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Chapter Nine
Charlie
I lusted for his blood. My wolf craved more than just a taste of him. In the haze of my fear and fury, as I dove straight for his throat, I noticed the bright glow of his eyes—the deepest blue, ebbing to aquamarine, crashing waves of color that hit me like a sucker punch. He shifted from beast to man, his arm up to ward off my incoming blow.
I shifted at the last minute, skidding to a stop inches from his body on two feet instead of four.
“Who are you?” I growled, huffing through deep breaths to rein in my anger and bloodlust.
Dirt streaked the arm he was using to shield himself, and it made him look more vulnerable than I wanted to admit. Something nudged my heart, something familiar.
“Levi Duke.” His voice was a soft rumble that tickled another memory. It was tucked somewhere deep, teasing me but just out of reach. “And I didn’t think you’d be one to play games, Charlie.”
I knew him. His voice was a grumble that, right now, was edged with razors of disappointment that sliced at my soul. Those eyes shed warmth, even while he was glaring rage my way. He moved his body, lowered his arm then pushed himself to a sitting position with a fluidity that tugged awareness loose then clicked recognition into place.
“It’s you.” The shadow in my dream. The one who came to me night after night. Seducing me. Ravaging me. Doing all the things I wanted and needed but would never say out loud.
I stomped toward him, allowing my wolf to come through enough to bulk me up as I slammed him back down to the ground. I desperately tried to maintain control, but I was straddling wolf and human, and my werebeast, as I liked to call her, was itching to take over. It was the most primal version of myself, the one that fueled me with power, the one I least understood and had very little control over when she was out. Her presence was terrifying, and this man, Levi Duke, was closer to death than he knew.
I reined her in, maintaining my partial shift with an iron hold.
My grotesquely huge furry hand was wrapped around his throat, my claws drawing blood.
He didn’t resist. His body was slack, not even a flinch. He stared steadily as if I should know, as if I continued to disappoint him. Why that cut, I didn’t understand, but it did. My heart bled.
“Why have you been haunting my dreams?” I spat, spraying his face so that he finally flinched.
His mouth dropped open, like words were trapped there. I thought, at first, it was fear stopping him from answering until I realized with the deepening of his frown that it was actually disbelief, like he couldn’t accept my question because it was too bizarre. It made me doubt…hard. He didn’t know what I was talking about? How could that be? This man, whose voice and body I knew intimately, whose eyes called to my soul and coaxed it to open? This man under me hadn’t been in my dreams, haunting me for three years?
I reeled backward, releasing my hold on his throat before jumping out of his reach. Still on alert but with a rattled brain that was so mixed up I was dizzy, I wrenched the werebeast back, forcing my body to jerk into my human form, too confused to do anything else, tamping down my werebeast as hard as I could so she settled in the jail desperation had forced me to create for her.
He gave me a once-over, taking in my face, my expression, and his eyes told me the truth. He knew what I was talking about. He knew me, too.
I rallied, regained my confidence, lunged forward and sprayed dirt his way, barely restraining my werebeast from springing forward and eating him alive.
“Don’t act like you don’t know!” I yelled as I tapped my head. “You’ve been visiting me for years. Torturing me with…things.” My thoughts faltered because I didn’t want to say the words out loud. He’d caressed me so tenderly that I’d wept. He’d teased every part of my body until I’d moaned so deep that it felt like my soul was awakening. He’d coaxed out so much passion that when I woke up, I felt like I would die if I didn’t see him again.
“It’s you who has done this!” He jumped up then, his face a mask of rage as he loomed over me, his eyes storms churning as he came at me with his finger raised like he wanted to poke me to death.
My werebeast rattled her cage, demanding to face him with equal fury.
“You’ve been beckoning me, not the other way around. No male wolf can get into the head of a female without consent, so don’t you dare try to shift the blame.” His face was ruddy, his eyes glistening like his rage tortured him—or maybe like my presence did. “It’s you who has pulled me into your head for three years, tormenting me.” He waved his hand toward the south. “And not just me, Kane and Johnny, too. We’ve all been subject to your passion, your unending lust, forced into your dreams with no idea who you were. Three years of desire like we’ve never known before and yet you kept your identity a secret! You minx! Vixen!”
I stumbled back, his words hitting like fists. No. No. No. I wanted to deny it. I wanted to say he was lying, but those eyes, those ocean eyes would never lie to me.
“It’s not possible.” I gasped, wrapping my hand around my throat, faltering backward as if I could run from him when we both knew I’d never do that.
“It is possible!” he bellowed. “The old stories say—”
“Those are fairy tales told to young wolves!” They were fairy tales that my own father used to tell me about the power of a true female alpha, able to secure loyalty, devotion and complete commitment through a mind-thread with her pack. They were bonds so firm that she could lead with the combined strength of all her men, making her clan the one all others would submit to—fairy tales and myths, bedtime stories for young wolves who wanted to hear about fantasies that would never exist. Dad used to tell me those tales at bedtime when I was a child, and the stories were never about a lone female wolf dreaming her desires into reality. His stories were about clans led by strong, determined alpha werewolves who kept balance in our world, women who led with iron claws and passionate hearts.
“Are you saying you didn’t know?” He let his arm fall then took a step back, his anger seeming to dissolve right in front of me. “You didn’t beckon us purposely?” His Adam’s apple dipped twice, like he was forcing himself to swallow his disbelief.
I shook my head, so confused, my thoughts whirling. “I thought they were dreams.” No matter how badly I wanted them to come true, I took a step back, too. “I didn’t intend… I didn’t know it was real. How can this be?” I looked at him, my vision suddenly hazy. I wobbled, reached up to touch my throat, which burned like a thousand suns. My thoughts turned to my stepbrother and the gleam in his eyes once he’d collared me. “What did Sal do to me?”
He was there to catch me before I fell. “I’ve got you, Charlie.” He held my weight, heaving me into his arms so I was cradled. My wolf settled, resigned to Levi’s embrace.
Oddly calm, I felt safe.
“You’re still healing from your magic wounds. Rest now. I’ll take care of you. You have my word.”
