“You need me, huh? Well, in that case, I'm glad I came back.”
“I'm so sorry to interrupt, you guys, but Brooks and the others need me right now. There's a demon attack by the lake.”
Thane instantly sits upright. “I'm going, too.”
“Like hell you are!” I scold, my brows raised. “You almost died tonight, Thane! You're not going out there. You need to rest.”
“Willow—”
“She's right,” Rissa nods. “You do need to rest.”
Thane sighs, already throwing his legs off the side of the bed. “Thank you for saving me, Riss. But I swear, I'm fine now. I can't leave my brothers out there alone.”
Thane is determined, getting to his feet. I grab his arm, glaring at him when he meets my eyes.
“Then I'm going with you,” I tell him firmly. “You need me out there, just as much as I need you.”
Thane smirks, his eyes glowing with wonder. “I can't argue with that, my angel.” He folds his fingers around my hand. “I do need you. And right now, the others need us.”
“Let's go,” I nod at Thane, then at Rissa, before the three of us rush out of the house, preparing to fight.
Chapter 19 - Thane
Holding Willow's hand tightly, we race out of Elias's house, heading in the direction of the lake where we'd come from.
Everything about tonight remains a foggy, distant blur. One moment, we were about to kiss. The next, I'd been poisoned with enough wolfsbane to kill me.
Yet here I am, alive and breathing, feeling stronger than ever—a strength fueled by Willow's admission that she needed me.
Those words pulled me from the claws of death, giving me a second chance—or third—to do things the right way.
With Willow beside me as we head toward the threat, my chest swells with pride when I glimpse the shift in her. The courage, the determined glint in her blue eyes…it's nothing like the shy, frail girl I rescued from the Blood Claw Pack.
Standing by my side is a witch with great power, her magic already pooling in her palms by the time we reach the lake.
Elias, Dawson, and Brooks are battling it out against four demons, while Aurora and Rissa hit them with charged powers to snap their demonic spirits into physical form. Willow and I exchange nods before I shift into wolf form and charge forward to help my friends.
The ensuing chaos of snapping canines, slicing claws, and pulsing light in different shades is alarming only because we haven't had a demon attack for months. The dark figures flash between their distorted wolf forms and flying smoke, the smell of dirty, mucky oil filling the air.
The witches continue hitting the demons, and a lightning bolt of purple hits the demon charging toward me in spirit form. Aurora's magic forces the demon into its physical form, and I howl at the sky before leaping forward and tearing into its flesh.
It isn't enough to take it down, and the demon only becomes furious, a shrill cry of warning leaving the black pit of its mouth as obsidian eyes lock with mine.
Just as I'm about to lunge forward and finish the thing off, I hear Willow's voice echoing through the clearing.
“Move aside, Thane!” she yells out, and my first instinct is to do as I'm told. No question, no hesitation, stepping aside as I watch her aim her magic at the demon.
Gold light covers the clearing, the pulses directed at the demon turning it to ash.
My wolf is stunned, whimpering to call the attention of the other alphas.
“Step aside, everyone. Willow has this covered,” I tell them through our shared mind link.
Upon my telepathic instruction, the alphas step back, allowing Willow to take over, her blue eyes filled with gold swirls as more energy pushes through her palms. Just like what I witnessed before with the Blood Claw wolves, Willow's golden light turns the snow molten as her magic keeps the demons stuck in their physical forms.
Being fully conscious now, my vision not impaired by any poison, watching her wield her magic so fiercely is mesmerizing, my wolf chest swelling with pride.
The demons are defeated in no time, turned to ashes as if they never appeared. With a whimper of appreciation, I race to Willow's side just as she's about to collapse from exhaustion.
