The metal collar around the wolf’s neck shattered.
Freed, Brax launched himself in my direction, powerful muscles carrying him toward me like a freight train.
I hit the ground and rolled.
The wolf sailed over me, the wind from his passage making my stomach drop.
That was close. A little too close.
Getting to my feet, I studied him carefully.
He’d gone silent. His snarls and growls disappearing as he slipped into hunting mode. His head lowered as he slunk toward me. He crept closer, inch by painstaking inch.
“I need you to listen to me, Brax,” I said, fighting to control my voice. Fear was the worst thing I could show right now. “We’re friends.”
Okay, that sounded like a lie.
“We’re acquaintances. Friendly acquaintances.”
The wolf burst into motion.
This time I wasn’t quick enough to avoid him. Fire ignited in my thigh.
I screamed, punching the wolf in the temple to force him to unlatch. He let go and staggered a few steps while shaking his head.
“Fuck.”
Hopping slightly, I checked my wound. It was bleeding profusely from several large tears. The most nauseating part was the glint of white from bone and the stringy looking matter that I was pretty sure were tendons or muscles.
“I’m trying to save your dumb ass,” I hissed at the wolf.
A jolt of renewed pain traveled up and down my leg every time I took a step. Burning not unlike silver poisoning moved through my bloodstream, making the wound even more inflamed.
Werewolf bites might not kill an older vampire, but they would certainly weaken them.
That held doubly so for me.
Forget saving Brax. I’d be lucky to survive the next five minutes.
Displaying a shocking amount of tactical awareness given his state, the wolf came at me from my wounded side.
I dodged, his teeth clicking on air.
He turned with me, checking me with the side of his body. A pained cry left me as the blow landed on my wound.
Pain splintered my vision.
Blind, scared, and desperate, I lashed out.
It was luck that I found my target, my blade sinking into something hard. Fur brushed my hand, followed by the gush of something hot and sticky.
Blood. Powerful and full of life.
My fangs snicked down as hunger tightened my belly.
If not for the wolf’s yelp and the sound of scrabbling against the sand as he shot away from me, I might have tried to bury my teeth in his throat.
I shook my head, blinking away the dark spots in my vision.
