Wolf Tales II by Kate Douglas Page B

raw power tempered by an underlying hint of fear. He reached over and took her hand, squeezed her fingers, then held them against his thigh.
    She sighed and moved closer to him. He might not say anything, but she knew he needed her, for companionship, if nothing else. Why did he seem so conflicted? Something else bothered him, something she couldn’t quite sense. She squeezed his hand and settled close against his side.
    Xandi was still contemplating his moods when they pulled into the drive of the wizard’s home. Palatial in design, the house managed to look as if it had been hewn from the very trees and mountains that protected it, as if the rock had grown out of the earth, not been laid by the hand of man.
    She felt Stefan’s resolve strengthen as the car rolled silently to a stop. He straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin, then nodded with almost regal bearing when the driver opened the door for them. An old servant in a faded blue robe met them at the top of the broad staircase leading to a large, intricately carved wooden door. He bowed and stepped aside, leaning heavily on a carved staff. With a terse nod, he invited them in.
    Stefan strode through the door like a man with a mission. Xandi followed quietly, curious at Stefan’s unexpected show of bravado. He’d been almost humble when he’d cast the spell to contact Anton the night before. Humble and penitent, as if well aware of the pain his arrogance had brought him.
    Xandi realized she preferred that side of him. This attitude, as if he were looking for a battle, put her off, unsettled her.
    The old man abruptly appeared just ahead of them, blocking their path. His voice trembled as if with palsy, his hand on the head of the staff shook. “Stefan Aragat. You seek the wizard. Why?”
    Stefan drew himself up, standing straight and proud, glaring down his long, lupine nose at the old man. “You can look at me and ask that? I want him to return me to my human form.”
    “Ah. I see.” The old man moved closer to Stefan. He tilted his head and looked up, frowning. “Do you truly regret your hubris? Do you accept your blame for his actions? Do you understand humility? That is the lesson he wished to teach.”
    “Of course I do, but I wish to discuss this matter with Anton, old man. Not with his servant.”
    Xandi drew away from Stefan. She shivered in a sudden chill and her gaze shifted nervously from the proud tilt of Stefan’s head to the answering gleam in the old man’s eyes. She backed against the wall, sensed a building power within the room, an aura of shifting light and darkness. Didn’t Stefan feel it? How could he be oblivious to the anger, the darkness, the seething cloud settling all around them?
    Then she saw it, the slight curl to Stefan’s lip, half smile, half snarl… the same expression on the old man’s face as he nodded in understanding.
    Suddenly it all came clear to Xandi. Stefan challenged the old man! He wanted a fight. What the hell was he doing?
     
    Stefan recognized his mistake the second the words left his mouth. He’d stormed in here, all full of bullshit and bluster, his heart pounding in his chest, his passions running high and hot. Wrong. So damned wrong he wasn’t even close to right. He needed to get the hell out of here, now, not force the issue while Xandi stood beside him. What the hell was he thinking? He turned and reached for her, but a voice filled the room, reverberated within the walls, bounced off the high ceiling and left his sensitive wolf’s ears ringing.
    Stefan spun around. The old man held his staff high. Power flashed in a sparkling aura around his body. There was no weakness in him now.
    Of course! Stefan had wondered if the old man was Anton. He had his proof, now. Wasn’t this exactly what he’d wanted? At least what one side of him wanted. Stefan blinked, recognizing his desires for what they were, finally understanding how powerful his needs had become.
    “Have you learned so little,