Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,113

I’ve claimed Tyran now, our bond is settled, so she needs to respect that.

Presley’s trail grows stronger, and when we round a hill, we find her tearing apart what I think used to be a badger.

Well, crap. Feeding wolves are always bitchier than they are without a kill to protect. Being that Presley is already a cunt, I have no idea what I’ll be up against with this shit. I debate turning around and leaving her to it, but I know she’ll smell me here, and I don’t want her to think I tucked tail and ran.

I ask my wolf for control so I can talk to her and hopefully defuse what could otherwise be a very volatile situation. Begrudgingly, she gives it to me. We watch Presley intently, trying to work through what to say to her as fur recedes inside skin, sharp teeth disappear, and we move from four legs to two.

I don’t know what it says about Strawberry Presley and her white and red wolf, but neither notice that I’m standing here watching them until I start to step down the hill and purposely snap a twig under my feet. Her wolf snarls, moving to stand over their kill, bright angry eyes now trained on me.

“I don’t want your...whatever that is.” I look down at the ripped up carcass between her paws. “I’m not here to fight, I just want to talk,” I explain, my arms up in a gesture of goodwill as I continue to advance on her.

A warning growl rumbles from her chest when I get about ten feet away, but there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to let her tell me where to stand, so I walk another two feet closer before I stop.

She’s a white wolf with a dusting of red on her muzzle, ears, and flank. She’d be pretty if her ears weren’t pinned to her head and lips lifted in a snarl. Her wolf looks up at me like she wants to rip me apart. The threat in her stance sends the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, and I drop my hands and stare down at her with every ounce of you do not want to fuck with me I can muster.

“Shift,” I snarl, not interested in the slightest at having a one-sided conversation. I intend for the bark of my order to make it clear that I’m not going to put up with disrespect. But there’s a layer of power to my command that I’ve only felt once before, and that was when Tyran forced a shift on me.

The wolf instantly folds in on herself, revealing a huddling Presley in a matter of seconds. She looks down at her hands like she’s shocked her fur disappeared, and lifts that same surprised gaze up to me. Her expression quickly morphs to outrage as she rises onto her feet, placing her hands on her hips and pursing her lips. “You had no right!”

“The fact that you just shifted would say otherwise,” I counter and then tell myself, if we’re going to get anywhere, I should probably lay off the snark.

Her eyes flash. “That’s just Tyran’s alpha showing up in you because you’re fucking him. You’re not my luna, and if you ever force a shift on me again—”

“You’ll what?” I challenge, taking a step forward and a page out of Tyran’s playbook. He’s firm, he’s honest, and he takes no shit from anyone. “I told you I wanted to talk, but you and your wolf want to get disrespectful—big surprise there. I’m not here to have a pissing contest with you. I’m genuinely here to talk, to see if that bad foot we got started on and that whole your ass in my mate’s lap thing can be worked out.”

She glares at me but doesn’t go for a hit, so I guess there’s that. Crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes widen as if to say, well, talk then.

Which is great if I had any idea what to actually say. Maybe I should’ve planned this better, but oh well. “I’m sorry Tyran did that to you the other night. You didn’t deserve to be played with just to get a rise out of me. It was mean, and I’ll...uhh...punch him in the dick for you,” I offer.

Presley’s green eyes widen slightly, clearly not seeing that angle coming, and I tamp down on my own surprise, because I hadn’t planned on saying it either. We’re both