Page 63 of His Claim

He loomed over me, silver eyes burning in the lantern light. “I won’t risk you like that.”

I crossed my arms and jutted my chin out defiantly. “You don’t get to decide what risks I take.”

His lips pressed into a hard line, his shoulders squaring. “Oh? You think I won’t stop you? You think being my mate means youcan just run headfirst into danger without me? I’ll drag you back if I have to, right before I put you over my knee.”

Heat flared in my chest. My wolf stirred, restless, bristling, rebellious. “So what, you’re just going to alpha me until I roll over? You think that’s going to work on me?”

His gaze darkened, and for a terrifying, exhilarating moment I thought he might actually grab me and make good on his threat. My pulse hammered, but not entirely from fear.

“You’re mine,” he growled, the words low and raw. “And I’ll damn well keep you alive, whether you like how I do it or not.”

My breath caught, the air between us fairly sparking. “Try it,” I snapped, chin high.

For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. The tension built until it was so thick I could barely breathe. His jaw clenched, his hand flexed at his side like he wanted to seize me, to pin me to the wall and prove his point. I straightened my stance, trying to stay strong even when my core fluttered with nervous arousal.

And then…

A sound.

Low, guttural, carried through the stone. Not the steady drip of water or the skitter of rats. A much heavier thing. A much bigger thing.

We both froze, the fire of our argument doused in an instant.

The noise came again, deeper this time. A growl. Echoing faintly through the tunnel behind us.

Varek’s eyes snapped to mine, alarmed and alert. His hand closed on my arm, tugging me behind him as he raised the lantern high, scanning the darkness.

“We’re not alone,” he murmured. His whole body shifted, muscles tight, claws threatening at his fingertips. “Something’s down here with us.”

The rock fall no longer looked like an obstacle. It looked like a trap.

I swallowed hard, my anger draining into dread. My wolf stirred again, anxious, as the sound echoed closer.

“We don’t have time to argue, and I definitely don’t have time to thoroughly redden your defiant little ass,” he said, his voice firm, commanding. “Stay close. Do exactly what I tell you or I swear, Mariah, there will be hell for you to pay when we make it out of here.”

The growl came again, louder, closer, and the walls seemed to vibrate with it. Dust sifted down from the ceiling, the lantern’s flame twitching as though it, too, was afraid.

It didn’t sound like wolves. This sound was… foreboding, almost like a primal threat. Like stone grinding against stone, like the earth itself dragging an ancient thing up from its belly.

Varek’s hand clamped tighter around my arm. His body was coiled steel, his silver eyes glowing faintly in the gloom. He listened in that still, predatory way he had, every muscle poised, and for the first time since I’d met him, I thought I saw fear.

My throat went dry. “What is it?”

He shook his head once, jaw tight. “Doesn’t matter. You need to move.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“You need to go through the gap.” He pointed at the narrow wedge in the rock fall, the place he’d forbidden me to squeeze through moments ago. “Now.”

“No.” The word flew out of me without conscious thought. “I’m not leaving you here.”

His gaze nailed mine hard, unyielding. “Mariah. You have to.”

The growl swelled, echoing louder through the tunnel. The stones under our boots trembled. I could feel it in my bones now, rattling my ribs, my teeth.

I shook my head, panic clawing at my chest. “I’m not crawling into the dark while you fight whatever that is. You can’t ask me to do that.”

“I’m not asking you,” he ordered. “I’m telling you. You’re my mate. My only priority is getting you out alive.”