Simply when the disturbing sounds had been lastly rising muffled from the depths of her placement within the forest, Rachel felt somebody or one thing attain out and contact her shoulder.

“Hey…”

She reacted by spinning round, slamming her physique in opposition to a tree trunk. The blow as her head hit the tree disoriented her. The subsequent factor she knew, the individual got here to her once more, palms outstretched, palms open in a peaceable gesture.

“Rachel, it’s me, Vincent.”

She was nonetheless reeling from the thud into the tree, having bonked her head barely in opposition to the onerous floor, when she squinted into the darkish. The blue eyes hung there within the black evening like jewels, and aid washed over her.

“Fuck, Vincent,” she mentioned, clasping her chest. “You scared the shit out of me. Thank God you’re right here.”

Vincent wore what Rachel was accustomed to seeing him in … military-styled pants with a tight-fitted grey shirt. It was nonetheless darkish, however the radiance of his eyes and the adjustment of the ill-lit forest made up for it. He got here to her with one hand behind his again, the opposite outstretched to the touch her head. She relaxed, bending her neck and letting him have a look.

“Does it damage?” he requested, gazing over the again of her cranium.

Rachel shook her head.

“Just a bit knock. I’ll survive, I believe.”

Vincent smiled. Rachel realized at that second that she had by no means been this bodily near Marcus’s beta. He was taller than Marcus however solely barely and way more lean than muscular. When she peered upward to take a look at him, there was a ghostliness to the pale blues that she hadn’t ever observed earlier than.

That, mixed together with his smug smile, made her uneasy.

Rachel lifted herself from the tree trunk, ducking out from beneath his arm that was pinned over her. She crossed her arms, feeling instantly defensive.

Then she realized he wasn’t bare. Marcus had informed her they had been at all times bare after shifting.

“Why aren’t you on the market with them?” she posed.

“Oh, it feels like they’re dealing with it simply high-quality,” Vincent mentioned, moseying over from the tree to face earlier than her. “Don’t you suppose so?”

Rachel shrugged, feeling the heartbeat of her coronary heart throbbing in her neck. She didn’t need to take her eyes off him.

“I don’t know something about dragons. I believe that will be your experience.”

Vincent chuckled darkly. Rachel began to really feel sick.

“You at all times have intelligent remarks, don’t you? You at all times have one thing to say.”

“What can I say? I’m charming,” she drawled in response.

Vincent got here towards her together with his palms in his pockets. It was a saunter and under no circumstances aggressive, however Rachel knew one thing was flawed. She needed to get away from him. She stored her arms crossed, her thoughts flickering with concerns for escaping.

“It’s secure to say that he discovered you charming, isn’t it? Marcus was the one who was by no means imagined to discover a mate. Of all locations, he discovered you in a fucking surrogate company.”

Vincent’s blue eyes scanned her over, after which he turned his gaze to the place the battle was nonetheless raging. The sounds had been faint however altogether violent and upsetting. Rachel waited as he mused, her fingernails leaving indents within the pores and skin beneath her elbows.

Vincent spoke as if casting a spell, muttering into the starless evening practically to himself.

“Certain, he might have a lady and have a toddler along with her. That in itself wouldn’t essentially imply something. However you don’t perceive what having a mate does for a shifter … the ability, the main focus, the power.”

“Enlighten me then.”

Vincent appeared again at her, the grin rising wider.

“It’s like being injected with a drug. A drug that makes a supernatural being much more terrifying and intimidating. Practically not possible to destroy.”

On the velocity of lightning, Vincent whipped a hand out of his pocket and slapped it round Rachel’s throat. She gasped however stored her arms folded. He didn’t squeeze simply but however moderately held her firmly. He might crack her vocal cords like snapping an apple core. Or he might strangle her with out breaking a sweat. Terror screamed at Rachel to run, however one other a part of her informed her to maintain nonetheless and look into the eyes of the person who had fully misplaced management.

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