The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

the air in front of me, the arm I held barely moving at all. If anything, I was hurting myself the longer and tighter I held. I didn’t care though. If his armor cut my hand apart, then it would be worth every drop of blood and spark of fiery pain.

Lips curled back to show off those wicked teeth. A growl turned snarl made my blood run cold. Fur stood tall. That cloak seemed to hover off the ground. The black wolf loomed over me, his nose a mere inch from my face. My teeth chattered til I clenched my jaw. My breath caught in my throat.

I had never felt so small. The shadows crept around me. Dark vines jutted out like daggers, coming right for me as they had in the past.

"Don't need you." He snarled. His voice rattled through my bones. "Worthless! Pathetic!" His lower jaw quivered, twisted, and snapped side to side. His voice was all I could hear. He looked ready to cage my head between those foul teeth.

I swallowed hard. Trembled. He was all I could see in the darkness, those crimson lights bathing him in a bloodthirsty silhouette. I should have ran. Every fiber of my muscles screamed to get the hell out of this place. Yet I dug my nails into the plates of his armor.

Fenris moved closer. Vicious claws clicking against the floor. His jaws cracked shut and opened again. It mimicked snapping bones and churned my stomach.

"Burden!Weak! You are nothing."

I bit my lip. Held my breath. I almost believed him. Maybe I really was nothing, but I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t a burden.

"Liar." I choked out. "You don't actually think that."

I still didn't budge. Didn't let go. My chest ached with each beat of my heart.

"I'm not afraid of you." I lied.

I took a breath. I kept focusing on his mouth. Those teeth scraped against one another with the subtle sound of scratching metal. Why would anything need that many teeth? My hair stood on end.

"You can't just walk out like you were never here! Of all the shit we've been through! Why would you go through so much trouble just to leave?!" I squeezed tighter, wincing at the pain.

Another moment of silence. Without a sign of me letting go, Fenris soon moved again. I knew I couldn't stop the valkyrie.

The wolf came for me with a ferocity I had not actually seen before. A wild animal cornered and afraid. Desperate to survive. Fenris ripped from my grasp. My hand throbbed like fire slicing through the skin. I didn’t even see what happened next.

On the floor, I stared wide-eyed up at the wolf. His teeth snapped right in front of my face. I shut my eyes, expecting my neck to snap next.

This is it. I thought. This is how I die?

This wasn’t right. This wasn’t Fenris.

"Goddammit! What's wrong with you?!" I shouted. "We're friends, Fenris!" Those teeth were too close for comfort.

I watched his lower jaw peel downward with the squishy sound of stretching muscle. Wider. Wider. It was like looking into the mouth of a snake about to swallow me whole. I scratched at the floor, wanting to pull myself backwards. I couldn’t move. My body refused to do anything, but stare. The crimson light shined against the roof of his mouth. I swear there was a third jaw with perfect saw-like teeth. His hot breath washed over me and for once I couldn’t smell it.

Fucking do something, you idiot! I screamed in my head.

Instead of running away, I grabbed onto him. The biggest teeth that I could safely grab without getting hurt by the other ones.

"You're really gonna kill me? After claiming you don't hurt humans!"

Fenris answered with a snarl. I gagged at his breath.

His claws dug into the metal floor at either of my sides. The floor crumpled like cloth under the pressure. He started shaking his head, dragging me across the floor with it.

"Let go." He snarled.

"Fuck you!" I immediately retorted.

Then it clicked in my head. Fenris wasn't trying to hurt me. He didn't want to eat me. He was just trying to scare me. Force me away. I knew that tactic. In a miserable world filled with liars, and cheaters, it was best to be alone. To avoid the extra pain of betrayal and loss.

"What are you afraid of?" My voice cracked.

He stopped moving.

I pulled on his teeth to lower his hollow nose from my face. I looked him in the eye.

"You think we're just gonna die out there, don't you? You think it'll be your fault."

The lights shifted, trickled downward like rain.

"You fucking bastard." I snapped. "That's not how this works! You can't try to scare your friends away!" I pulled his teeth more, bringing his face closer. Some of them poked into my chest, easily piercing through my clothes.

"If there is anything humanity is good at, it’s surviving. It’s beating the odds. Humans can adapt and overcome any situation. Just like we did in the war. You know we only just got here, right?" I pulled more. "We fought in the unknown against a force that, honestly, should have wiped us out. A lot of us fucking died, but they paved the way for the rest of us to overcome."

I took a deep breath. Fenris didn't look much calmer. He was still growling. Claws still scratching at the floor.

I thought about that video I saw before. The clip of the children fighting. I remembered what Eight said. Fenris was abused all his life. Outcasted and treated like a monster.

I couldn't deny there was a monstrous side. Everyone had one.

"You're...you're not a monster." I said softly. "You've never had a friend before. I know what it's like. To be alone...to have no one to care for you. I know that feeling."

My fingers slowly loosened.

"You don't have to be on your own anymore, Fenris. You don't have to do this alone."

The wolf sat back, keeping his head low. His eyes still trickled downward. He didn’t look