I stared at him, fighting to keep the emotion from my face. Running a hand through his perfectly messy hair, he didn't meet my eyes but instead glanced at the floor. “I'm an ass**le. That never should have come out like that. I'm sorry.”
For a moment, I wasn't sure what to say, but as long as he was feeling apologetic, I might as well throw it all out there. “Harley said that I was more powerful than he is. Yet, when things got crazy, I had nothing. He was still able to manipulate me because he knew my power better than I did. And, we both know how close that came to ending very badly.”
I sucked in my breath with a small gasp when the energy surrounding us grew sharp, almost painful as it reacted to Arys' emotions. His head snapped up, and the look he gave me was chilling. Aw, f**k.
“What are you saying, Alexa?” One foot in front of the other, he slowly advanced on me. I had the urge to take a step back. “Please, do not tell me you're getting at what I think you're getting at.”
My voice shook when I spoke. I was terrified of his reaction when I said, “He's the only one who knows enough to help me.”
The air crackled, and I jumped when Arys slammed his fist down on the counter. A drinking glass next to the sink practically flew into the air before smashing all over the floor. The sound was worse than the actual mess.
The sound of shattering glass flashed me back in time – to the day Raoul died, and my eyes automatically went to the glass patio doors off the kitchen. Arys himself had thrown me through the sliding glass doors. It hadn't been his intention. My injuries had been brutal, but I'd lived to tell the story. Lucky me.
“Fuck that!” He snapped. “There is no way that he's the only one. Whatever you're thinking, just stop. Don't tell me that you believe anything he said to you. Do you?”
I had to concentrate on taking deep breaths as I tried to shut out the effect his negative energy was having on me. It hurt, but it also encouraged my wolf to break free of the metaphysical overload. As I fought back the instinct to shift forms, I watched Arys'
eerie vampire eyes change.
The color grew to encompass the whites until he looked at me with eyes that were all wolf. Our bond had done that to him, given him a connection with my wolf, one that he could never be free of but also could never fulfill. Arys couldn’t shift forms. I had never seen him like this. Shaz had, once. This wasn't a good sign.
“Arys, you need to calm down.”
“And, you need to answer my question.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, and I studied him, looking for any sign of the wolf overpowering him. He seemed to have himself under control other than that little outburst. His fists continuously clenched and unclenched at his sides. The storm of his emotions battered me, try as I might to shield myself from them.
“I believe what I saw. He was able to take the power from me and then laugh at my inexperience.” I closed my eyes in memory for just a moment, reliving the helpless feeling when Harley had me right where he wanted me, his fangs buried in my throat. “I thought I was dead that night. I almost was. Walking around like a loaded gun without a safety is going to get me killed.”
I may have been destined to rise as a vampire upon my death, but that didn't mean I had to be in a hurry. Werewolves live two to three times as long as humans do. I wanted to enjoy every moment. I had so much vampire in me already, and I was not ready for any more just yet.
When Arys turned away from me, breaking eye contact, my heart dropped. I could feel his stubborn resolve almost as keenly as if it had been my own. He muttered a series of curse words, and the power began to buzz audibly. It was pushing me to the edge of my control. I wasn't sure how much more I could take tonight.
The silence became a deafening roar of white noise. The lights dimmed and brightened in sequence, and I focused hard on staying calm. We'd destroyed enough things to know when the power was growing beyond a safe capacity. I didn't want to deal with it, but unfortunately, our power was part of every moment that Arys and I shared.
“Stay away from him, Alexa.” His voice would have been soothing had it not been for the hint of menace underlying it. “I'm not asking.”
My heart jumped as fear coursed through me. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Did he just threaten me?
“What if I'm not asking either?” The words boldly spilled from my lips, driven by the she-wolf inside me that refused to be controlled by a man who was not my wolf mate.
“I don't need your permission for anything.”
Now I'd really done it. I braced myself, expecting him to unleash his anger all over me. Instead, he faced me with a strange sadness in his gaze where there should have been fury. I was confused by the change in what he was giving off as it touched me, enveloping me in the sorrow of the undead.