There’s enough concern in his trembling voice to believe that he’s leaving, not to deny my demand, but because there’sreally trouble out there. I nod, becoming worried the moment his hands leave my shoulders and he spins on his heel and rushes out through the front door.
Suddenly, this thing with the demons sounds more serious than I thought earlier, and I gnaw on my bottom lip with worry, hoping he doesn’t return injured again. Or worse, dead.
I know I shouldn’t care, but I do. That’s what frightens me the most.
Chapter 14 - Heinrich
The moment I step outside the cabin, the cold evening air slams into my lungs.
My wolf is already restless beneath my skin, claws scraping against the cage of my ribs as if it senses something my human mind hasn’t caught up to yet.
Then the mind link hits me again.“Alpha!”Dedrick’s voice crashes through my head with enough urgency to make my pulse spike.“Demon activity on the western perimeter. Multiple signatures. They appeared out of nowhere!” My stomach drops.
It’s impossible. The ritual didn’t work? We sealed the borders barely hours ago…
My jaw tightens as dread coils in my chest. “Hold the line,” I order immediately through the mind link, already moving down the path.“I’m on my way.”
The connection cuts as quickly as it came, but I stop dead in my tracks when, from the periphery of my hearing, I hear the squeak of the metal door hinges. For half a second, I stand frozen in the yard, staring out at the darkening forest. The valley should feel calm tonight. The binding ritual should be humming beneath the soil like a steady heartbeat.
Instead, there’s a sickening pressure in the air.
Like something has slipped through a crack we didn’t see.
My mind flashes back to Annika inside the cabin, my chest tightening with dread because the metal squeaking stops. I can feel her behind me, and that intense need to protect her washes over me, even before I see her at the cabin door.
The demons have been growing bolder every week.
And if Anastasia’s theory is right—if the magic awakening in Annika is tied to the same power the demons are hunting—then they’ll find her.
My heart pounds harder.
No.
I drag a hand through my hair and turn back toward the cabin door, heart lodged in my throat when I find Annika standing just inside the threshold, her expression tight with worry. I’m already heading back in that direction, the pull toward her stronger than the one that wants to lead me away to the border. I can’t help myself, it seems. I don’t have control over this feeling.
“What happened?” she asks, frowning as I approach her.
“I told you to stay inside, Anni,” I tell her, forcing calm into my voice even as dread gnaws at the back of my skull.
Her eyes widen slightly. “Anastasia told me about the spell. It didn’t work, did it?”
The question hits too close to the truth.
“I’ll handle it,” I say instead.
Her lips part, ready to argue as I step onto the porch and move closer, gripping both of her shoulders firmly.
“Listen to me,” I say, my voice low and sharp. “Whatever happens out there, you stay inside this cabin.”
Her brow furrows. “Heinrich—” she begins, but I stop her with a firm shake of my head, sliding my hands from her shoulders to her face.
“Promise me.” Something in my tone must convince her, because she finally nods.
“I promise.”
Relief washes over me, and bursts out in the most erratic kiss when I crush my lips to hers. I need to feel that she’s real, the mate bond, and her lips becoming the anchor I need to stay focused. I pull back before I’m swept up in a whirlwind of passion.
“I’ll be back,” I promise, and her eyes are full of whatever it is I need to go ahead. Perhaps the conviction that she’ll keep to her promise, and she nods briskly before I turn and sprint into the forest.
