Sacrificed Soul

Chapter Seventeen

I wonder how the pack can feel nothing of the bond that desperately begs for us to come together. The earth pulsates as the lean red wolf approaches, and where his shoulders may be withing six inches of the height of mine, he doesn't amount to the same mass. I remember with some interest of the way he had taken down a four point buck all on his own, not bothering with the help of a willing pack.

He tells me through his paws that he saw me watching, that the show was for me. He preens under my attention, a wolf with a human hidden deep within him. Always protecting his own, but the human is not there to beg mercy of his second soul.

And his second soul wants me.

He gets within five feet when I feel his intentions. He protects his human, always, but Keith wasn't always so submissive. He believes mating with me, completely our bond will change him. I don't.

I turn tail, speeding away from him, but I am a lumbering elephant compared to the grace of a gazelle. He only lopes behind me, his tongue wagging in the air of his panting. I know that as long as I keep moving, though, he will not touch me. He feels my anxiety, questions it in his silent wolf way. I don't give this wolf who has the dominance of an alpha what he expects of me, demands really, and remain silent.

I am somewhat disgusted by his lack of regard over his human, that he would let his hormones and the bond speak to him more clearly than that which he has promised to protect. I can't hide it from him, not in my true form and no matter how much I would like to. For the first time in my short life, I wish for my soul to be wrapped into the safety a human body can provide.

As a human, I can lie to not only myself, but those around me. I would be able to look this wolf in the eyes and tell him I have no interest in him. That he needs to stay the fuck away from me. My snarls and growls are halfhearted, instinctual responses and the command of our nature preventing me from truly scaring him off.

The parking area is thankfully empty as we approach. Having separated ourselves from the ground where the pack would feel our emotions, we are as alone as one can possibly be in the middle of pack lands.

My jeep comes into view, and I shift midstride in my hurry to be free of a wolf that is hell bent on having me. My emotions safe from him, I turn, crossing my arms over my breasts and staring him in the eye. He is the only wolf I feel safe doing so with, and I curse him silently for it.

"Let him out," I demand.

He ignores me, much to my shock. Sitting back on his haunches and tilting his head like an innocent puppy. My voice hadn't been without enough dominance to knock down even our alpha.

I scoff, "You can't pretend that you don't understand me."

He sniffs.

I close my eyes hard, pinching the soft skin of my underarm hard to keep me from losing my shit. Alpha Siobhan, the pack, they must not find out about this. I know in every fiber of my being that neither I nor Keith would ever forgive me for forging this bond. It would be without his consent, and partially without my own.

No matter how human I have become through torturous methods of a dickhead captain and his forceful team of scientists, I will always have the innate needs of my wolf soul. Clare would tell me that I am both, but I disagree even as I know that I am not ready to have a mate.

"Look, I have a lot of shit going on, and the last thing I or your human wants is for this fucking thing between us to be solidified. I don't know what has happened between now and when we met, but you need to drop it," I hiss, realising that it's difficult to assert my dominance when my body language reads only submission. It's a startling realization when I understand that my body is craving it. That I want someone capable of having the upper hand over both my human self and my wolf.