Chapter 20
We rushed out the door in a blind panic. My heart thumped so hard and fast I nearly felt sick. I scanned the clearing. My anxiety searched for Neil’s unpleasantly familiar grey pelt, but I didn’t see it.
The two wolves leading the charge were black and white. Behind them were a group of others, all baring their teeth and snapping with deep aggressive growls. Hackles were raised and every set of wolf eyes blazed with fury. All the humans scattered away from the wolves, yelling in panic whenever they got too close.
I didn’t know whether to be nervous or relieved. I rushed forward, putting up my hands. “Wait!”
Instantly, Ramsay was a wolf, charging ahead to intercept them.
Eric was in the lead, surging ahead to outpace Colton. He looked like a black bullet streaking across the ground. But when Ramsay leapt in front of him, Eric didn’t stop.
Heart hammering, I glanced back and saw another wolf right at Eric’s heels. The paler grey color of the wolf’s coat gave her away as Crystal. A snarl twisted her expression and all her teeth gleamed in the moonlight like knives. She charged faster, almost catching up with Eric, who looked even angrier than she did.
I understood what was going on with a jolt of horror.
They think I’m still in danger!
I whipped back to look at the Madame. Her eyes were cold and grim, and she reached for her firearm.
“STOP!” I screamed, running in front of her.
Eric roared behind me, his wolf’s cry ripping the air apart. My stomach flipped in terror and dread.
He thinks the Madame is going to shoot me when she’s only trying to defend herself from a snarling horde of wolves! I have to stop this!
With a fluid motion, I grabbed the muzzle of the Madame’s firearm and pushed it away to angle it at the ground. At the same time, I stepped close to her, flushing our sides so that injuring one of us would hurt the other.
Confusion flitted across Eric’s expression. He hesitated, stumbling to a halt. Ramsay growled and headbutted Eric gently to let him know he was right to stop his charge.
But Crystal hadn’t stopped.
She ran at us with teeth bared and ready. A dark shadow lingered in her eyes, and she ran with cold determination and purpose.
Fear turned my blood to ice.
The Madame was no longer wearing her hood. Crystal recognized her from the night she had killed Eric’s parents. She knew exactly who she was, and she planned on killing her.
“Crystal, stop!” I yelled. “Don’t hurt her!”
My words didn’t dull the pain and anger in Crystal’s eyes. She forged closer and closer, ready to leap and tear out the Madame’s throat.
Eric realized with a visible jolt of understanding that if Crystal attacked the Madame, I was going down with her. He barked a warning to her, but she didn’t hear it over her own grief.
Ramsay was faster. He turned on his heel and leapt. He t-boned her in the side, knocking her through the air so that she landed with a furious yelp. She scrambled to her feet and snapped at him, but he didn’t mirror her anger--he backed off and averted his gaze, telling her that the fight was over.
I let out a shaky sigh of relief and clung tighter to the Madame, who I’d grown to think of as my mother away from home.
Crystal shifted to human form, looking no less furious. She stormed over. “What the hell are you doing, Matheson? Why are you protecting this human?”
I was struck by the ferocity of her tone. I’d never seen her break her cool composure, and definitely never heard her raise her voice like this.
Eric and Colton shifted and approached warily, both confused. Behind them, the rest of the wolves remained in the form of beasts. Ramsay remained in wolf form as well, standing by my side like a protective wall.
Out from the furry mass of wolves stepped another human--Noro, still wounded from earlier.
All their eyes burned on me as they waited for an explanation.
“Don’t hurt her,” I said quickly again. “Please. She’s my friend.”
