Shadows of Darkness by Stephanie Rowe Page B

for more wolves. The night was empty and clear, and the air was warm again. The threat was gone, but he'd awoken the monster within him. It raged inside him, demanding to feed, demanding prey. The half-lives of the wolves had only whetted its appetite, not sated it. Levi dug his fingers into the dirt, his entire body straining to hold onto his sanity. "Maya," he gasped, "I need your help."
    She was there beside him instantly, her hands on his shoulders. "Levi, Oh, God, what happened? Your arm is shriveled. Oh, God, it's like my sister. They got you." The anguish in her voice was vivid, tearing through the agonizing battle in his mind. Her touch was hot, firing up his muscles everywhere she touched, but it wasn't enough. He needed more. He needed her. Blood bond. He needed to blood bond with her, to ground himself in her. "Give me your hand," he said. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he knew he was losing the battle. Merk had been there. Merk had been in the wolf. Merk was there in his mind, trying to take him. The wolf had weakened him, and Merk was trying to get him. "Now!"
    She set her hand in his, but his fingers wouldn't close. He collapsed onto his side, his body rigid. "Kill me," he snapped. "Now. Do it! Jesus."
    "No!" She grabbed his shoulders. "You did this for me. I'm not going to let you die."
    He grabbed her arm and jerked her down toward him. She landed with a thud on her knees beside him. "Look into my eyes," he growled. "Look at who I'm becoming."
    She searched his face, and he knew she was seeing the red glow, the bottomless depth of bitter, merciless death. "Damn it, Levi. That's not you!"
    "Do it, now."
    "I heard you think of the blood bond," she said. "Will that help?"
    "I don't know. I can't." He gasped, his body convulsing as he fought the need thundering through him. "You have to do it. Once it takes me, I'm unstoppable. I'll never let you kill me. I'm too fast. You have to do it before it gets me."
    "You're already too fast." She held up the axe she was still carrying and swept her hand across it. He scented the coppery smell of her blood instantly, and need lurched in his stomach, a deep primal need almost as powerful as his lust for death. He rolled onto his side as she grabbed his hand and raked it across the blade.
    She slammed their palms together, and their blood mixed. Need pulsed through him instantly, and his body clenched in response. Maya! He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her onto him. She came willingly, pressing herself against him as she kissed him.
    Her mouth was hot and sensual, but not enough. Not fucking enough. He lifted their clasped hands and pressed his mouth to their mingled blood. The blood was tangy and hot on his tongue and slid down his throat like a searing burn that ate away at his flesh. Maya's eyes widened and he grabbed her and dragged her down to him.
    This time, when they kissed, their mingled blood was damp on his lips and tongue, and he offered them to Maya. She accepted hungrily, and the kiss turned carnal within a split second. White-hot lust lashed through his mind, blanking out the lethal hunger that had been amassing inside him, replacing it with an insatiable craving for the woman in his arms.
    He rolled her onto her back, and stripped off their pants, plunging into her wet, welcoming body without even breaking the kiss. She gasped his name, and he felt her emotions pouring into him. He was swamped by her desire, her fear, her passion, and her unbridled desperation for him. He pumped harder and faster, unable to get deep enough or close enough to take the edge off the intensity of the emotions raging through him. And then, just as he thought he was going to crack, the words came, the words he didn't know, and yet somehow came alive within him. Mine to you. Yours to me. Bonded by blood, by spirit and by soul, we are one. No distance too far, no enemy too powerful, no sacrifice too great. I will always find you. I will always protect you. No matter