This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,70

the events that led him to this moment, I’d thump him for scaring the crap out of me. I should probably act as if I don’t have any clue what’s gotten into him—scream at him, maybe—but I’m not good at pretending.

Tristan’s wolf is the same color as his hair—raven black—its fur seeming to suck the light out of the room, unnervingly similar to my wolf’s power. Her energy has only just returned to my body, but already, she rattles inside me, begging me to shift fully and find out what it would be like to look eye to eye with Tristan’s wolf.

I try to find my voice, finding it more difficult than I expected since I was using my wolf’s energy to speak in growls and snarls moments ago. Come to think of it, speaking in wolf was easier than using my human vocal chords. Now my human voice feels harsh inside my throat.

“If this is your idea of standing guard over me, it’s not necessary,” I say.

Tristan’s wolf snarls down at me, turning his full fury on me.

Okay, well, I wondered what it would be like to look eye to eye with his wolf. It’s an unsettling experience. His wolf’s eyes are as crisply green as his human eyes, rimmed just as darkly, but they’re flecked with amber, a startling combination.

The white wolf is a distant threat to me now. I can’t worry about him when the real threat is right in front of me.

I hate how foreign Tristan’s animal feels to me. If I were like any other shifter, I would be able to read his body language right now—I’d instinctively know whether he were angry or worried, and I’d know how to respond according to pack law.

Tristan’s nostrils flare. His animal pulls in my scent just like the white wolf did, but it has a different effect on me. Rather than a physical wrench, my response is more subtle. A tightening low in my stomach, a sudden ache in my chest, a hitch in my breathing that I fight to straighten out before Tristan notices.

“Tristan?” I wait for any sign that he understands me. “There’s nobody else here. I’m safe.” I wish I could come up with an excuse for falling backward, but any explanation I give will have to be a lie. “Everything’s fine.”

I blink and he shifts back into his human form. His fists rest on either side of my head as he holds himself above me, his face level with mine. He’s completely naked, but I keep my focus on his eyes and chest and… nope. Not looking lower.

He wears a fierce crease in his forehead. I try to read his human emotions, but they’re fleeting and concealed quickly.

“Good,” he says.

It looks like he’s about to roll to the side—his muscles bunch in that direction and I take advantage of his movement to awkwardly straighten out my legs—but he pauses, returning to me slowly.

Suddenly, his presence feels more dangerous than before.

The corners of his mouth turn down. “I couldn’t sense you before, but now I’m drowning.”

I purse my lips, not sure what he’s talking about. Unless… I’m not in control right now.

My eyes widen as I do a quick check. My wolf blasted back into me seconds before Tristan raced into the room. I just encountered the white wolf. All of my power was exposed during my conversation with the ivory animal. Then I used my power to pull my wolf back to myself and now…

I’m not in control.

That means Tristan isn’t, either.

He gives his head a small shake, but he can’t hide the dilation of his pupils.

Oh… no…

His fists whiten on the floor on either side of my face, where he clenches them so hard, they lose blood. He’s breathing faster than he should be, but he closes his eyes and slows it down, breathing deeper.

As if that’s going to help.

He lets out a growl that tells me he just inhaled a chestful of my power. If what he’s feeling is anything like what I felt when I tried to enter his bedroom, then he’s currently experiencing a dizzying punch to the head. Maybe repeated punches. Increasing with force with every breath.

My anger rises and it isn’t helping me control my power. With rage comes a terrible sort of desperation. I’ve only been out of Hidden House for a few hours and I’m already back to where I started.

Was it all for nothing?

“Helen warned you.” I snarl, my own breathing increasing as I