Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(58)

It threw both men off their feet with more force than either of them had expected. I sucked in my breath, my mind racing to determine my next move. The brown wolf recovered fast, scrambling to his feet. Envisioning him trapped within a circle of energy, I directed the flow of power with my palms, and it happened.

He leaped into the side of the energy circle, hitting as if leaping into a brick wall.

Good. That allowed me to focus on Dylan who was rapidly getting to his feet. I kept my eyes on his face, careful not to acknowledge his nudity.

He looked pissed. Rubbing his hip, his hand came away bloodied due to his fall on the hard packed snow. Oops.

“You protect a known murderess!” His voice boomed through the forest, and I cringed. It seemed so wrong to be human here where animals belonged. “You are no better than she. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Crossing my arms over my br**sts, I glared hard. “And, you’re a f**king trespasser in my town. You have no right to come here and tell me how to run things. Zoey Roberts can be punished without being killed.”

Dylan’s eyes widened, and he huffed. “You’re as goddamn deranged as she is. She murdered my family, people who were there to protect her. That is unforgiveable.”

He seemed to be keeping a cautious distance. I don’t know what I was waiting for.

The blue and gold energy that swirled around my fingertips reached for him. It seemed to have a mind of its own.

“Something like you,” Dylan said, taking a menacing step toward me. “Shouldn’t be allowed to live. You’re as bad as she is. A mix that never should have been.”

“Fuck you.” The power jumped as I spat the words. A cut appeared beneath Dylan’s left eye, slowly dripping blood down his rugged face. I licked my lips hungrily at the sight of it.

The breath he sucked in was shaky despite his continuing forward motion. “Last chance. Give up Zoey Roberts, and I walk away from you right now.”

“And, if I don’t? You kill me?” I laughed wickedly. What a joke this guy was.

He rushed me then, hands outstretched, fangs bared in his human face. He was trying to catch me off guard so that I couldn’t have a metaphysical advantage. It worked because my automatic reaction was to step backwards when I should have held my ground.

The breath smashed from my lungs when his weight hit me. I was able to get a knee up in between us, and I drove it into his groin with everything I had. He grunted and froze. I took advantage of his pain, rolling him off me and following up with a solid punch that had his nose gushing blood.

“Bitch.” He was up and after me faster than I’d expected. When he went for my throat again, it became increasingly clear to me that he knew he couldn’t take me. He was seeking the fastest way to disable me.

The grim look in his eyes warned me that he really felt he was doing what was right.

That kind of dogma could drive a man beyond the restraints of sanity. If Shaz didn’t show soon, this really could get out of control.

I drew on the hot energy burning inside me, battering him with it. I was weakening fast in the metaphysical area due to the physical and mental exertion, which had me panicking. Dylan was bruised and bleeding, yet he continued to strangle me like a rag doll. This would be one time when being a vampire would be beneficial. Strangling can’t kill you when you don’t need to breathe.

I struggled against him, trying anything to loosen his hold on me. I would have felt ill at the touching of our naked bodies if I hadn’t been trying so hard not to black out.

“Girls like you and Zoey, you are nothing. Not fit to be Alpha. No better than a warm body to f**k and then dispose of.” Dylan continued to rant and rave into my face as he choked the life out of me.

Those words spun around in my brain, playing over and over. He was sick. He was mentally f**ked. And, my ill ease quickly turned to the need to wretch violently when I felt him grow hard against me. No f**king way. I’d die first.

In my mind, I couldn’t help but flash back in time. To another time and place, when I was so young and at the mercy of a much older male wolf that was determined to make me his play thing whether I was willing or not. Raoul had stopped him before he could force me. Then, Raoul had beaten the shit out of him. Now, there was no chance of Raoul coming to my rescue.

I hit Dylan. I clawed him and even tried to gouge out his damn eyes. Still, he held firm. His eyes held no semblance of human. He was all monster. As he tried to work his knee in between my legs, I was suddenly sure that what he was trying to do to me was something he had done to others, many times before.

The raw hate that quickly grew to overflowing was all I needed. It seared through me like a jolt of electricity, coming out in a storm of power. It actually hurt me as it moved from my body to his. Dylan let out a pained cry and released me. Bastard choked me twice, what a miserable excuse for a wolf.

He stumbled back, almost slipping in the snow. He continued to make agonized sounds. His chest was burnt; the flesh, literally smoking. I was astonished. I could have burned the f**ker alive. Now that was encouraging.

I felt another wolf then. Expecting Shaz, I looked to the east. Except, I felt it to the north. Dylan looked around in confusion as he sensed it, too. He lunged forward, as if to shift forms, but he wasn’t fast enough. A black shape emerged from the forest, leaping through the air to hit him full on.

I stared in silent shock as Zoey Roberts took Dylan down on the forest floor and sunk fangs into his throat before he could utter a scream. The brown wolf locked inside my energy circle howled and yipped as he watched his Alpha die.