This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,119
I can’t remove from my paw, Tessa,” Cody says. “You’re sharp. Painful. I’ve tried to rid myself of you. But you remain.”
He fought me once and lost, but his appearance tells me he’s spent the last two months making himself stronger and faster, the same way I have.
I’ve never used my magnified power to make someone do what I want. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to accomplish it even now because I’ve never fully tested it, but manipulating Cody into letting me go is preferable to engaging him in a fight to free myself.
My hands slide beneath his jacket and up his sides, following the hard muscles of his back as I press myself closer to his chest, quickly leaning forward to nudge my cheek against his jaw.
I turn my lips toward the corner of his mouth as I allow my power to build inside me. It’s a very different process to controlling my scent. When I control it, I must be calm, attain a level of peace and acceptance. But to magnify my power requires inviting its chaos, embracing the wild abandon that is not exactly out of my control but pulses with excitement.
My fingers tingle against Cody’s muscles as I knead my palms against his back. My breathing increases and I arch a little. My lips are a breath away from his as my power flows through me.
All I need is for him to inhale.
“Is this better?” I whisper, preparing myself for a violent reaction. Even if he doesn’t want to react aggressively, he might. I’m deliberately triggering his most basic instincts, forcing him to act without reason or logic.
He shivers as he inhales.
Whatever cages he was keeping on his animal disappear the moment his pupils dilate, a deep growl rumbling through his chest.
The civil, controlled mask he wore vanishes. Finally, I’m facing the wolf who tried to mark me at the Conclave.
“Fuck.” He moves so swiftly that I’m still catching my breath as he pushes me back against the wall beside the dressing table, hooking my leg around his hips as he drives us into the solid surface.
His mouth descends to mine, a millisecond away from kissing me.
“Stop,” I whisper.
He halts, his lips close to mine.
Relief fills me, but my power over him feels precarious, tipping between control and chaos.
I need to tell him to let me go now. I should do it quickly, but I suddenly wonder if I can plant a thought inside his mind, whether I can use this moment to influence the future.
It’s a huge risk, but one I’m willing to take.
“You will be the alpha soon,” I murmur. “When you are, you will have the power to change your pack’s future. You must stop this feud with Tristan—”
Cody’s arms clench around me. “My father won’t give control to me until I prove I’m strong enough to challenge Tristan.”
I shiver. “No, but you—” Nobody is strong enough to challenge Tristan.
“My father wants to destroy Tristan piece by fucking piece,” Cody says. “Once Tristan’s pack is torn apart, my father will send me to challenge Tristan, even if I end up dead. Revenge has consumed my father the same way bloodlust consumed Tristan’s father.”
Cody brushes the back of his hand across my cheek. “He doesn’t realize that you’re the one who can hurt us the most.”
My feelings are in turmoil. Baxter’s need for revenge is out of control. By coming here tonight, I’ve seen a side of Cody that I never thought existed. Maybe it didn’t before the Conclave, but the memory that returns to me most sharply now is not when Cody fought me, but when his father backhanded him across the face.
Cody is caught in a different kind of cage. Facing down a future where he will fight Tristan—and he already knows how it will end.
I came here to control the future and now I feel it slipping through my fingers.
“Let me go,” I whisper.
Cody’s arms falls away from me. He steps back from me, shaking his head, trying to shake off my power over him. It won’t be long before he’s in control again.
I poise on the verge of hurrying away when his fists clench and I’m not sure whether it’s his wolf speaking or him when he says, “I regret the past, Tessa. The fucker who attacked you is dead. I killed that part of myself. But now I’m caught between two ugly choices: Kill my father and take control of my pack by force. Or kill Tristan