Chapter 17
Effie Harlow
Pain ripped through me as several hands pulled at my body.
Instead of freezing like normal, I began to kick and fight, groaning as I caught someone in the stomach, making my wolf push my body further.
My eyes were on Dakota though, tears and panic streaming through me at the blood seeping around him.
I let out a cry as someone ripped my hair back and I was dropped onto the hard, icy landscape.
Weylin appeared over me as he crouched down and gripped my jaw, the noise of the others around us making me feel a sick sense of dread that still didn’t overtake my concern for Dakota.
Instead of paying attention to the clear threat Weylin posed, I closed my eyes and forced my wolf to connect, to reach out to every one of our mates, a whimper coming from my throat at the darkening connection between Dakota and me.
Julian’s power radiated strong and furious as the golden connection vibrated with an intensity that had me instantly breathing in relief.
Tore’s was hard and icy, and I could immediately feel the sensation of his magic running over my skin.
Ryder’s was filled with panic and something so lethal that it made me feel like my very chest was about to combust in flames.
Then I connected with Caedmon.
A howl, so vicious and so terrifying, echoed through every single molecule of the icy space around us, the sound causing my eyes to snap open as I looked right up into Weylin’s face. I could see the blood draining from it, and I felt a smile fill my own.
“You fucking bitch, what did you do?” He squeezed my jaw so hard I cried out.
The pain was momentary, though, as I felt three of my mates arrive and I was pulled back by Reamann, who still had a grip on my hair. The others swarmed in front of me as I realized there were so many wolves here… But none of them compared to my mates.
“You are going to pay for this,” he threatened in my ear. “I am going to make sure you feel every fucking inch of pain that you tried to cause us—”
The trees behind us cracked and crashed, silencing Reamann’s threats. The entire clearing went silent. His grip on my hair dropped as I rolled over and went up on my knees, feeling immediate relief at the sight of the massive creature standing there.
Highlighted by the moonlight, every inch of thick fur on the wolf’s massive build had me feeling a sense of safety I hadn’t thought possible. He let out a vicious growl, the sound vibrating the very trees around us as the others shrank back in fear.
His glowing purple eyes immediately snapped to me, and I crawled forward, trying to get away from my captor.
It didn’t work, and my action had Reamann yanking my leg back, a cry coming from my lips…before the hold slackened. I looked up to see where the lycan had grabbed the rest of his body and tossed it to the side, his bloody arm ripped off and landing by my leg.
I should have felt sickened by that.
Instead, I reached up as the deadly creature gathered me in his arms and I breathed out a sigh of relief, followed by his name.
“Caedmon.”