Page 48 of Witch Unbound
“Leif!” She reached for him, but I got to her first and grabbed her by the throat.
I lifted her off the ground, staring at her through vision so sharp I could see every pore on her usually poreless face. “Touch what’s mine again and I’ll tear off your arms. Place your mouth anywhere near what’s mine and I’ll rip your head off. Do you understand me?”
She stared at me, wide-eyed.
I squeezed her neck, eliciting a gurgle. “Answer me!”
Her eyes rolled back in her head. I wanted her dead. I wanted to squeeze and hear the final snap. How dare she? How fucking—
“Cora, let go. You have to let go.”
Tor’s arm was around my waist, pulling me back, while Rune gripped my wrist, urging me to release her. My gaze dropped to my hand. My huge, mishappen claw of a hand.
Oh, fuck.
Oh, shit.
This wasn’t me, was it? The thing beneath my skin shuddered as if in admonishment. As if to saystop being a fucking pussy.End her.
No.
I didn’t want to do that.
The thought brought me back to the surface, placing me firmly into the driver’s seat. The unadulterated rage melted, and I released Astrid. She slumped into Leif’s arms, gasping for breath, eyes wild.
“Oh, shit… Oh, fuck…” I looked from Rune to Tor. “I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay,” Leif said. “It’s okay.”
For a moment I thought he was talking to Astrid, but his gunmetal blues were fixed on me and Astrid hung from his arm like an afterthought.
Tor’s nose skimmed up the column of my neck as he inhaled. Rune stepped closer too, hazel eyes bright, nostrils flaring.
Leif let go of Astrid and joined us, his gaze sweeping over me as he breathed me in. “What is that?”
Rune pressed his nose to my wrist. “I want it,” he said huskily.
“I need it,” Tor growled against the base of my throat.
“Mine,” Leif said. He kissed me hard on the mouth and my body reacted like a flame to oxygen.
The thing inside me swelled up and pressed against my skin, wanting out, wanting them. I broke the kiss to stare into his eyes.
“Mine…” My voice was a deep growl.
I turned my head to claim Rune’s mouth, then again to taste Tor. We remained like that for long minutes, trading kisses, touching, and pressing against each other as something built between us, a new connection, a primal surety that this was how it was meant to be.
“Cora, Wren hungry!”
I came down to earth with a thud, pulse racing toward something I didn’t understand but desperately needed. The guys and I traded glances.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Tor said softly. He pressed a final kiss to my lips and stepped away.
Rune and Leif stepped back too, and I focused on Astrid, still standing there, her gray eyes shimmering with tears.
“What are you?” Her voice trembled.
The urge to tear off her head was gone, but I’d still happily have punched her in the face. “I’m the anchor. Stay away from my mates.”
