Page 129 of Taming His Vampire Mate

Swallowing hard, I nodded.

“I release you,” I said aloud, meeting Reed’s gaze. He’d been watching us with a strange expression, like he wasn’t sure what to make of us.

“Wait—” Reed’s voice went thick. “What?”

I locked eyes with him and sent forth my will, lacing it into my words. “It is my command that you no longer feel compelled to challenge me for alpha. Not unless it is your deeply held wish.”

Reed let out a startled gasp. Whatever tension he’d been carrying drained away—his shoulders dropped, his body relaxing.

His dark eyes searched mine, stunned and disbelieving. “Thank you.” He grimaced, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. For the record, I would be alpha if I had to be—but not at the cost of my best friend.”

“Second in command it is,” Thierry said brightly. “And acting alpha when Jeremy is away.”

Then he met my gaze.Thank you. I know that was hard for you. But you did the right thing.

Swallowing unease, I nodded. He was right, in one sense at least. I’d done the right thing for us. I just wasn’t sure if it was the right thing forthem—for my pack.

But I couldn’t have it both ways, could I?

Before anyone could say more, the ground behind us ruptured.

I whirled toward the sound.

The bleed was exactly where Dante had pointed: the jagged fissure between the trees. As we watched, it split further, like we’d been dropped into the middle of an earthquake. The ground heaved, forcing Reed and me to stagger. Thierry, with his centuries of reflexes, seemed barely fazed. The trees swayed ominously but held.

The fissure widened, yawning into a sinkhole large enough for a horse to pass through.

Then everything stilled. A deathly silence followed.

Thierry shot me a dark look.Don’t you dare do anything dumb, wolf.

Fear flared through the bond. Not the kind that came from facing Godric, or Magnus, or any evil bastard you might bargain with. No—this was the sick knowledge we were about to face something incapable of reason. A creature made of nothing but hunger and malice.

And then it hit: a nauseating wrongness flooding every cell of my body. I could feel—

It’s like reality is being peeled back.Thierry’s wide eyes met mine, alarm spiking through the bond.As though the world is being split in two. Is this what you always sense?

Yes,I agreed grimly.Every time.

The only reason Thierry felt it was because I did. Wolves could sense the natural axis of reality, the current that kept the world moving. And we could feel when it was disrupted. Right now, it was being torn apart.

Beside me, Reed stripped quickly, breath coming fast. Shirt, shoes, pants—all gone in seconds. The shift took him swiftly, man collapsing into a massive gray wolf.

I followed, only a beat behind. The evening air bit cold against my bare skin, but I ignored it. Soon it wouldn’t matter. This wasn’t undressing for Thierry—there was no heat, no intimacy—only urgency.

Silver moonlight filtered through the canopy, just enough to draw on. I let the change sweep through me.

As my fingers stretched into claws, I shoved my jeans down with practiced efficiency. Then I dropped to all fours and let the shift finish.

Red and orange bled from the world, leaving only blues, greens, and a hundred shades of gray. My lowered center of gravity made the earth’s disruption thrumming through my body impossible to ignore.

I snarled low. The sick sensation was unbearable.

From the fissure came the scrape of talons on stone, faint but growing louder, closer. A guttural snarl echoed from the depths.

Thierry crouched in front of us, fists clenched, his whole body a weapon. He didn’t need anything else.

And neither did we.