you. If I was Castus, I wouldn’t even look at you twice.”

My cheeks heated as I stared at the monitor that showed Levi prowling around his base. Fear and pride clashed together in my chest. Levi and Dominic were lethal killers who would happily tear out the throat of anyone in their path. Dominic was a coven leader and renowned for his ability to get whatever he wanted. He was cunning and lethal, smiling at his enemies before he decimated them and took their coven to integrate into his own. Castus’ coven was bordered with his, so Dominic would happily destroy whatever stood in his way from increasing the size of his coven and property. He wouldn’t think twice if that obstacle was Castus or Levi.

An unconscious shiver trickled down my spine at the thought of Levi and Dominic fighting each other to the death. After finally being reconciled with Levi, would Fate be cruel enough to steal him from me?

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