Page 154 of Ravenous

A massive shadow took Nettle’s place, filling the doorway.

Thane.

But this was not the controlled, disciplined king she’d traded barbs and pleasure with. This was the moon-mad animal that lived beneath his skin. Towering, rippling, and hungry.

His bulging muscles twitched with anticipation, face and chest coated in blood. An unholy blue fire lit his eyes. His breath steamed in heavy gusts. Claws and fangs dripped.

Her heart kicked hard, but she kept her expression flat. “Ah-ah, beast. Heel.” She raised her palms, summoning her power. The glow flickered, weak.Her tail and horns barely gave off a spark, like dying candlewicks.

Damn it! She ran on fumes.

He did not. Superpowered by moonglow.

She considered pressing the alarm under her desk that Meera had noted in a binder. Still, an army of witches would have difficulty felling him—Lykae beasts shed spells—ifthey even mustered for Ditch.

“Thane,” she said, “if there’s so much as a scrap of you left in there, claw your way to control. Because what happens next, there’s no coming back from.”

He answered with a low, seismic growl that rattled the windowpanes and guttered the fire. He stalked forward, step by step, heat radiating off the remnants of his torn and bloodstained clothing. The wood beneath him groaned.

Her face changed, twisting into its demon aspect, but he shook off the mesmerizing effect, like stepping through a cobweb.

Her stomach dropped. “I saidno, wolf.” She fired two hexshots. One slammed into his arm to blow out a chunk of flesh, one hit center mass, exposing bone.

The room quaked from the force, but he didn’t blink. Didn’t grunt. His flesh simply boiled, knit, and smoothed as if she’d splashed him with water.

Smoke thickened the air. Sulfur burned her throat.

She fired another shot of acid and lava. It splashed his neck, steaming. He sloughed it off, the molten mass hissing down to the hardwood. She fired again, but her palms fritzed, sputtering useless light.

Nearly the godsdamned Awaited One, and she couldn’t even slow a wolf king. Her only hope was the alarm.

He bared his fangs, his gaze a frenzy of predatory desire.

She dove for her desk.

He reached it first.

With a single swipe, he batted it across the room, wood splintering against the wall.

He seized her around the waist, crushing her against his chest.

“Let me go!” She punched her horns into his shoulder. The tips scraped bone. Her claws raked his chest. She tore strips of him open.

He didn’t seem to feel her, just dragged her head back, clamping her nape with a huge palm.

Her tail snapped forward, injecting his arm. She pumped venom into his muscles until toxin-tinged blood streamed from his flesh.

He didn’t react to the strike. Instead he inhaled deeply at her throat. A lowgroan vibrated through his chest, through her bones. The heat from his skin made her sweat. Her flailing legs brushed his hardened shaft but couldn’t get leverage for a kick.

He dragged his face along her neck, and a primal shudder racked him. Snarling, ravenous, he licked her flesh. His breaths fanned the wet trail.

Was he going to claim her? Bite her?

“Donotdo this, Thane! You have no right!”

Suddenly he stilled. Cocked his head. Listening to something she couldn’t sense.

Then he launched forward. She slammed against his chest as he sprinted for the stairs. She was trapped against him, hauled like prey as he leapt down the steps.