This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,4

out through my gloved palm. He dodges the hit, and I pull the handle back, flipping it in my hand and swinging it side to side and then forward as he darts left and right and jumps back to avoid the crushing blows aimed at his shoulders, ribs, and stomach.

If I landed the hits, the damage would be catastrophic. The axe head is heavy enough to shatter his bones.

To avoid me, his reflexes have to fire so fast that his expression reveals only his concentration. For a second, I’m satisfied to see that his smirk is long gone, but then his eyes brighten with every attempt I make. I catch a glimpse of his animal in the hungry smile that grows on his face.

He’s enjoying this even more than if I’d been easy prey.

I’m now a challenge to be conquered.

I spin to gain speed, letting the axe head slide through my palm as I extend my arm, and this time, he isn’t fast enough. The iron smacks his shoulder. He turns in time so that the impact doesn’t break his bones, but he roars with pain.

Dawson and Cameron take a step toward us, moving as if they’re going to get involved in our fight, but Cody is already retaliating. He throws himself down and forward—a reckless move—to tackle me around my thighs. Lifted off my feet, I raise the axe, preparing to smash it against his exposed spine, but I’m already falling.

He tips me over his back and onto my head.

I don’t have time to scream. I manage to turn my shoulder to take the brunt of the fall so I don’t break my neck or my wrist.

Get up!

My body takes too long to respond.

Cody’s booted foot crashes down onto my axe arm, nearly breaking my bone before I can roll to the side. I whimper when he drops his other knee onto my chest, a knock that makes me wince.

He wrenches the axe from my pinned hand while I thump at his knee with my fist.

“Get off me!” I shout.

My cry strangles short when he leans over me and rests the side of the axe head against my clavicle. It’s a casual move, but the handle is turned to the side and the blade is pointed at my throat, positioned a mere inch away.

I keep my axe sharp. It will take a single upward thrust to sever my neck.

Cody leans over me, his chest heaving from the exertion of avoiding my axe, his free hand pressing against my shoulder. His brown eyes are bright, somewhat expectant, as if he thinks I’ll find a way out of his hold. As if he’s looking forward to it.

A puzzled crease appears in his forehead and his smile fades when I remain frozen beneath him, my chest heaving, panic rising inside me because of the blade resting so close to my throat.

“Tessa Dean.” He sounds disappointed. His full lips purse. The light in his eyes fades a little. “Don’t stop fighting me.”

He leans lower. Slowly. Cautiously. Dropping his cheek to mine, he watches me with every inch he comes closer to touching my face with his, clearly expecting me to fight back at any second. Darting forward the final distance, he nudges the side of my neck with his lips. This close, he smells like a field of grass warmed in the sun, an alluring scent that shouldn’t belong to this asshole.

His breath is cool against my skin, a shivery puff of exhaled air.

Then I sense him inhale a deep breath, the air sucking into his chest.

My stomach sinks.

Damn.

I close my eyes, waiting for my unusual scent to register in his senses.

Cody’s teeth suddenly sharpen against the skin beneath my right ear. His hand clenches around my shoulder and his claws rake against my skin so sharply that I fight against the scream rising inside me.

“Your scent is…” His growl vibrates through my neck before he draws back, his eyes blazing into mine, his irises becoming even more animalistic.

“Fuck,” he whispers.

If I could count the number of times I’ve heard a shifter tell me that my scent is messed-up…

I smell like a wolf, but not like a wolf.

I have the scent of a human, but not like a human.

My father once explained to me that all shifters will find my scent unsettling and unnerving. It will make them avoid and shun me. But he also warned me that the strongest alphas will be able to distinguish the layers of my scent—the high and