This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,68
hook and someone just yanked it out of my chest.
An energy I’ve never felt before hauls me to the left, nearly lifting me off my feet, pulling me savagely off course.
I slide to a stop inside the dark entrance of an alley, scrambling to find my feet and struggling to get my bearings.
The energy uncurls from around me just as quickly as it took hold. Released, I raise my head, peering down the alley.
My panic increases for too many reasons. I need to get back to the penthouse and now my chances of reaching it before Tristan are even slimmer.
What’s worse is the wrenching power that dragged me off course. My wolf’s energy is insubstantial. I can be seen, but nothing should be able to take hold of me.
What sort of being would have the power to stop me?
I shiver inside the alley’s entrance, ready to run as soon as my damn legs begin obeying instructions again.
I freeze as a form takes shape in the darkness several paces away from me. A bright swirl of white light rises and grows between the alley walls. The light stretches out, rippling, streams of energy morphing into a shape that nails me to the spot.
A large, ivory wolf snarls at me from within the darkness, its teeth glowing, sharp and deadly. It’s twice as big as me, but its body is just as insubstantial. Electrifying. Terrifying.
It’s pure energy.
It’s just like me.
The white wolf lowers his head, his eyes glowing crimson red. “Hello, little one,” he says.
Chapter Eighteen
My hackles rise, growls growing in the back of my throat. “What the fuck are you?”
The white wolf snarls, giving me a threatening growl as he prowls toward me, pushing me toward the entrance of the alley.
“I am the same as you,” he says, tipping his head at me. “But I see the confusion in your eyes, little one. I wonder if you know what you are?”
I glance around me, wary of the streetlight directly behind me and the humans walking past, worried about being seen by them. My human heart is also beating hard inside my chest all the way back in Tristan’s penthouse because he’s only minutes away from reaching me.
The white wolf laughs. “Are you worried that the humans can see you? Don’t be. Only other supernaturals can see you.”
“Then you should be worried,” I snap. “There are shifters everywhere around here. Powerful ones.”
“Shifters.” The wolf pulls back its lips in a derisive snarl. “They are pitiful shadows of true wolves. They are nothing compared to me.” He casts a gaze over me that feels like acid tearing through my fur down to the skin beneath. “And now, it seems, I should say that they are pitiful shadows compared to you.”
He takes another step toward me, but this time, I stand my ground.
“Who are you?” I ask.
“That’s a better question.” He has the most expressive mouth. Now, his snarl is a smile. “I have three names, but they all mean the same thing in the end.”
“Three names,” I murmur, shuddering. Tristan mentioned a three-headed wolf. He said he could sense him coming for him. I look for shadows around the white wolf’s head that might indicate he has more than one head, but I don’t see anything. Maybe the three heads aren’t literal. It could be a reference to this wolf’s three names.
I lower my snout with a threatening snarl. “Where is your human body?”
The white wolf smiles again. “My human form is surprised but delighted to discover that you exist, little one. I thought I was alone.”
He takes another step toward me, ending up so close to me that the tip of his nose could touch mine. He has no scent. Nothing at all. But the fiery glow in his eyes suddenly feels scorching.
“Tell me: Where have you been all this time?” His growl deepens and the crimson light in his eyes increases, a deep flame that burns hot. “Tell me who was hiding you from me so I can end them.”
“Nobody was hiding me,” I snap.
I’ve completely lost Tristan’s scent now. I’m running out of time. Have already run out of time to make it back to the penthouse before him.
The white wolf laughs. “Oh, little one. Someone was hiding you from me. Even if you didn’t know they were doing it. It must have been somewhere that my power couldn’t reach. A place blessed by old magic, perhaps. To hide you from me all your life is quite a feat.”