Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,21
He was bigger, stronger, faster.
He would wait.
And then he would have her.
Sebastian! Listen to me. What in the fuck do you think you’re doing? She wasn’t sure when she’d first noticed the change in him, but something was radically wrong. This wolf was not the same as the man, unless Sebastian Xenakis had a seriously split personality.
She thought of Alex’s warning, the fact that the vicious murders had occurred in both Montana and San Francisco on the days when Sebastian had been in those places.
This was not looking good, except that none of the victims were Chanku. And she’d been certain that more than one wolf had been at the site of the last killing.
None of them had smelled like this wolf, but she sensed a similar darkness.
She thought of calling out for her father, but there wasn’t a damned thing Anton Cheval could do for her now. She’d gotten herself into this mess, and it was up to her to figure a way out.
She stared at the wolf crouched just outside her refuge. He growled deep in his chest. There was no sense of humanity in him. Was it the magic? The fact his change was forced through a spell and not by his own inherent genetic ability to shift?
He was bigger than her. Stronger, but she was faster. Much faster, and she knew her wolf. Knew this body as her own, while she had the feeling Sebastian was still learning how his worked.
How the wolf thought.
Not very well, as far as Lily could tell. Sebastian? Listen to me. Drop your shields, damn it, and listen.
He didn’t respond. Not even a glimmer of response. She crouched, ready to spring, to defend herself. Did he think to force a mating on her? A true mating only occurred when Chanku mated as wolves, but the female had to be receptive. It couldn’t be forced, though she’d heard the older generation talk about that, how in the beginning they didn’t know it was all up to the female.
She’d heard the story of how her uncle Jake had tried to force a mating on her aunt Tia, and just about ended up getting his throat torn out by Uncle Luc.
He hadn’t realized it didn’t work that way, but they’d known so little about their birthright in those early days. Maybe this guy believed the old stories. Maybe he just didn’t know.
He said he wasn’t Chanku, though she was almost positive he either lied or didn’t know what he was talking about. Whatever. This was wrong. Entirely wrong.
Sebastian growled, snapping her back to the present. Damn him. She’d so hoped he was someone special. Someone she might actually have a relationship with, maybe learn to love.
That lost potential was absolutely infuriating!
Sebastian! Listen to me, you bastard!
Obviously, things were not working out the way she’d hoped.
A new scent tickled her nostrils. Lily sniffed, opened her senses. A shiver raced along her spine and raised her hackles. Wolves. Unfamiliar wolves, and definitely more than one.
Unfamiliar to her, though she recognized their scent.
It was the same stench she’d smelled near the garden in Golden Gate Park. The same sense of something terribly wrong.
And it was coming closer.
She pushed, mentally. Could she at least force Sebastian to acknowledge the newcomers? Something moved in the shadows, behind him and to his right, slipped closer, and disappeared once again.
She heard gravel shift. On the left, this time, but it was so damned dark here in the narrow canyon, and Sebastian’s crouching form blocked much of her view through the narrow crevice between the rocks.
The scent was stronger; the wolves obviously closer. She was certain there were two, but could there be more?
Sebastian! Pay attention. They’re going to attack, damn it!
This time he blinked. Shook his head and gazed at her as if he were just waking up.
She snarled at him. What the hell is going on with you? There are at least two wolves out there. Behind you. Are they your friends? Because if they are, buddy, you are in deep shit, because I’m gonna put you there.
Lily? What . . . ?
The nearest wolf charged out of the shadows. It was huge—almost a third again larger than any Chanku or natural wolf Lily had ever seen. Sebastian turned at the last moment and countered the attack. He was large, but the pale gray wolf that attacked was even bigger than Sebastian. And he had surprise on his side.
It missed the killing bite on Sebastian’s throat but managed to clamp