Page 44 of Howling
Just as black dots dance in my vision, Garth swears, then lunges across the seat. Instead of feeling fangs tearing into my neck, he grabs my nape and kisses me. He forces his tongue between my lips and takes possession of my mouth, dominating the kiss in a way that makes thinking impossible.
CHAPTER TWELVE
GARTH
My wolf goes absolutely ballistic at the scent of Frankie’s distress, refusing to watch her in pain for a second longer. My beast claws at the undersides of my ribs, desperate to get out and comfort her. The chains I use to keep him bound rattle, then snap like toothpicks.
Human logic is shoved aside until only animal instincts remain. I lunge across the car, knocking aside the others to reach her. The scent of sunshine and lemons that is uniquely hers fills my senses, and whatever remaining resistance that says this is a terrible idea vanishes.
Without hesitation, I slam my mouth over hers and thrust my tongue deep. The taste of her explodes through me, and nothing else matters but the need for more. My dick throbs with my heartbeat, and I grind against the seat, using the pain to keep me from dragging her into my lap and taking what I desperately want.
Frankie groans, leaning into the kiss, and the primal need to claim her for my own consumes my very being. Nothing elsematters but making her mine. A hand sinks into my hair…then the fingers viciously twist the strands, yanking my head back and breaking the connection.
I fucking whimper.
My chest heaves as long dormant senses prickle awake and something inside me shifts. I suck in a sharp breath of air, like I’m surfacing from a deep sleep, and I feel more aware of myself than I have in decades.
I feel alive.
My eyes flutter open, and I find her beautiful face only inches away. Her stunning golden eyes lock onto me in a way that has my blood surging through my veins in anticipation. Light reflects off the orbs until they glow, tiny starbursts shimmering in their depths, and my beast is completely hypnotized.
Fear snaps me out of my daze.
I’ve been at odds with my beast for so long, I don’t trust him not to harm her.
Desperate to put space between us before my beast regains his senses and takes control again, I gently uncurl my hand from around the long strands of her blonde hair, concentrating on the task like it’s the most important thing in the world. The long tresses tangle around my fingers, as if to keep her from leaving. My beast is so calm and docile that I slow my movements to prolong the contact, not wanting to lose the peace just touching her brings.
It should freak me the fuck out, but the blissful quiet is too glorious.
The constant battle to keep my beast in check is gone.
It’s almost like floating in a sea of nothingness, and both my beast and I are enraptured.
The instant I’m untangled from her, the grip in my hair turns brutal, and I find myself wrenched back. Dante snarlsin my face, fangs flashing in warning, his slate eyes hard and uncompromising, ready to subdue me if I prove a threat.
He’s the only one strong enough to keep me contained. Even with all his raw strength, it’s getting harder and harder to subdue me. Sooner rather than later, he’ll be forced to put me down. I thought I had more time. I thought I was ready to be done. I’d made my peace with it…until she burst into my life.
Tyler wiggles out from behind me, the asshole crawling over me to get to Frankie, and I can’t even be mad. “You okay? Are you back with us?”
Her throat moves as she swallows hard, her nod jerky when she answers. “I’m…okay.”
It’s a blatant lie, and a muscle in my jaw twitches when my beast snarls in displeasure. As much as I want to demand the truth, I don’t call her on it. I don’t want to rock the boat and slide back into insanity.
Dante tightens his fist in my hair, no doubt sensing my restlessness. He’s not an idiot, unwilling to risk letting me go and freaking Frankie out further. My wolf is wily, but Dante isn’t easily fooled, not after the first time, when I nearly ripped off his face. He scans my eyes, as if verifying that I’m sane, and I dip my head in acknowledgment that I’m still in full possession of my faculties.
Though my beast doesn’t like being restrained, he doesn’t fight it, content to remain within touching distance of Frankie. After a moment’s pause, Dante reluctantly releases me, and I grimace when my skull aches where it felt like he tried to scalp me.
Drops of rain continue to fall outside the windows, and a glance shows the lake a few yards from the road is only half full. Water streams back toward it, funneling down the ditches and snaking through the vegetation. Frankie somehow managed todrag thousands of tons of water into the air without even being aware of it.
Magic hovers around us like a threat, thick and heavy, like it’s waiting to leap back into action at her command—a command that didn’t need words or spells. The magic reacted to her panic.
None of it makes a lick of sense.
Only witches and mages have access to magic.
The minuscule amount shifters have is only enough to allow us to shift. Some argue that alphas have a larger concentration of it, which allows them to rule over others, but that’s never been proven.
Any shifter that tries to touch raw magic dies horribly.
