The crowd of people began rushing toward the exits, fleeing from the pavilion. Oz and I pushed through the throng,charging toward one of the streets to keep it clear, attacking any demon or imp in our way as we tried to forge a path for running pack members. Several men stayed behind along with the guards, ready to fight.
Pandemonium ensued. At some point during the furor, after the civilians were gone and I had thrown myself back into the fray, I felt a jolt of panic that wasn’t my own shoot through me. It took me a moment to realize it was Liv through the mating bond. I hated the idea of her worrying. As I continued lunging after the demons, I tried to send reassuring, soothing emotions back toward her.
At some point, a path cleared, and I could see Azaret watching over everything. Here it was, the chance to end things. I sprinted toward Azaret, determined to reach him, to find a way to take him out and end all of this once and for all before it got too out of hand. Azaret watched me near, that faint, amused smirk still dancing on his face.
“Until next time, wolf,” he said as I approached.
He vanished as if he had never been there at all, leaving us to deal with the swarm of demons still spilling into the pavilion.
The fight continued for some time, the bodies piling up even as more demons emerged, as if the whole thing was a Sisyphean task. I thought we were going to keep fighting for hours, until we were all wiped out. It seemed hopeless, a never-ending fight.
Then, the demons vanished, spilling out of the oasis, running out of the town, leaving us alone with the bodies that littered the ground, shifter and demon both.
We paused, the square strangely quiet after the tumult. Elias shifted back to human, and the rest of us soon followed.
“They probably could have killed all of us,” Elias commented, his eyes narrowed. “You saw how many there were. You know he has to have more of them skulking around. So why didn’t he just end us right here and now?”
I glanced around, still panting from exertion as that rage and fury continued to build and roil inside me. “Because he wants us to be afraid,” I said. “He’s a demon. He likes to play with his food.”
None of the others responded, but we all looked out at the destruction across the oasis. A few hours earlier, everyone here had felt safe. They had come here to play and enjoy a summer morning. Instead, what they had gotten were demons, death, and devastation.
I hadn’t thought Silver Falls would experience something worse than the wraith. It hadn’t seemed possible, not here, not with the desert protecting us. Looking out at the chaos, replaying the scene that had just happened over and over again in my mind, I realized that we were in for a lot worse in the coming weeks if we weren’t able to put a stop to Azaret.
Chapter 11 - Liv
There had to be something good to cling to here. There had to be something.
I paced back and forth as my heart continued thundering like a jackhammer. I could sense Drake’s rage through the mating bond, then surprise, then something that, though I couldn’t parse it initially, I realized with a jolt of dread had to be the rush of adrenaline before a fight.
I had felt it reverberate through my core, could feel the intensity and the burning determination and utter focus as Drake faced some sort of threat. He was in danger. I had never before felt his emotions so acutely through the mating bond. Every so often, I would get twinges one way or another when something in particular vexed him or shocked him. However, most of the time, he could keep his feelings under control. I supposed that I could sense them now because he couldn’t focus the same way. He was too absorbed in the fight to do anything about the mating bond.
I groaned as I continued to pace, worry beginning to creep into my bones, permeating all of my thoughts.
There was another emotion beneath Drake’s furor and chaos: concern.
I came to a slow stop as I focused on that new sensation. It was a protective drive and worry. Not for himself, but for the town, for the people in it…and for me.
I couldn’t explain how, but I could feel that particular string through the mating bond, and it made my heart lurch and stutter. He was concerned for me. More than that, Drake was more worried about what would happen to me if he couldn’t stop whatever the threat was, even more than what would happen tohim or the rest of the town. I didn’t know how I knew, but I could feel deep in my core that this was what was going on.
Drake was worried about me. He was fighting for me, not just the town.
My stomach twisted at the thought. Without the mating bond, I probably never would have believed it. But I couldn’t pretend it didn’t exist when I could feel it.
Through that fear and adrenaline, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt something else, something like a brief, soothing sensation, a gentle caress. And I realized with a jolt through my entire body that what I was feeling was supposed to be comfort, something to calm me down. Me, specifically. Drake had been able to sense my anxiety through the bond, and even during the chaos of whatever was happening, he was taking a moment to calm me down, to comfort me.
Idiot, I thought, even as my heart slowed at that calming sensation coming through the bond.Don’t focus on me. Focus on the damn fight.
I could have sworn I felt a twinge of amusement through the bond, something like a chuckle. But it was gone a moment later. The soothing sensation continued to ripple through that bond. I let it wrap around me like a warm blanket as I tried to keep my own emotions in check, to avoid distracting him too much, or at least stop them from going through the mating bond. Even so, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the implications that he had taken this time for me during the middle of combat. He had tried to make sure I was okay.
Was there a chance he might truly care about me?
He probably just didn’t want you distracting him, a voice said.That’s all. It doesn’t mean he cares about you.
I shoved that thought aside. I didn’t need to think about that right now. I didn’t need to think about our near kiss at the spring or how desperately I wanted him to come back home safe. I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let myself fall for him again, that I wouldn’t let anything happen between us. I had already messed that up by almost kissing him. But that was as far as I could go. I couldn’t let myself get burned by him again. I had to protect myself.
But he was out there, protecting the town. And instead of worrying about himself or the town as a whole, he was worried about me.
For a moment, my thoughts toward him softened. There was more to him than I had thought, even if he only showed it in private when it was the two of us. There was something there, and he did care in his own way. At least, I thought he did.
