This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,13
the strength of Cody’s aura, which means my move toward him could be incredibly stupid.
I’m impressed when Jace stands his ground despite the threat of my nearness. He returns his attention to Tristan instead of reacting to my taunt. He doesn’t seem as worried about his alpha as I thought he might be—in fact, he seemed more anxious about getting me out of Tristan’s way than anything else. It occurs to me that Jace told me to stand clear of Tristan before, but he made no mention of Peter.
Out in the clearing, Tristan faces Peter, the two men circling each other as the friction increases. The other alphas lean forward in anticipation, waiting for the first move.
Peter strides forward, taking a hefty swing at Tristan’s head.
I gasp at Tristan’s instant response.
Tristan shifts from man to wolf so fast that I nearly miss it when I blink. He leaps at Peter and claws Peter’s neck as he flies past. Then he shifts back to his human form so fast that he spins and kicks Peter’s knees out from under him before Peter can even flinch.
Blood pours down Peter’s chest as the older man drops to the ground. Tristan shifts again into a wolf, a dark blur as he leaps onto Peter’s back, knocking the older man forward over his knees, face-first into the grass.
I drag in a shocked breath, my eyes widening. Tristan’s teeth flash, his wolf’s jaws close around the back of Peter’s neck, and for a second, I experience a painful sort of hope.
Is Peter dead? Is the alpha who beat my father finally defeated? Did Tristan kill him? Just like that?
Before I can blink again, Tristan shifts back to his human form, reappearing with his hand wrapped around the back of Peter’s neck, his knee pressing against Peter’s spine. I can’t tear my eyes away from Tristan, the way his muscles ripple, every part of his body moving in harmony, strong and completely in control.
I haven’t been exposed to my own kind as much as I would have if I’d grown up in the village, but I never imagined any shifter being able to shift so fast back and forth between their wolf and human forms. Shifting quickly into wolf form, sure, but back and forth like that? If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Peter twitches, his arms flung out, lying nearly prone on the grass. The way he struggles tells me he’s alive and well. Tristan must have missed the vital parts of Peter’s neck when he cut him. The only question in my mind is whether Tristan deliberately allowed Peter to live.
Tristan’s forceful declaration carries across the distance, making me shiver. “Tessa Dean is mine.”
Chapter Three
Peter’s shout is muffled but filled with murderous rage. “Do whatever the fuck you want with her.”
Tristan releases the older man and leaps back to his feet without a backward glance. He scoops up his jeans from the ground and pulls them on, hopping from one foot to the other to manage dressing while he walks. Finally clothed, he charges up the porch steps, more threatening than when he first tackled me.
I dart to the side, but he sheds his jeans with practiced ease, shifts, and leaps in front of me in his wolf form, cutting me off halfway across the porch. I skid to a stop as his animal snarls up at me, its teeth bared.
His wolf reaches my waist, a massive, sleek, black-furred beast that makes my own wolf rattle inside me, thudding at the cage of my human body, her energy begging to be released.
I’ve barely taken a sharp breath—barely blinked—when Tristan looms over me, fully human and stark naked again.
His shifts are too fast for me to follow, too much of a blur, and now I see why Jace told me I shouldn’t be anywhere near Tristan right now.
Despite shifting back to his human form, Tristan’s eyes are pure animal, his jaw clenched, the shadows casting across his face telling me that he’s acting on instinct without rational thought.
My wolf’s energy makes the air around me sizzle, but Tristan doesn’t appear even slightly fazed.
“Stay away from me,” I snarl. My wolf’s silhouette appears at my side, her energy forcing its way outside of me. She lifts her head beside me and bares her teeth at him.
“Not an option.” Tristan shakes his head, snarling right back at me, fierce before he scoops up his fallen jeans and tugs them on yet again.