This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,80

The alpha female… the alpha… fuck…

“That’s not possible…”

“The problem is that you’re not my mate,” Tristan snarls. “If you were my mate, you would rule at my side. We would be equal partners. But instead, our wolves are now in a power struggle. Yours is tearing herself apart with breathtaking violence, while mine is slowly burning up. If I could walk away from this—if I could be the good guy—I would.”

Tristan’s grip on me tightens, his palms dragging across my skin, tingling, making me shiver, as he slowly pulls me forward, my chest to his.

“We either fight each other to see who can assert dominance over the other—and restore their wolf’s position of power,” he says, husky now. “Or we play a different game of dominance in the bedroom. I know which one I prefer. It’s your choice, Tessa.”

I can’t breathe. Last night, he’d nudged the corner of my lips, made my toes curl and fierce heat grow between my legs, and told me that he would give me everything I wanted and nothing that I didn’t.

But that’s not how it will be today. Today will be about control and submission.

“I want another option.” My eyes are leaking, tears dripping all the way down my cheek, falling from my jaw onto his bare arm. They leave shiny rivers across his muscles. “Give me a third option.”

“Those are the only two options I’m prepared to accept,” he says. “Make your choice.”

Chapter Twenty-One

The only two options he’s prepared to accept? That means there must be a third or even fourth option he isn’t telling me…

“You’re lying to me!” I scream at Tristan as the pain billows inside me. “There has to be another way. Please.”

He jolts, the fire in his eyes increasing, and it makes me wonder what his wolf is going through right now.

“There is,” he whispers, his teeth gritted as he answers my question with reluctance. “It’s called melding. It’s an ancient way to resolve the issue of dominance. My pack knows about it because knowledge was passed down through my father, but not so many wolves know about it anymore.” He levels his gaze with mine, a hitch in his voice giving the hint of pain he’s keeping hidden. “It’s dangerous, Tessa. The chances of surviving are extremely low.”

My teary eyes meet his. “Why?”

“Because it involves experiencing each other’s darkness.” The shadows in his eyes grow. “If we can’t control the darkness and emerge from it, our minds will be lost forever. Our bodies will succumb to the pain and die.”

“I’m dying anyway.” I moan. “What do we have to do? Tell me.”

“You have to trust me.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t trust you.”

“Then we’re back to the first two options.”

“No! One of us will die if we fight and the other option is…” I shake my head, groaning. “I won’t do that.”

His voice lowers, but it’s not soft, all sharp edges. “Why are you so afraid of fucking?” He pauses and considers me with more caution than I was expecting. “Did someone hurt you?”

He’s assuming the worst. I meet the dangerous glint in his eyes, the sharp contradictions. He resents me. But if someone hurt me, he would end them.

“I’m not worried about sex,” I say, hating the whimper in my voice. “I can’t let anyone mark me.”

“Why not?”

It’s impossible to find a lie when the pain inside me is as relentless as his questions. “Because I can’t bond. I will never have a true mate.”

“Why would that determine whether or not you choose to be marked?” Tristan’s forehead creases. “A mark is a sign of belonging. It means standing side-by-side. The bond between true mates rarely happens anyway. I know only a few wolves who have found their true mate.”

“But it will never happen for me. I don’t want a constant reminder of what I can never have.”

Tristan draws back a little but doesn’t let me go. He is grim as his gaze rakes my face. I imagine he’s searching for any sign that I’ll choose a different path.

“Then we have no choice.” Lowering his gaze, he stares at the shiny rivers of tears trailing across his arm. His jaw clenches. “The first step is trust. Real trust. You have to do what I say and have faith that I won’t hurt you.”

“And how is this dangerous for you?” I’m scathing. “Since I’m the one who has to blindly trust you.”

His jaw tightens. “Because I have to accept your trust and not break it. Believe