He’d not be as nimble in the air as on the ground. I flared my wings and swiveled, just above him. His claws missed me. I then raked my clawed feet over his shoulders from behind, scoring a rare hit on the wolf. He howled as he fell, spinning in the air to try to swipe at me, but missing.
Still, he hit the ground in a crouch and waited for my next move. It didn’t seem like he even registered his injuries.
Perhaps I could goad him into making another mistake.
“First strike to me,” I quipped, throwing all the arrogance and spite I could into the words. “You’re not so tough after all.” And while I said this, I let myself sink a little, lowering myself to a height where he could reach me if he leaped.
“Never seen you get so worked up about an elf before,” he snarled. Damn that perceptive nature of his. “Come to think of it, I’ve smelled something new on you these last few days. I thought you were fucking some shifter whore, but…” He made a face of disbelief. “Noooo… you can’t be seeing this new elf in secret, can you?” He might be joking, talking out of his ass. He knew it was illegal. Still, I couldn’t tell if he was serious, and I didn’t like where this was going. He was far too close to the truth.
“You going to fight me or what?” I taunted.
He grinned and took the bait, launching himself at me.
I lifted myself, swiveling quickly as he got within range once more, but I should have known the same trick wouldn’twork on him twice. His reflexes were lightning fast, and even as I tried to get behind him once more, he turned in the air. One of my claws raked over one of his arms, a minor hit, but his other hand wrapped around my ankle.
Fuck.
He pulled me down with him as he fell and with a twist, smashed me to the earth. He released my leg and pounced on top of me before I’d recovered enough to move. His claws raked my chest, sinking deep, bouncing over my ribs as he tore through flesh. His free hand secured my one arm, while he knelt on my torso pinning me.
Fuck!
He had me now.
But Artol’s other weakness was his arrogance. He snarled down at me, savoring his victory. He sniffed, then whispered, “Is that what elf pussy smells like? Maybe I should find this new elf and show her what a real man can do.”
He should have finished me off instead of talking. I took advantage of his lapse in judgment, my free hand snapping up to wrap around his neck. Perhaps he expected me to try to strangle him… or push him away. He seemed surprised when I pulled him down, allowing me to bring him closer. He went for my neck, but I was faster… biting intohisthroat.
Warm blood spilled over my tongue as I drank from him.
It wasn’t Izzy’s blood so it tasted like shit, but any blood would strengthen me. And I’d caught Artol off guard. That gave me another second to act before he regained himself. I brought a leg up and sank my talons into his side, using my currently heightened strength to push him off me and roll on top of him.
He lashed out, and nearly took my leg off, as I launchedmyself high into the air… bringing him with me. My clawed foot still grasped his torso, and though I wasn’t the strongest shifter I had more than enough strength to lift his bulky form.
Shock filled his eyes as he realized what I planned to do.
I pulled us higher, as fast as I could.
Artol attacked my leg. I used my other leg to fend him off, but still, my left ankle would be a mess after this. It didn’t matter, my bond insisted any sacrifice was worth it to get back to Izzy.
“You sure you want to do that?” I hissed through the pain as I drove us higher. “Tear my leg off and you fall.”
Artol stopped for an instant to see how far up we were, which was what I’d hoped he’d do. It gave me another second to pull us higher still.
“Go ahead,” I gasped, just because I could lift the heavy wolf-shifter, didn’t mean it was easy. “Rip my leg off and let’s see how well you land.”
My healing would restore a limb… eventually. For an ankle and a foot, it would take up to ten days and the whole process would be excruciating, but the bond didn’t care.
“Fuck you, you little shit! Put me down!”
I shrugged as I dragged us higher and higher. From this height. I could easily see the dominion pitch. Though I couldn’t make out people or what might be happening.
“Sure,” I said… and let him go.
His eyes went wide as he fell…
…and fell…
…and fell…
