Chapter 20
The hum exploded in a quick burst, and a tree fell on the wolves in front of me while something snarled loudly in my head. I clamped my hands over my ears, but the noise didn’t ease.
It was internal, the same way Raffe’s voice was from time to time.
My skin tingled in a way I’d never felt before. I went to scratch my arms, but as soon as I touched them, I froze.
No.This was impossible.
I jerked my head down and saw thick hair, the color of my hair sprouting on my arms.
Not hair.
Fur.
My breathing quickened, and the world teetered around me. What had the witch done to me?
A loud crack, followed by intense pain, had the edges of my vision blackening. The top half of my back tilted over despite me standing straight.
I gritted my teeth, my lungs wheezing. If those wolves got out from under the branch and attacked, I wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing to fend them off, and worse, I didn’t know how to stop this. I tried to walk away to gain distance from the wolves, but my lower back broke and forced me to the ground on all fours.
Vomit burned my throat, tears poured down my face, and I whimpered. I couldn’t move, and eventually, the wolves would get me.
As if they’d heard me, the darker wolf inched out from under the tree, the trunk still on its backside.
My legs and arms shook. Then suddenly, my body shifted, repositioning itself. I inhaled as I watched my arms change shape and my hands turn into paws.
Wolfpaws.
What the fuck?
How was this possible? Raffe had told me that people were born supernatural and couldn’t be changed. Yet, here I stood—on four legs. I’d have thought it was a dream, but the pain from the wolf attacking me woke me from my stupor.
This was real. Learning the how and why of it would have to come later … if at all.
Maybe now I could talk to my attackers and reason with them. But how? I didn’t know how to link.
After one last jerk, the dark-gray wolf freed himself from the tree. His overly musky smell indicated male to me.
He snarled, the sound as loud as if he’d screamed in my ears. Then he charged, though slowly, with his back leg dragging a bit.
At least the tree had done something, but he could still kick my ass, especially since my blood was barely jolting in this form.
How was I supposed to fight him? Unsure what to do, I turned and tried to move away, my legs feeling funny as I adjusted to walking on four feet instead of two. My legs were unsteady for a few steps, but they soon started moving more naturally.
The presence from my chest now brushed my mind. In this form, it seemed familiar.
Maybe the presence had been this wolf all along. Had I been fighting the shifter inside me?
I leaned into the presence and imagined our minds merging into one.
My paws dug into the mulch, and I spun back toward the dark-gray wolf. He was injured—now wasn’t the time to retreat. Going on the offensive was my best chance of getting out of this trap alive, and I had to take it. I had to see Raffe again … even if I was in animal form.
Dark Gray snapped, and I watched as Light Gray bounded toward us. Even from my spot fifty yards away, I could smell her lighter musk scent. It reminded me of vanilla.
It was two on one, but the scent of copper wafted from her as well, telling me she was bleeding.
Getting my blood to hum would have helped me, but instead, the energy pumping through my blood seemed to push into the ground, which wasn’t shaking.
Dark Gray lunged. The power from my blood continued to flow outward, but a tugging sensation pulled on it as if I were caught on something. Like I was fishing in the mulch underneath me.
Could this night get any weirder?
My magic had distracted me. Dark Gray landed on my back, his claws ripping into the flesh at the base of my back while his tail hit me in the face repeatedly, blocking my view of Light Gray. I could tell where she was by her scent and sounds.
I tried to ignore the sharp sting and rolled him underneath me, and though his claws dug in deeper, I heard him exhale with all my weight on him.
I bounced a little on him, and he grunted. His claws retracted, and he pushed me away.
Using the momentum, I got onto my feet, but when my back muscles moved, I almost crumpled from the blinding pain. The presence’s rage and mine combined, making me angrier than ever before.
I refused to die, not when Raffe and I had just gotten our shit together.
Throwing my head back, I howled, the sound vibrating in my chest. Light Gray caught up to us, and Dark Gray stood, chest heaving. I needed Raffe, Slade, and the others to hear me and come to my aid.
Light Gray’s side was bleeding like something had poked her, but that didn’t keep her from sidling up next to Dark Gray and staring me down.
I searched the area for something … anything to use as a weapon. But with no fingers and thumbs, I couldn’t think of a damn thing I could use other than my blood, which was fritzing in my animal form.
Please, take over, I begged the presence, hoping her animal instincts would get us somewhere.
The wolves attacked. Each one lunged for a different side.
I shot backward, ignoring the sensation of the skin on my back ripping open. A whimper lodged in my throat, but I swallowed it as the two wolves landed and leaped at me again.
What were their paws made of? Bouncy balls?
Unable to stumble back farther, I braced myself for pain and targeted Light Gray. I hunkered to the ground and to the right, and Dark Gray overshot me.
I extended my claws and dug my nails into Light Gray’s side, connecting with her wound as she sailed over me and landed on my back. She yelped, and I bucked her off before she could claw my back up again. The agony of her weight hitting me made me want to lie down and never get up again.
Her body crashed to the ground, but something sharp pierced my back left leg. Before I could turn, I was jerked back, and my stomach hit the mulch.
Dark Gray had me by the leg.
He ground his teeth into my flesh and bone, and I yelped.
With my other back leg, I swiped at him and dug my claws into whatever body part I could reach.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Light Gray get up again, and I pushed harder with my other leg, trying to cut through Dark Gray’s flesh to the bone like he was doing to me.
His jaws slackened, and I curved around and raked my closest paw down his head, ripping his ear in half. He snarled and released his hold, rubbing his face against his front leg.
I opened my jaws, readying to slash his throat.
A howl sounded, startling me and halting my blood haze.
Was that Raffe?
I couldn’t kill these wolves. We needed answers.
Somehow, I stopped myself millimeters short of Dark Gray’s throat.
My blood hummed stronger, and something surged within me. Something that wasn’t me, but I wasn’t sure what it was. It felt familiar and calm.
Both enemy wolves moved toward each other. Their eyes glowed as they communicated, likely planning their next attack.
I tried to stand, but my left hind leg gave out. The pain was so bad that my vision blurred with tears.
There was no way I could fight.
I’d done my best, but it hadn’t been enough.
My blood sang, and I could read the wolves’ emotions.
They were angry, but something like curiosity crept into their feelings and morphed into emotions like determination and protectiveness, not from just these two but from many.
The wolves’ eyes bulged, but they remained in place. Their gazes shifted behind me.
Ignoring my screaming muscles, I looked over my shoulder. I blinked several times.
What was this?
Several owls flew out of the trees and alighted on the surrounding branches, and ten raccoons, eight coyotes, and twelve deer now stood behind me. Even though some were predators and some were prey, they didn’t seem wary of each other. Every one of them had their attention focused on the enemy wolves.
The tallest deer’s intelligent brown eyes shifted to me, and he nodded.
Somehow, I understood. They were all here to protect me. I’d called for them, and they’d responded. That was what my blood had been doing, though I hadn’t understood.
Moving forward, the group split in half, flanking me. The enemy wolves hunkered down and growled, which confused me.
Did they want to die? Or were they acting under a threat that they had to finish me or something bad would happen to them? I’d learned that the supernatural world was ruthless.
I had to stop this. I needed the wolves alive to learn who was behind the attack, and I couldn’t let these animals die in their determination to protect me.
My blood power increased to a sing, a level I’d never experienced before, and I could feel it bubbling like it was boiling.
When the wolves ran toward the coyotes in the center, power exploded from my body. I felt it leave my blood and barrel toward the two wolves.
When it reached them, the wolves swayed on their feet for a few seconds before their eyes rolled back and they dropped to the ground, completely unconscious.
The power continued to sail into the woods.
As if enough shit wasn’t strange, all the animals here to protect me were still awake.
A fizzle rushed over my fur, and the power vanished as if the job were done.
One of the coyotes ran to Dark Gray and ripped out the wolf’s throat.
My stomach churned. Stop, I screamed inside my brain.
The animals all froze. The coyote lifted his blood-covered snout toward me, confusion emanating from him. He had protected me like I’d asked.
It was one thing to kill out of protection, but this was different. The wolves were unconscious, with no way to defend themselves, and I needed the Light Gray and the larger wolf that I’d knocked out first to answer questions.
I also needed Slade and Raffe. Raffe would help me change back into human form and make the wolf shifters shift back to talk.
Thank you for your help, but I’m okay now. I wasn’t sure they could understand me, but talking to them seemed effective. I’m going to find my friends, who should be close by. I didn’t need someone stumbling across me with a herd of animals.
One of the raccoons stood on its hind legs, its black eyes meeting mine.
Understanding washed over me. I should call them again if I was ever in trouble in the woods. They wouldn’t be far.
Somehow, I’d become a fucking Disney princess.
My heart skipped a beat as the group dispersed. An owl swooped down and brushed my snout with its feathers as it flew back home.
I watched in awe for a moment, but there were more pressing things to do—like getting back to Raffe.
Raffe.
With my blood calm, his feelings flooded back into me. He was crazed, the sensation adding to my already overwhelming pain. I wanted to lie down and rest, but I couldn’t continue to let him feel like this, and I had no clue how long the wolves would be unconscious. The last thing I needed was for Light Gray to find her dead friend and attack me all over again.
“Skylar!” Lucy’s desperate cry came from near where I’d left her.
I began to walk toward her voice, but the pain in my leg was so severe that I collapsed. I held it up and hobbled on three legs. The movement was rough, and my back felt as if I was being filleted.
Vomit churned hard in my belly and burned my throat. I wanted to cry out. Instead, I focused on taking one step at a time.
My back bunched and cringed, radiating stinging pain. I couldn’t imagine a pain level higher than this. I focused on Raffe’s desperation and used it to urge myself forward.
Paw steps sounded—multiple sets—but with all my concentration on moving forward and the pain weakening me like someone wringing out a wet rag, I wasn’t sure how many.
My blood jolted … and a wolf stepped out of the forest in front of me.
Its dark fur blended in with the shadows, or maybe that was just my eyesight because the world began to spin.
The wolf snarled, and I knew it was over. I didn’t have any fight left in me, and my animal protectors wouldn’t get here in time to save me.
My legs gave out, and I heard a shout. “Wait!”