Page 86 of Forbidden Wolf

“Tasha is mine,” he said.

The crimson gaze of the hellspawn moved to Levi, his eyebrow rising. “How can she be when she was born for me alone?”

My mother was the strongest woman I knew, and she hadn’t been able to resist this hellspawn thrall. Despair made bile burn up my throat.

Levi pushed me behind him. “Calling little girls names in their bedroom at night does not mean that they belong to you. Everyone has the right to choose their mate and Tasha chose me.”

He was right. Over and over, I had always picked Levi. He was the only man who’d been my lover and the only man I’d ever fed from. I grasped his waist and rested my head on his spine as I drew strength from him. There was a reason I felt fear as a child—because this connection with the hellspawn wasn’t natural. It was predatory and dark, not like the gold light I’d shared with Levi.

The only explanation for that master hellspawn being here was because he needed something from me. Straightening my spine, I stepped out to take my place at Levi’s side.

All the hellspawn began to shuffle into a circle around us, creating a barrier between us and our allies.

“I belong with Levi,” I said softly. “You can track me and summon me, but my heart will always belong to him alone.”

“Do you think I care about your heart?” the master asked with a dark laugh. “You are one of the lost children, those who can bear our young. I don’t give a fuck if you come willingly or not, but by the time dawn emerges over the horizon, youwillbe chained to my bed where you will stay. You can come with me now or watch every single person be slaughtered first. The choice is yours.”

His hand came up and for the first time I really looked at the battlefield.

We were severely outnumbered, the hellspawn still emerging in the distance as he continued to summon them to him. Every death from this point would be my fault. The faces of the vampires and lycans were pensive and weary after so many hours of relentless battle. They had come to a stop as all eyes landed on us in the middle of this circle.

“Tasha,” Levi said in a low tone.

He was mine and I would always belong to only him.

My lips tipped into a sad smile. “We’ll always have Paris.”

“No, baby, no.” Levi shook his head.

He had told me long ago that they would never touch what mattered if I sent my heart and mind away. I’d managed to avoid Castus, but my luck had run out tonight. A bigger predator was here now, and my escape routes had all been sealed. A noose slowly closed around my neck.

I grasped Levi’s hand.

“There are others that need your protection,” I whispered. My eyes implored him as I thought of my sister. If what the hellspawn said was true, then every one of those women were in danger.

His expression said he didn’t give a fuck, his eyes flaring gold as his wolf fought for control. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I grabbed his face and kissed him. I was one person against the hundreds of souls here tonight.

Every step away from him was filled with dread. This was a fate I’d ran from since I was a child. Now it had caught up with me. If I thought fighting would help, I would have fought fang and claw to free myself from this ending.

These creatures would kill Levi to get to me and I would never let that happen. I loved him too much to ever watch him die.

A deep growl echoed around me, and my heart tripped over its beat.

The hellspawn held out his hand to me, his skin pale in the moonlight. My nose wrinkled in disgust and I turned my head away. He would never have my submission. His cold, clammy hand grabbed my throat and forced me to stand on tiptoes so he could glare down at me.

“There is a hard way and an easy way, Tasha. You can be my queen and rule at my side, or you can be my slave and live in my dungeon. Either way suits me.” The gleam in his eye told me he would prefer me to fight so he could break me.

Fear spiked up my spine and made my heart beat faster.

Is this what happened to Mum? Did she submit to save me and Kimber?

My hands bunched into fists at my side, every nail digging into my palms. The hellspawn around me began to chatter in their language, their sharp teeth snapping at me and their long, pointed tongues licking over their lips.

Another growl echoed and I closed my eyes. I may have handed myself over to him, but I would never submit, even if he threw me into a dungeon for the rest of my life. I’d sacrificed myself to keep those I loved safe, but I would hold onto whatever dignity remained.

The hellspawn’s hand tightened around my throat and his rancid breath made me want to be sick. “I look forward to tearing all those defensive walls down, Tasha. Every one of them will crumble before me and your suffering will be exquisite.”

His tongue traced down the side of my face and I shuddered in revulsion.

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