Mark took an inadvertent step back, only to be stopped by another large tree behind him. He kept a close eye on the predator in front of him, all too aware of the other monster to his left.
“You might want to sit. We may be here a while.” The smirk was back even though Caster’s eyes were closed.
How could he be so relaxed with a monster still growling its intent right next to them, with nothing between them but a magical barrier Mark didn’t believe was even there?
Caster looked at him, his eyes roaming his body in a way that made him a different kind of uncomfortable. “There is a barrier. Why you can’t feel it, I don’t understand.”
“I told you to stop reading my thoughts.” The words came out with too much defensiveness for his liking.
Caster’s full smile intensified his discomfort. “Protect them from me. You do know how to do that, don’t you?”
Of course, he did. It was the first thing he’d learned soon after…. He stopped, unwilling to share that particular moment with the vampire who seemed to exert zero effort in bypassing every one of his defenses. When he was around, Mark lost the ability to focus on the mental barrier that kept vampires out of his head. He took in a slow, fortifying breath, reaching for that mental block. There, he had it back. Now he needed to hold on to it.
Exhaustion called to him, and he sank to the ground, allowing the tree at his back to take his weight. They faced each other, although Mark was careful to look everywhere but at Caster’s intense gaze. He turned to the left, and the creature whose low growls had softened but not stopped snarled at him, its murderous intent clear.
“Why do you think we’ll be here a while?”
“I can’t reach Riley.” Caster nodded towards their jailer. “And something tells me our friend here likes the night. Let’s hope whatever this magic is, it will keep us out of its reach until morning.”
“You can’t reach Riley?”
“His protection spell means I can call to him and he’d find me wherever I am.” He frowned. “I can’t seem to find the connection now.”
Mark nodded even if he understood very little of what Casterhad said. Witches had long allied themselves with vampires and therefore had little contact with wolves. He knew little of witchcraft and had even less desire to learn.
“Feel free to ignore me, but are you trained?”
The question startled him, bringing his defensiveness about his submissive nature to the fore. “You could make me tell you.”
“Is that what you want?”
He hadn’t considered it, having suppressed this side of himself for so long. Caster was the first dominant he’d responded to for too long. He studied his hands to keep from nodding.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
He looked up too fast. “Haven’t you already?”
“I haven’t used my influence to make you do what I want, have I?” He shook his head when Mark leaned forward, ready to argue his case. “You couldn’t catch your breath, and I didn’t want you to pass out.”
Mark dared a look at his face. The smirk was gone, replaced with an earnest look that prodded him to understand. He relaxed against the tree once more, but looking at Caster for too long brought sensations he’d never hoped to experience again, so he glanced at his hands. His wounds closed much slower than they should, but he couldn’t do anything about that. The pain he could endure, even use.
“I would never use my dominance to get answers from you. Unless you want me to.”
He didn’t look at him. “I don’t.”
Caster sighed, and the monster growled. The wolf in Mark could sense dawn beyond the horizon. Perhaps one or two hours away. It would be morning soon, and if Caster was right, perhaps they would be safe enough to move.
“Do you think the others are OK?” He asked without looking at Caster.
“I have no way of knowing. But they must be faring much better than us.”
“This creature belongs to the witch, doesn’t it?”
“You’ll have to look at me at some point, you know. It’s hard to talk to you if I can’t see your face.”
He could make him look at him as he’d done earlier. The events in that room seemed a lifetime ago, although he was certain that memory would not go anywhere anytime soon. Mark forced himself to look at him.
“That’s better.” He turned towards the creature who’d gone silent for the last few minutes. “We may have found the outer edge of her property.”