Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,30

a glare toward the white Wolf before it settled those unflinching eyes on me.

Darkness swelled inside me. I forced myself not to move, not to let that bastard see the panic in my eyes. I forced myself to be, not the woman, but the darkness that spilled through the Unseelie power.

Chaos was there waiting, lingering at the edges of my mind. Dark and seething, whispering of all the things it wanted to do…I’ll start with this one, she whispered in my head. This fucking Wolf who thinks it can come for what’s mine. I opened myself to that raw power and let it flow through me, as a rumble came from the sky above, that oncoming storm I’d felt was more like a threatening growl in my head now. It was sweet and bitter in my nose, making the midnight-colored Wolf lift its head and sniff the air.

“That’s right,” I taunted. “Not so pathetically mortal after all, am I?”

The Wolf answered with a snarl of its own and stalked closer. I readied myself, widening my stance, my breath trapped in my chest. Movement came all around me in the trees, more Wolves hunting for my pack. I couldn’t stop them…couldn’t fight them all…but I could stop this one…Finis.

He came closer, head hunched between his shoulders, that vicious sound of warning rumbling in his throat to spill through his bared teeth. But it wasn’t the midnight beast that I turned toward…that took the full brunt of my power. It was the white Wolf.

Chaos roared through me, spilling through that ache in the center of my chest, and I focused on that ache, driving the pain harder, until a throb tore free, followed by another.

Throb.

The White wolf stopped stalking toward me, the glint in its eyes flickering as it blinked and shook its head. I had it…had the connection, had the chaos power. A surge, and that connection became stronger. I pushed all my rage and desperation into that beast, then watched as it swung its head to the Alpha of its pack and let out a warning snarl.

The black Wolf stilled, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air.

It scented something different now.

It scented…me.

My power.

My rage.

“Come on, you piece of shit,” I hissed. “Give me your fucking worst.”

The beast lunged in an instant, the black blur tearing through the air until it hit me with a crack. I was slammed backwards, flying through the air until I hit the ground. White sparks danced in my vision as that towering beast came closer, until it stood looming over me. White teeth were all I saw as the Wolf lowered its head, its gaze fixed on mine.

Rage rippled through my body, and the sky above gave a deafening boom! The storm…the storm was me. Lightning flashed blindingly behind the Alpha, showing the white Wolf just standing there, transfixed by the Alpha’s attack. I clenched my fist and swung, driving my fist into the chest of the beast above me. “Come on, you fucking asshole!”

But it couldn’t move, frozen between the command of its Alpha and the power that poured from me, trying to force it to bend to my will, desperate for it to fight for me…and to die for me, if need be.

The midnight beast was all rage and thick, matted fur, but underneath the pelt was nothing more than skin and bones. My blow hit its ribs with a hollow thud. Still, it didn’t move. Instead, it opened its jaws and lashed out, its fangs sinking into my arm.

I screamed with the pain, kicking and punching with my other fist as the Wolf thrashed its head from side to side, driving those wicked fangs deeper. Screams filled my ears, followed with the heady scent of blood. It took me a second to understand the screams were mine…and so was the sweet coppery tang in the air. But rage still pulsed through me, desperate for an outlet…until the vicious sound of a snarl slipped through the trees.

Crimson coated its white fangs as the beast released my arm and lifted its head. Its fierce gaze whipped to my right as, out of nowhere, it was slammed from the side. A howl followed from the midnight Alpha, the sound piercing and painful as it was knocked from its feet.

Chaos, that voice whispered in my head as the white Wolf advanced. Savage, undeniable chaos.

It poured from me, stinging and burning in the middle of my chest as I shoved against the ground and rose to my