Page 14 of Rabid
Burke steps forward and grips my chin, tilting my head up until my angry eyes are fixed on his. A salacious smile spreads across his face, and then I hear his jaw crack and pop as it begins to morph into the muzzle of his pitch-black wolf.
I try to yank my arm away, but his grip is too tight.This is wrong. He shouldn’t be allowed to do this, to mark me like this. The Flux is supposed to be sacred, the blooding done by the Spirit Weaver. My whole life is going to be tainted by this piece of shit, and now he’s going to be allowed to tarnish this too. I pull harder, growling with desperate fury as I try to get away, but before I can so much as push to my feet, Burke pitches forward and sinks his teeth into the meat of my forearm.
Pain explodes through me.
His bite is cruel and vicious, sinking in far deeper than the Weaver would’ve. My mouth opens in shock, but I fight not to let out the cry that bubbles up my throat. Black eyes stare down at me, shining with arousal and promises of pain.
My stomach rolls from the contact, from the violation, and I fight the light-headedness that hits me and muddles my mind. Burke stays there, fangs sunk into the tender flesh of my forearm, tongue slathering against my bleeding skin, and I just want him to get the fuck off me.
The Spirit Weaver suddenly steps in, practically shoving Burke out of the way. As soon as my alpha’s teeth pull out, blood gushes from the holes in my arm. With a deep frown between his brows, Weaver Yaromir cups his hands below my arm, collecting my blood to complete the ritual. I watch him catch the scarlet liquid spilling down, my senses feeling fuzzy and slow. When he has enough, he straightens up and heads to the fire while Burke licks crimson from his lips mockingly, a vindictive streak spilling from his inky gaze.
Heart pounding, I watch everything happening like it’s a movie skipping, the film sputtering over the reel, everything feeling disjointed and choppy. The Weaver moves to the fire, hands holding an integral part of me, and then he tosses that part straight into the flames, my blood offering complete.
One second, the pyre is burning in oranges and yellows, but then, it explodes into a blaze of effervescent violet, shifter magic thick in the air. The heat coming off of the fire magnifies, growing so hot that sweat beads against my brow. The Spirit Weaver and surrounding pack are forced to step back from the blistering intensity as it crackles and smokes. I try to shield my eyes from the brightness, but my body doesn’t seem to be working right.
And then, a shadow appears.
Right there, in the middle of all that burning color, a form coalesces. I blink, squinting as a massive dark gray wolf steps out of the flames. My breath stops. My heart does too. With glowing violet eyes locked onto me, their depths soaking me in, she begins to walk forward, and I recognize her immediately.
She’s mine.
I can’t move as she closes the distance between us. I feel every step through the ground as I stand, and it’s as though my body is moving of its own volition, bare feet sinking into the dirt. I hold my breath when she stops in front of me, unsure of what to expect. We stare at each other, and a quiet tranquility fills the air between us.
I let out a shaky breath as I take in this beautiful creature. Her fur is the color of steel and ash, her body almost as tall as I am standing up. She lets my gaze sweep over her form, and when my eyes come back to her violet ones, she lowers her head to mine. Instinctually, I press my forehead against hers, feeling the solidness of who and what she is, her soft fur against my fevered skin like a balm to my soul.
We stay like that for a beat, just breathing each other in. My eyes flutter closed as her scent surrounds me, seeming sofamiliar. Like I’ve scented her spirit in the air my entire life without knowing it. Ifeelher. Recognize her in a way I can’t quite explain. She feels like me and yet...not. There’s a primal wildness to her presence, a strength and well of potent power that charges my every nerve. We’re pieces of a whole who finally fit together, and for the first time in a long time, peace washes over me.
Instinct takes over, and I open my arms and tip my head back, inviting her blessing into my body. Without hesitation, she leaps into me, and the force is so strong that I fall back, my body hitting the ground hard.
The world around me disappears in a clap of thunder that only I can hear. I’m lost to the crash of sensations suddenly erupting through me. Pain. Serenity. Disarray. Battle. Movement.
My thoughts and body are a mess of primal needs and innate understanding. My insides feel too small, and it’s as though the seams of who I am are bursting, ripping apart to make room for her. I ache as I adjust to the fullness of our souls, and her spirit burns through me, melding us together in a way that can never be severed. It’s humbling, empowering, and so much more than I ever knew it could be.
I am hers.
She is mine.
Andweare one.
I want to throw my head back and howl with happiness, to shed the confines of my skin and feel the world through our wolf body. It’s time for us to run together, to bond in every possible way that we can, but...something holds us back.
Something iswrong.
I’m stuck inside the merging, unable to use my body, while she’s unable to use hers. A prickling sensation thrashes through us, so we reach out with our other senses, past our paralyzed form. The smells of the woods surround us, which should be a good thing, yet for some reason, alarm pumps through our veins. Something sickly sweet with an undertone of rot clings to our nose, making us agitated, like the scent of fruit on the cusp of going bad.
My wolf and I are stuck in some weird state of limbo, where we need to choose who takes control. And although I can’t move, I have the strangest impression that I’m being carried. I don’t know if that’s just the sensation of the wolf taking over, but that doesn’t seem right. I know she needs to run, that we need to shift and solidify our joining, but when I encourage her to do just that, she answers by shoving herself at me hard, almost combative like she wants to fight me.
Her mind feels like a mess of panic as it meshes with mine. I’m lost to all the confusing images, smells, and sensations. Wet ground presses against my back, and for some reason, the distinct feel of it stokes complete rage in my wolf. She slams against me again, ripping us away from this beautiful spiritual exchange, and ramming us brutally back to reality.
I come to as though I’m breaching the surface of a still lake. One second, everything is blurry and muffled, and then the next, I come up gasping from a daze as the world around me slams back into focus.
A snarl is already building in my chest as I get my bearings. I’m no longer in front of the fire as the pack watches me receive my wolf spirit. Somehow, I’m deep in the forest, lying on the damp floor, the cold and wet seeping into my clothing and leeching me of all warmth.
I feel a tug at my feet, and horror rockets through me as I look down and find Burke pulling my jeans off. Inside of me, my wolf snarls again, and I immediately skitter back away from him. My hands and legs rush to put as much distance between us as they can. Burke’s head snaps up, and the smile he gives me makes my skin crawl.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I demand, feeling disoriented, adrenaline pumping through my veins and making the world tip and teeter.
Sticks and rocks dig into the bare skin of my legs as I move. I look down, realizing that my ceremonial robe is gone and my shirt has been ripped open from the front, exposing my bra. I pull the two pieces of fabric back together and try to scramble to my feet, but Burke is on me in a flash.
