stronger now, which means my magic—that has always rivaled an alpha’s—is even more powerful than it was a year ago. The heat builds in me, and I let a small river trickle out.
When it hits Brianna, she grows rigid in her seat. Goose bumps sprout on her arms, and her shoulders fold inward. It’s only when fear grows in her eyes that I go still.
I quickly suck my magic back inside, drawing that tendril of alpha power back to where it resides.
The air clears, and Brianna sucks in a lungful of air. “So that’s how you did it.”
“Did what?”
“Made me drop that stick back at the cabin when I was swinging at you. You used your power against me.”
Her accusatory tone has me replying, “It was only to get you to stop. I wouldn’t have forced you to do anything else.”
“But you could have, couldn’t you?”
“Yeah, I could have.”
“Does the beast, or whatever you call him, use that power on his victims?”
“He doesn’t have to. He’s strong enough without it.”
She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth, and I can tell she’s mulling everything over. I can only imagine what she’s thinking. All of this has got to be so weird to a human. “So can dominance be learned?” she finally asks.
“No. You’re born with it. It’s why werewolf families get so edgy when the first shift is coming. Dominance manifests at puberty when the werewolf gene is activated. That first shift signifies how powerful a wolf’s dominance is going to be.”
“So you could have made people do things with your dominant magic when you were only … what … thirteen or something?”
I give her a crooked smile. “Twelve, actually. I shifted a bit earlier than some, but to answer your question, no, I didn’t have the strength then that I have now. It grows as we age, but you can gauge how strong a pup will become at the first shift.”
She sits back again, that curious sparkle lighting her eyes. I eye the gas tank for what feels like the fiftieth time. We’re going to need to ditch this car soon, but with any luck, we’ll stop for the night first so I won’t have to steal another vehicle again until tomorrow. I figure my mate has been through enough crimes and misdemeanors for one day.
“What about women? Do they have dominance, and can they shift into wolves?”
“No.”
She tips her head. “But I thought you said something about female werewolves before.”
“I did. Women carry the werewolf gene, and they have slightly enhanced senses compared to humans, but they don’t shift and never will.”
“Well that doesn’t seem fair.”
“Tell that to whoever created us.”
“Speaking of which, how were werewolves created?”
I shrug. “How did humans come to be? A higher power? Evolution? Aliens from space? It’s an interesting question, but no one can answer it.”
Her eyes widen. “Wow, this is heavy. I don’t know if my brain can process all of this right now.”
I laugh, which gets a smile out of her, and seeing her like she is now, seeming to genuinely enjoy my company, that feeling comes back again that I felt last night—happiness.
I’m just so fucking content when she’s around, and I realize I truly do admire her. It reminds me of those glimpses I got of her personality when I was stalking her, when I didn’t want to admire her, but I begrudgingly did.
The woman’s got grit. She’s been through hell and back this weekend, yet she’s never broken down and when my wolf attacked her she quickly bounced back. That kind of resilience will serve her well. My life won’t be easy on my mate and knowing she can handle it helps make this feel a little less daunting.
Brianna angles her head to look upward out her window. “I hear the night sky out here is amazing. Have you ever seen it?” When I shake my head no, she adds, “Do you think maybe we could crash somewhere around here for the night?”
Her blasé attitude about sleeping in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on our backs has my lips tugging up. Not only does she have grit, but she’s down to earth too. Most of the women I’ve been with, human and werewolf, would have wrinkled their noses at sleeping on the ground.
“Do you really want to do that?”
She eyes the gas tank. “It’s not like we have much choice, right? Looks like it’s almost empty so sooner or later, we’re gonna be walking. We might