Trap.
“Draugr?” I mouthed.
Brax’s head tilted down once. Yes.
Suddenly I was less glad to have happened on Brax. Instead of a possible savior, he was probably going to be the reason I had a one-way ticket to that great light in the sky.
The figure near the tree remained motionless. Now that I knew he was there, I could smell the stench of rot. He must have been masking it. I’d been so focused on Brax that I had forgotten to watch my surroundings.
The wolf behind Brax crept forward, the fur on its belly dragging against the grass.
We were at a disadvantage with Brax in human form. How long would it take him to shift back to wolf? Too long if the icy expression on his face was any indication. If he tried to turn back to wolf the draugr would be on him before he could complete the transformation.
I was next to useless in a fight. I didn’t even have my knives on me. From the last fight I’d seen between Brax and Liam, I knew I was seriously outclassed. That left running.
I tilted my head in the opposite direction of the draugr.
Brax’s mouth tightened, but he nodded.
Like someone had yelled ‘play’, the wolf sprang forward, and I took off to my right, leaping over headstone after headstone.
There was a yelp then guttural snarls and a roar of pain. I chanced a glance behind me. The stupid man hadn’t run, instead turning to face the wolf. He was trying to give me time to get away.
I slid to a stop. Damn it, I really wished he’d run.
He grasped the wolf’s shoulders, his arms bulging as he prevented it from latching onto anything vital. The wolf shredded his forearms with teeth and claws, but mostly snapped at the air.
I ran back, bending to pick up a rock the size of my fist as I moved.
Brax tossed the wolf away. It crashed into a tombstone, cracking the marker in two. Victor’s wolf stood and shook itself, blood and saliva flying.
There were still twenty feet between me and it. I’d covered much more ground than I thought in my sprint.
I put on a burst of speed as it crouched. Ten feet. It leapt for Brax, paws outstretched and lips curled back from its fangs.
Brax waited, crouched with arms spread.
The wolf landed on him, knocking him back a step. Then I was there, swinging with everything I had, knocking the wolf off him. Victor sailed much further than I’d intended, his pained yelp echoing in the night.
Ha. Not so defenseless after all.
“You were supposed to run,” Brax growled.
I gaped at him. Really? That’s what he wanted to say after I saved his ass? You were supposed to run? Who said that to someone who had been kind enough to rescue them?
An arrogant asshole convinced of his invincibility, that’s who.
My mouth snapped shut, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Why thank you Aileen for taking your life into your hands to help me,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’re welcome, Brax. It’s what anybody would do.”
He bared his teeth and growled. Actually growled at me. After I’d saved him.
“That’s not the point. You should have run.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re an arrogant asshole. Most people would thank me for what I just did.”
