Captive of Wolves (Bound to the Fae #1) - Eva Chase Page 0,107
mine.
I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let her down.
When I don’t budge, Sylas moves to walk past me. I step into his path, blocking my way. “I’m not done.”
A hint of a growl creeps into Sylas’s voice. “We are done, because I’ve said we are. Move aside, son-of-my-father.”
His tone dredges up another memory—of his expression when he came to the entertainment-room doorway and found me with Talia. So sure he had a right to claim her. The possessive heat that rushed through me when I smelled him on her skin surges up again.
I clench my jaw, my fangs itching to emerge. “What kind of man are you to take her into your bed and then cast her aside so callously? I never thought I’d see you model yourself after our father.”
Sylas can’t quite suppress his wince. He bares his teeth. “If you can’t see the difference between—”
I push on before he can continue, driven by that roiling anger. He might know me better than anyone, but I know him pretty well too. I’m aware of exactly how to best wound him. “You treated Isleen with more leniency, after everything she—”
“Do not bring her into this.” Sylas takes a step toward me, drawing himself even straighter to emphasize the few inches of height he has over me. His unmarked eye burns. “This is nothing like that.”
“No, it’s not. Because Talia has done nothing at all to prompt this outcome, and you’re punishing her anyway.”
Sylas advances farther, nearly close enough to shove me. “I’ll say it one more time, August. We’re done talking about this. Get out of my way.”
He starts to shoulder by me, and the fury that’s been swelling inside me boils over. Adrenaline and the horror of defying him hitting me at the same time, I push him backward.
Sylas snarls and tries to cuff me in the head. I dodge the blow and sock him in the jaw. He lunges at me then, looking as shocked as he does enraged, and I release my wolf without any conscious thought, all my senses shifting into combat mode.
As I whip around on all fours, my claws digging into the rich soil of the orchard, Sylas transforms in mid-leap. He’s larger than me in wolf form just as he is as a man. I manage to roll under him, raking my claws across his foreleg and spinning around to face him again.
He doesn’t give me a chance to go on the offensive. I’ve barely found my footing when he’s slamming into me, sending me toppling onto my side. I slash out with all four legs, gnashing my teeth, watching for an opportunity to bite, to gouge, anything to get the upper hand.
The instant I began this battle, it became a matter of who could overpower who the fastest. I might not have much of a chance, but I can’t surrender.
Sylas snaps at my neck, but I yank my body to the side at the last second. With all my strength, I heave him off me and spring at him. He smacks my muzzle hard enough to make my head reel.
I throw myself to the side, bound off the trunk of a tree, and hurtle toward my lord. He swivels, just barely escaping the lash of my claws, and clamps his jaws around my leg.
One hard jerk sends me tumbling. Before I can scramble up again, he’s on me, his full weight jamming me into the ground. His paw presses against my throat, claws digging in only enough to prick my skin. His hindlegs are braced against the most vulnerable part of my belly.
Even knowing it’s pointless, I struggle, forcing him to jab his claws deeper in warning. He presses me into the dirt until I start to choke. Then he swipes his paw across the underside of my chin, opening four stinging welts through my fur, and pushes himself off me. Not even bothering to demand a full yield. Just enforcing his power and rebuking me with a superficial wound, like a parent chastening a pup.
Shame ripples through me, stinging sharper than the scratches of his mark. He shifts back into his usual form, standing over me, his scarred brown face intense with an emotion I can’t read.
I rein in my wolf and sit up with the transformation. Without meeting Sylas’s eyes, I lean back against a tree trunk, grappling with my own frayed emotions. The air is so warm I only faintly feel the blood trickling down my neck.