“Aaa—!”
Isis’ colossal brown wolf suddenly burst out of the trees, cutting off my scream as she rammed into Ryker mid-air, her jaws clamping around his neck before they went down in a tangle of claws and growls.
“Isis!” I shouted as the human’s face suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking my view.
“Hold on!” Strong arms embraced me, a second before he jumped.
Leathery dark wings ripped from his back, pulling a ragged moan from him with the pain the action elicited… and a horrified gasp from me. Vigorously flapping, they took us higher into the sky while wolves violently jumped over and over beneath us, their rampant growls and incessant barking slicing through me.
Frantically searching for Isis and Ryker, I glanced below, seeing them tumble into the river—the potency of the wild waters taking them both with it. “No!”
Struggling to breathe due to everything that was happening, I blinked in utter disbelief into the kind eyes that had deceived me—blue flecks still shimmering as the man glanced down at me. “I don’t understand,” I admitted, my words filled with hurt and anger. “You look like a human. You made me believe…”
Betrayal tore through my voice; my wolf and I had risked everything to save him, and now we had nothing left.
“The others were right,” I bitterly threw at him. “You arenotinnocent… youarea monster.” My fists pushed against his chest, beating with more and more force each time, but his hold only strengthened around me.
Muscles jerked along his jaw with my accusation, and a mixture of pain and regret tainted his gaze. “I’m sorry, Natasha. But Ihaveto do this…Sleep.”
The word echoed in my mind in the strangest way, and a sudden feeling of drowsiness captured my entire being. No matter how hard I tried to fight, sleep took over, until my fists stopped beating him and my eyelids fell close.
The last thing I remembered, was his hand cradling my head onto his chest before complete darkness surrounded me.
6
DANTE
Shadow bands swayed all around my body, engulfing it while I used my formidable magic to vanish from outside the warded shifter village, and reappear in the dense forest. My feet firmly met the grassy earth the next instant, and I turned as my darkness receded to find the air trembling with energy.
Bjørn broke the barrier between the physical and ethereal worlds,blinkinginto existence across from me while holding on to both Vanessa and Hannes, to bring them along for the ride.
“I’m going to kill my brother,” Vanessa panted, stumbling toward the ground from the weakness the black magic had forced on her. The Vampire wards had quite literally sucked her life energy.
Thankfully, Bjørn was there before she fell, feeding her his energy to help her recover.
“I’m going to fucking kill D!” Hannes echoed, his growl reverberating with Alpha power through the entire forest.
“Say it a bit louder, Hannes. I don’t think theShadow Born Huntersheard you,” I taunted, arching a brow at him while the darkness seeping from my core extended beyond me, wrapping around the three of them like a mighty shield ofTwilight,and cloaking them.
“Don’t make me add you to myblacklist, Dante,” the Wolf Shifter growled, frustratedly plunging both hands into his hair.
Lips twitching, I focused on fixing the silver cufflinks of my shirt before buttoning the blazer of my custom-tailored suit. “I’d like to see you try toend me, iron cub.”
Snorting, Hannes rubbed his face, attempting to calm down, then let his arms drop to his sides. He would never dare lift a finger against me, we were linked by a bond more powerful than any magic that existed in this menial world.
My gaze fell to Vanessa, finding blood dripping from her right arm as well as a few slashes on her back, an accidental consequence of the unexpected fight we’d endured.
“What the hell was my brother thinking? First, he lets the Hunters know we are here, and then he charges through the Vampire wards to jump one of them?” Vane added, both anger and fear for him carving her expression. “We had a plan!”
“That’s the point, Vane. Hewasn’tthinking,” I assured, sending a wave of healing shadows toward her. They swept over her body, instantly curing the wounds her self-healing eventually would. “Don’t you know your brother?”
“Don’t be an ass, Dante,” she chided, all the while pulling me down to place a kiss on my cheek as a thank you. She smiled afterward, knowing how much I appreciated her smooches.
Picking up the coat she’d left here before we surveilled the shifter village this morning, she shrugged it on and pulled adonor bagfrom the pocket, drinking from the built-in straw. My magic may have healed the visible wounds, but Vane still needed blood to help her venom resurge and heal the internal damagethe black magic caused her. Knowing what expected us, she’d brought supplies for her and D.
Hannes’ snorting echoed; he didn’t even have a scratch.
“Big, and tough, Iron Prince,” I taunted, getting a narrowed-eye scowl from him. “I have to give it to you, though. You smacked the shit out of those shifters.”
