Chapter 9 #3
“Hold fire!” Varek snarled, barely avoiding a swipe that would have opened his throat. He shoved her back, slamming his fist into her jaw with enough force to shatter a normal human. “She’s not—” he grunted as her nails raked his side, blood blooming across his skin, “—gone yet!”
The soldiers didn’t listen. They dove in with him, half shifted, claws and teeth flashing. One latched onto her arm, another her shoulder. She threw them off like ragdolls, one slamming into the wall so hard he left a dent, the other crumpling over a toppled metal cart.
Varek snarled, silver eyes blazing. “I said hold!”
He caught her throat, shoving her back into the wall, pinning her there, the force required making him shake with the effort. His claws dug deep, but he didn’t finish her off. He was trying—still trying—to restrain, to contain, not to kill.
“Stop!” he roared at her, voice cracking like thunder. “Fight it!”
For a moment, her eyes flickered. The glow dimmed. Her lips trembled. She almost looked human again.
Then she screamed, sinking her teeth into his shoulder.
He roared, the ferocity of the sound ripping through me. His body convulsed, half wolf, half man, claws ripping into the wall around her as blood streamed down his arm.
She tore free, and before he could recover, she slammed him to the floor. The tiles cracked under the impact.
She straddled him, her claws raised, and for the first time, I realized that Varek might die.
“Run!” he roared at me, spitting blood, his voice more wolf than man. His silver eyes flashed toward me, desperate. “Mariah, run!”
My body froze. My legs wouldn’t move.
He shifted fully then, fur exploding across his body, jaws snapping as he bucked her off with primal force. She hit the far wall, snarling, and he was on her again, wolf now. His teeth sank into her arm, blood spurting as he slammed her against the counters.
But she didn’t stop.
His bite didn’t work.
She met him claw for claw, bite for bite, their bodies slamming through equipment, sparks and glass and blood spraying across the room.
Varek fought like he had no choice, his claws ripping deeper, his fangs tearing flesh. Her shrieks became a chorus of rage and agony as blood painted the walls.
I pressed back into the corner, tears streaming, every nerve screaming at me to run, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Varek slammed the berserker into the wall so hard that the room shuddered. Sparks cascaded from a shattered light above, glass raining down in glittering shards. His wolf form snarled, massive and furious, claws sinking into her shoulders.
For a heartbeat, I thought he had her.
Then he shifted into his human form and in that blink of an eye, she slashed her nails across his chest.
Blood sprayed hot and dark, as he roared in pain and faltered in his hold on her.
Before he could recover, she lunged, and her teeth sank into his shoulder. The sound it made—the wet tear of flesh—turned my stomach. Varek collapsed to one knee, his wolf form faltering as agony twisted across his face.
The berserker raised her claws for the killing blow.
“No!” The scream ripped from my throat before I even knew what I was doing. My body moved, relying purely on instinct, hurling me across the room.
I had no claws. No fangs. Just skin and bone and terror. But still I ran at her.
Her head snapped toward me just as my feet left the floor, and for a split second I knew I was going to die.
The mark on my shoulder burned white-hot, a fire flooding every vein in my body. My bones snapped like lightning inside me, but there was no pain, only heat, only fury, only a wild exhilaration that made my scream twist into a howl.
My skin tore into fur, dark and bristling. My nails elongated into claws mid-flight, catching the light as they curved like knives. My teeth ached, then sharpened, my jaw stretching into a muzzle even as my vision tunneled into razor-sharp focus.
The world exploded into extreme sensory input.
Every drop of blood in the air was a thunderclap in my nose, iron-thick and burning.
I could taste the fear-sweat on the techs’ corpses behind us.
I could hear the berserker’s heartbeat, pounding like a drum, too fast, fueled by fury.
The hum of the fluorescent lights overhead screeched like a blade across glass.
And fuck, it was terrifying. Terrifying and glorious.
I hit her midair, not as a girl but as a wolf, my body heavier, stronger, every muscle thrumming with power I didn’t know I was capable of. My jaws closed on her throat with a snap that vibrated through my skull. Hot blood gushed into my mouth, metallic and salty, spilling down my chest.
The berserker screamed, thrashing, her nails raking at my sides, but it was too late. I shook my head violently, teeth sawing through flesh and tendon, her lifeblood spraying in wide arcs across the lab.
She bucked, slammed me into the counter, but my jaws only sank deeper, my wolf’s growl vibrating so loud it drowned out everything else. Her body convulsed once. Twice.
Then she went limp.
I released her, staggering back on four legs, my chest heaving, fur dripping red. The berserker’s body crumpled to the floor, twitching once before going completely still.
The silence after was deafening.
I stood there, trembling, my paws slick with blood, my muzzle dripping. My new form towered over the body of the girl who had been both victim and monster. My lungs burned with every breath, the taste of her death blood still hot on my tongue.
And then it hit me.
I wasn’t afraid anymore.
My heart still raced, yes. My body shook with adrenaline. But beneath the terror was a wild fierceness that sang in my bones.
This is what you are now.
Wolf.
The world was clearer than it had ever been, brighter, alive in ways I’d never known.
The hum of electricity in the walls. The rhythm of Varek’s labored breathing as he dragged himself up from the floor.
The copper tang of blood, the cold sting of antiseptic.
Every detail crashed into me at once, overwhelming and intoxicating.
I turned my head. Varek stared at me through wide eyes, blood running down his leg where she’d bitten him. His chest heaved, torn and slick, but there was no fear in him.
Only awe.
I padded toward him, my claws clicking against tile. His hand reached out, shaking, and I pressed my muzzle into it. His fingers tangled in my fur, hot and sticky with blood.
“My mate,” he whispered hoarsely. His palm slid to the back of my neck, steadying me. “Breathe, little wolf,” he murmured. “In. Out. Find the woman inside. Let her come back.”
His words wrapped around me like a tether. I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on the rhythm of his voice, on the sound of his breathing, rough, labored, but still thankfully alive. My lungs followed his cadence, slower, steadier.
The fire in my blood receded, my fur prickling, my bones snapping back into place. Pain lanced through me as my body folded inward, reshaping. My muzzle shortened, my claws shrank. My hands—human again—pressed flat against his chest.
When I opened my eyes, I was me. Naked, trembling, and covered in blood that wasn’t only mine.
Varek caught me as I sagged, his arms wrapping tight around me. His lips brushed my temple, his breath ragged. “You did it,” he whispered fiercely.
I clung to him, shaking, not trusting my legs to hold me. “I thought I was going to die. I thought you were going to die!”
“I’m so proud of you,” he said, his eyes blazing.
I pulled back just enough to see the gash in his leg. My stomach lurched. “You’re hurt.”
He grimaced, but pushed up to his feet, keeping me steady with one arm. “Not the first time.” He limped toward the shattered door, keeping his iron grip on me. “We can’t stay here. We need to disappear.”
My heart pounded. “And go where?”
Someone cleared their throat behind us, and I froze. For a heartbeat, I thought it was more soldiers coming to finish us, but then Varek took me into his arms and held me close.
“It’s okay, Mariah. They’re with me.”
I turned my head to see a group of four.
The scarred one at the front gave a little grin. Behind him came two who looked so alike they had to be brothers, and a woman who looked like she would do whatever it took to win in a fight.
“Commander,” the scarred one said, a little bit breathless. “We’ve got you covered.”
Varek nodded, his arm still locked around me, blood dripping from his leg. “Joren. Rafe. Gareth. Brenna.” His gaze flicked toward me. “My mate, Mariah.”
They all looked at me at once, quick, appraising glances, like they were trying to decide what kind of weather I might bring.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I managed a nod, and my voice came out small. “Hello.”
The woman tilted her chin slightly, eyes narrowing as though in approval. The brothers exchanged a glance and gave quick nods. Joren just gave me a quick wink as his lips lifted up into a smile.
Varek’s commanding voice cut through the moment. “You’ve done your job. Now get back to your posts before Maelor starts sniffing around for you. We can’t afford to show our hand yet.”
Rafe frowned, his jaw tight. “Sir, with respect, after what happened here, there’ll be whispers no matter what we do.”
“Then keep them pointed in the right direction,” Varek snapped, though not unkindly. “You’re my eyes now. My ears. You hear talk, you bring it to me. But you stay alive, and you stay invisible.”
The brothers nodded in unison. Brenna gave a sly smile, already fading back like she’d never been there. Joren lingered a beat longer, his gaze flicking from me back to Varek.
“You’ll need to move fast,” he said. “If Maelor smells blood, he’ll track it.”
Varek’s jaw tightened. “I know.”
Then Joren clapped his shoulder and melted back into the hall with the others. In another heartbeat, they were gone, the sound of their boots swallowed by the sterile corridors.
It was just us again.
Varek leaned heavily against me, his blood warm on my skin. He bent close, his breath hot on my ear. “We have to move. I know a way out. Old mine shafts below the base. The wolves built over them and forgot they ever existed.”
I gulped, my chest still aching from the shift, my legs trembling, but I nodded. “Then let’s go.”