A King's Weakness (Book 1)

Chapter 24

TIME STOPS COMPLETELY. AT LEAST, IT SEEMS TO. It doesn't actually come to a grinding halt, my adrenaline just makes it feel that way.

An explosive tidal wave of power ripples across my skin in a gentle caress, but while it leaves me completely unharmed, everything else it touches simply...ceases to exist. Trees, leaves, insects—they all disintegrate, instantaneously dissolving into ash.

The stranger's magic washes up against my own with a familiarity, almost akin to that of a cat rubbing against a human's leg. Even so, the sheer magnitude of his power is overwhelming, like I've been struck by lightning or am in the eye of a hurricane. My own magic throbs in my veins, tingling with pent energy, begging to be let out.

The whirlwind of magic seems to do something to my own, and my hold on Lyra lapses, dropping her. She slams into the ground like a rocket returning to earth.

I don't even spare her a glance.

The wolves have remained relatively unharmed, several have been thrown back a few feet, but everything in a twenty foot radius has been obliterated. We stand in a clearing of grey, a space devoid of all plant life.

A golden wolf that I can only assume is Eli wines nervously, shifting his weight as he looks at Ryder.

My blood is positively singing, and beneath the fear I know I should feel lies exhilaration.

This destruction, this show of barely tempered violence calls to that wild part of my soul, the piece that craves to be unleashed. The part of me that has claws and teeth and wants to cause pain.

The stranger cocks his head to the side, watching Ryder as he wipes imaginary dust from the rolled cuffs of his shirt. The movement draws my eyes, and I try to examine his tattoos. They seem to shift, gliding across the muscles of his forearms in no discernible pattern.

My pulse is thundering so deliciously loud in my ears that I almost miss his words.

"Now, I told you that crossing a warden was a mistake. But truthfully, it's not me you should be worried about; our little wardeness here has ten times my temper and none of my control." His voice rumbles, caressing my pride, and he nods his head in my direction without taking his eyes from the alpha. "I can guarantee that she won't stop at simply disposing of you. She hungers for your fear, your pain—even more than I do. The end I give you will be a blessing compared to the one at her hands."

Ryder growls again, the sound tumbling from between his exposed teeth, but he seems less sure than he was only a moment ago.

"So, here is what's going to happen now." He steps closer to me—close enough for me to feel the heat emanating from his body, eliciting a shiver from me. "I will be taking her with me. If you try to stop me, it will be the last thing you do."

I still haven't spoken a single word to him, and at the mention of him "taking me" with him, I stiffen. Correcting him can wait, though, since I don't want to give the pack the impression that this guy is as much of a stranger to them as he is to me.

His hand reaches out in a flash, grabbing my wrist. I hiss out a breath at the contact; where our skin touches, I feel electricity jumping along my nerves like I've been goddamned tased.

His lips thin, twisting down in a frown, but his expression goes carefully blank so quickly that I can't be sure he felt it, too.

He turns around, tugging me so that I'm following him as he walks away from the wolves, deeper into the forest. Every single muscle in my body tightens, and I have to force myself to take one step after another, to fight against my instincts screaming that I shouldn't turn my back on the pack.