Page 62 of Wolf's Bane
It stalked closer.
“Stay back!” She held out a hand.
It crouched down, lowered his head, and gave a plaintive whimper. He shuffled forward. Her breath caught in her throat.
He paused, then moved back. The message was clear. He did not want to scare her, but she feared that it might be impossible. Her heart thudded in her chest and refused to quiet.
He tilted his head to one side, the moonlight catching on his violet eyes, and he made a hissing sound. Too slowly, she realized he was speaking.
“I don’t understand. I’m sorry,” she said.
He repeated the sound. “Sfff.” He tapped his chest, then pointed at her. “Sfff wiff mee.”
“Oh, I’m safe with you,” she whispered.
The thread that connected them pulled taut. She knew this man. He was in her blood.
He shuffled forward, still low and, once again realizing too slow, submissive. She reached out, tangling her fingers in the mass of hair on his head. The hair had grown shaggy and felt coarse to the touch. At the base of his head, she felt a knotted ribbon that valiantly tried to keep his hair orderly. Every morning, her love’s hair started in a tidy plait and worked its way free. It seemed impossible that this huge figure was known to her, but the poor ribbon confirmed it.
“Alek?”
Chapter 16
Aleksandar
Boxon Hill
The Stone Circle
“Look at this mess.Why do you insist on a plait when you need a proper cut?” She gave the ribbon a tug. Placing her hands on either side of his face, she gently turned his head, as if inspecting him. “It’s remarkable how little has changed in your face. Are you hurt?”
Dirt and an alarming amount of blood covered her face. He pushed back the fringe of hair at her brow. “You’re bleeding. What were you doing out alone? If you ever do something so reckless again, I will lock you away in a tower until you’re old and gray.”
His tongue could not work properly with all the blasted teeth in his mouth. He felt like he was trying to talk around pebbles. Speech would only return if he calmed down, and how could he be calm when his mate stood before him, bleeding.
She blinked. “That sounded upsetting. I assume you’re chiding me.”
He pulled her into a crushing embrace, burying his nose in her hair. Her heart thudded, slow and steady, and it was everything.
“What am I going to do with you?”
He loved her so much, but he would strangle her for being so reckless. She was the only thing keeping him anchored to the world, to his sense of self, to his sanity.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The easy, measured beats calmed him because they told him she was not afraid of him, even though he lost control. When he heard her scream, the beast took command over his body with startling efficiency. He had to protect their mate, protect Solenne. He would tear the throat out of anyone who hurt her. The beast roared approval. They were in agreement.
With each heartbeat, the beast calmed and receded. Alek felt himself slowly shift back, though the beast wasn’t far below the surface. The curse had always felt like an entity taking possession of his body, an unwelcome invader to be fought and resisted. At the moment, it very much felt like a disapproving master ready to correct an incompetent apprentice.
Exhausted, he knew they should return to the house. Solenne needed her injuries cleaned and a doctor. She needed hot water, soap, clean clothes, food, and a soft bed. He wanted to provide those things, to carry her back to the house, but he could not seem to move.
She stirred in his arms. “I’m sorry. You’re quite nude.”
Alek looked down at his chest and his arms. The beast’s thick coat had receded. “Side effect of the curse.”
She snorted, then her entire body perked. “Oh, I understood that. Are you with me again, Alek?”
“I never left you.” He adjusted her in his lap to make the most of the moonlight to assess the damage. His fingers brushed her temple. Blood matted the hair. A distressed noise sounded in the back of his throat.
