Chapter 25 #2
Wren panicked. Her eyes widened, the glowing red flaring as she threw both hands up in desperation.
My front paws crashed into an invisible wall. It felt like I had slammed into the side of a moving semi-truck. But it didn’t stop me entirely. My momentum carried me through the wall and into Wren.
She screamed—a shrill, terrifying sound that almost burst my eardrums. I expected her to push me off, but instead, she shoved her palms directly upward, pressing them flat against the center of my chest.
I barely had time to find my balance before thick, suffocating magic ripped through every inch of me. Bones cracked before my brain even registered the agony. Wren kicked me off and I tumbled head-over-tail across the floor, coming to a brutal stop in the middle of the room.
I gasped, but my lungs refused to expand. Black spots swam violently in my vision. Every frantic attempt to pull air into my chest felt like inhaling razor blades.
I tried to stand and collapsed, my front legs unable to hold my weight and my broken ribs protesting every movement. Blood dripped steadily from my nose, pooling onto the filthy floor.
Wren stood just as I lifted my head. She wiped a smear of dirt from her cheek, her chest heaving, but that arrogant smile was back and the red glow in her eyes had deepened. She lifted her hands, and power coalesced, forming a volatile ball of energy between her palms.
I had to get up. Move. Run. Anything. But my back legs weren’t working. Whatever she’d done to me, she’d caused enough damage to take me—a werewolf—out. This was the power of a black witch. The reason the Ravenspells had exiled her. No one should have access to such power. Such evil.
Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I spotted Calder pinned beneath Adrian, the bear’s jaws snapping inches from his throat. Calder had both of his front paws shoved under the bear’s chin, desperately trying to keep the lethal teeth at bay, but Adrian was too heavy.
My brothers seemed just as screwed. They circled Evander, trying to land a blow, but from the blood staining their fur, it seemed they’d been just as unsuccessful as me.
Calder’s growl had my head turning back toward him. His amber eyes found mine across the chaotic, blood-stained floor.
He saw me on the ground, unable to move, bleeding. He saw the witch raising the final blow.
Pure, unadulterated terror filled his gaze. He thrashed violently, a frantic, high-pitched snarl tearing from his throat as he threw everything he had into bucking the bear off. But Adrian just roared and slammed a massive paw down on Calder’s chest, pinning him completely. He couldn't reach me.
I drew in a half-breath, finding it too painful to draw in a full one, and glanced back at Wren. The sphere had grown larger, now the size of her head, and it vibrated with power.
Wren hauled her hands back, preparing to throw the final blast at me, when the roof above detonated.
Splintered wood, rotted shingles, and rusted nails rained down in a violent, deafening shower. Three blinding bolts of pure violet lightning followed the boom. They struck the concrete at Wren’s feet, forming a tight triangle directly around her that sealed her in a shimmering barrier.
She immediately snuffed out the spell and screamed, her face transforming into something truly hideous. She raised a fist and struck at the barrier again and again. One wall cracked, but before it could break, three figures dropped from the night sky.
Selene Ravenspell touched down first, her silver robes billowing around her. Two others landed a second later, flanking Wren in perfect synchronization.
Their hands literally smoked with raw, unbridled power, and their eyes glowed with pure magic.
At the sight of her eldest sister, Wren’s smile vanished, and if I wasn’t mistaken, fear took its place.
The entire room fell silent as everyone turned to stare at the witches. Even Evander held still, as though afraid to attract their attention.
“Sister,” Selene said.
Wren sneered. “I am no sister to you.”
Selene simply smiled. “You’ve always been and always will be our sister. And we’ve come to take you home.”
A whine slipped past my lips. Taking Wren anywhere seemed like an astronomically bad idea. We’d agreed to kill them all, and I didn’t love the sudden change in plan.
“And if I don’t go?” she demanded, anger darkening her expression.
Selene simply sighed.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I hauled myself to my feet, my back legs immediately collapsing beneath me. I inwardly cursed and attempted to stand again. This time, I managed, but moving hurt.
As though I snapped everyone back into focus, Calder gathered his legs beneath him and kicked Adrian in the gut. The sudden attack caught the bear completely off guard. Adrian let out a startled, rumbling grunt, his front paws slipping off Calder's chest as his massive body tipped backward.
Calder rolled, scrambling to his paws in a blur of black fur. Then he opened his mouth and lunged, clamping his jaws around the soft, exposed flesh right beneath the bear’s jawline.
His teeth sank in deep. Even from across the room, I heard the wet, sickening crunch of cartilage giving way.
The bear thrashed wildly, rearing up on his hind legs and taking Calder into the air with him. Calder just clamped his jaws tighter and let his heavy body hang, using his own dead weight to tear the wound wider.
Adrian swiped his paws blindly. Those thick claws caught Calder along the ribs, slicing open his side.
Blood sprayed into the air, dotting the concrete in dark, heavy splatters.
But my mate refused to let go. He dug his front claws deep into the bear’s chest to anchor himself and viciously wrenched his head to the side.
Flesh tore. Arteries severed.
The thick, copper stench of fresh blood flooded the lumber mill, and Adrian’s eyes rolled backward. His frantic thrashing slowed to weak, uncoordinated jerks. A second later, his massive legs gave out.
Nine hundred pounds of dead weight crashed to the floor. Calder landed heavily on all fours next to the carcass. He stood there for a few seconds, his chest heaving and his muzzle dripping with blood.
Then, his head whipped around.
His amber eyes found me immediately. He ignored the dead bear.
He ignored the glowing coven and the screaming, trapped witch and immediately burst into a run toward my brothers and Evander.
I’d been so caught up in Calder’s fight that I hadn’t realized my brothers had resumed their battle with Evander.
Once Calder was within range, he shifted into human form, leapt into the air, and landed on the fae’s thigh. He grabbed onto the edge of the fae’s broken chest cavity and hauled himself upward with a guttural roar. Felix, Cassian, and Ricky circled Evander, ripping and tearing into his legs.
Evander raised one spindly arm, his overgrown talons aimed to impale Calder, but Cassian was faster.
My brother lunged, sank his teeth into Evander’s wrist, and dragged his arm back down.
At the same time, Felix ripped into the shadow-tendrils writhing from Evander’s back, distracting the monster just enough to give Calder the time he needed to reach the creature’s neck.
“Thorne!” Calder shouted.
I limped into a run, ignoring the pain that ripped through my ribs.
I launched for the fae’s free arm and clamped my teeth around his forearm, ignoring the sickening taste of him as I wrenched backward with everything I had left.
Ricky latched onto Evander’s left leg at the exact same moment, his jaws locking on with a savage growl.
Evander shrieked and thrashed, his body jerking with unnatural force as he tried to tear all of us off at once.
But with Ricky dragging one leg out from under him, Cassian hanging from one wrist, and me anchored to the other arm, he couldn’t get the leverage he needed.
Felix kept shredding the writhing tendrils spilling from his back, forcing the monster to split his focus in too many directions at once.
With a brute force that made my own aching bones sympathize, Calder gripped the underside of Evander’s chin and pulled. His muscles strained with effort, and he unleashed a shout that practically shook the walls.
Evander thrashed, his body jerking with unnatural effort, trying to buck Calder off. But my mate was done playing games.
Planting one boot firmly on Evander’s protruding clavicle, Calder leaned back and put every ounce of his weight and rage into one vicious pull. Evander’s flesh ripped and tore, exposing more bone beneath. Calder roared again and gave a final wrench.
Like plucking a flower from its stem, Evander’s head came free. A heartbeat later, his body began a free fall. My brothers and I scattered as Calder jumped off and landed in a silent crouch, the fae’s head clutched in his white-knuckled grip.
I stared at him, silenced by awe, until a blood-curdling shriek tore through the lumber mill, shattering our brief moment of victory.
I whirled around, my broken ribs screaming in protest. Inside the shimmering prison, Wren was losing her mind. Instead of surrendering to her sisters, she doubled down. She threw her head back and screamed. I was no witch, but even I felt the power that poured out of her cries.
Clearly, Evander had meant more to her than an employer. And his death had unleashed something within her. The air inside the barrier turned pitch black, and the wards imprisoning her flickered a couple times before snuffing out entirely.
I hobbled closer to the witches in case they needed help.
“Wren!” Selene shouted. “Don’t!”
But Wren was beyond understanding.
Pressure spiked, making the fur on the back of my neck stand up.
An instant later, Wren imploded.