AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Luna Isabella,” Cain says, appearing out of nowhere as I enter the kitchen. We came in this way earlier and he cuts me off a few feet from the door, blocking me as I try to walk around him. He’s respectful not to touch me and the concern is real, almost enough to make me smile. I can’t, though, not while my heart is shattered. “Are you okay?”
What did you do to me, Witch?
Whatever this was ends here.
“Yeah.” Swallowing hard, I school my features. Bite the inside of my cheek to stop my lips from trembling. “It’s getting late and I must get back.”
“Back where?” he asks, but his eyes are on my neck. Then on my face. Back and forth, he shifts his attention while his features pinch tight. “You shouldn’t leave like this.”
“But I am.”
“Please, Lu—” he starts, but my glare cuts him off. I don’t want him to use the title; it’s not mine. “I’m sorry, Isabella. I don’t know what happened, but I ask that you don’t leave like this. My wolf and I are worried. Traveling the woods at night is dangerous, more so past our borders.”
“I’ll have protection.”
No elaboration needed, and he nods. They need to know I’m not alone. “Just one night.”
There’s a sudden glazed-over look in his stare before I can decline. Cain’s looking at me but not here, and it dawns on me he’s communicating with someone. His fangs drop the longer the exchange carries; I take in his defensive stance, lip curling over, and I take a step back.
Then another. And again.
The door is close enough now that I turn, but before I can touch the handle, a large body presses into me from behind. By the scent, I know it’s Xadiel. Dominating and overwhelming, he encroaches on my space before flipping me around.
Cain is gone when I do. More than likely because of the man huffing before me, but I refuse to acknowledge.
“Look at me.” A growl. Command.
“I suggest you move, Alpha King.” I’m trying hard not to lash out. To control my abilities, and while I don’t want to hurt him as he’s pained me, my magic wants to protect. The powers gifted to me at birth are an entity on their own. They feed off my emotions, and right now they want to strike.
“No.”
“It wasn’t a request.”
“Not until you tell me where he is.”
“He who?”
“Lying to me will only make this worse.” My lips part to respond, bitter curses on my tongue, but then I’m upside down and watching the door move further away. It takes a moment to understand Xadiel threw me over his shoulder, and even longer to realize we’re heading up a set of stairs.
But then I’m fighting, kicking my legs and punching him—nails digging into his muscles where I find a tattoo. To be honest, I’ve been so distracted the last few times in his presence that I didn’t pay attention to the markings, but now I am.
There’s a crest on his back that takes up the whole expanse.
It’s beautiful; a black wolf inside a shield with a crown atop it’s head, all in black and white. The animal is majestic, a replica of the one on my thigh, and I feel a deep connection to it. I’m unable to look away from him. The symbols on either side of him don’t matter, and a second later I don’t have the chance to decipher them anyway.
Now, we’re face to face. Xadiel’s bending a little at the waist to be on my level while his glare cuts through me like a lash from a spiked whip, and yet neither of us speaks. The silence stretches between us, and I’m more than uncomfortable; I want to run from my mate.
It’s a need, a pulsing tick that grows louder and harsher the longer I take in his scent.
Don’t leave, Isa. You need to be here.
A shift in the room makes me swallow hard for a different reason. Xadiel’s talking to me, but I’ve gone mute because I heard her. That voice in my head isn’t mine and yet I feel it’s familiar. Whoever the woman is, I can’t deny her. I’m compelled not to, and it has nothing to do with magic or spells.
This is familial somehow.
“…you’re staying here until I find him, Isabella.”
“Okay.”
