“What are you doing out here? Get back inside!” I urged her, heart slamming against my ribs.
“Go in with me!”
“They are here for me; they won’t let me go that easily.” My gaze flew to the empty building the others went through, and then at the pack of vicious wolves. “And I can’t leave Vanessa,” I replied.
“Well, I’m not leaving you here, so I guess we are both screwed,” the older lady stubbornly replied.
Menacingly slow strides brought the Hunters closer, their jaws salivating at the mere thought of killing us. I pushed Debbie behind me with their approach, standing between her and them.
“Aren’t you afraid?” I panted, anxiety clawing at me as the others got closer and closer. I couldn’t even feel the pain of my torn fingertips or tattered arm and side, only the fierce adrenaline rolling like wild waves into my being at the need to protect.
“Petrified, but I’ve known who Vanessa truly is for a while. She’s got this, and so do you.”
Shocked by her statement, I glanced over my shoulder at her briefly, before my attention returned to the impending arrival of the vengeful wolves. She knew Vanessa was a Vampire? Did therest of the humans in this city know about her nature and the others? About Supernaturals?
“The Alpha might make me his new Beta when he learns I found you.”
My head snapped to the other end of the alley with Kellan’s voice. He sneered as he stood once more—the slashes on his skin knitting back together thanks to his wolf’s healing. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
“HisnewBeta?” I couldn’t help but question, swallowing the sudden heaviness clogging my throat. “Is Ryker dead?”
Kellan shrugged, uninterested. “He might as well be. Isis tore him to pieces. The Alpha has a Witch trying to save him, but I’ve never seen a wolf survive such an attack. They pulled him out of the river half dead.”
Both pain and relief inundated my being, and I knew it was stupid of me to still hold any feelings for him after he’d tried to kill me, but Ryker had been part of my life, of myillusions, for so long…
How could I have been so blind to his manipulation? It was all so clear now.
Kellan’s words also gave me hope, because they meant Isis won the challenge and she might still be alive.
Distracted by Kellan, I didn’t notice Ivara almost upon us. She was poised for an attack, so I pushed Debbie against the door before Ivara and I lunged at each other.
“A wolf is never more vulnerable than when they are on their hindlegs. Use it to your advantage, baby girl…”
Our claws tangled in the air, and I gripped her paws, pushing her back and forcing her onto her hindlegs. Summoning a strength I didn’t recognize as mine, I tossed Ivara’s wolf to the side of the building like she was nothing. She fell near the others.
It wasn’t my strength. It was my wolf’s coming through fiercely, and more powerful than it ever had. Like me, she was desperate to protect the human.
Ivara’s wolf came at me again, but I didn’t hesitate.
“Attack their underbelly, it’s a debilitating injury that will save your life.”
Lunging forward, I dropped to my knees as Ivara leapt, plunging my sharp claws into her chest, and dragging them down her stomach with force. A half screech, half yelp escaped her, and she crashed against the diner’s exit behind me.
With her blood still dripping down my fingers, I whirled around to check on Debbie. Thankfully, she jumped out of the way in time, her back pressed against the brick wall next to the door as she gasped for air. Her eyes were wide while she looked at the crumpled wolf now squirming in pain while trying to heal.
I never understood why Isis taught me to fight this way, showing me the weaknesses of not only a regular opponent, but of my race, and how to exploit them. Now, as I watched Ivara drag herself toward the others while whimpering, waiting for her healing to kick in, I was glad Isis had done it.
Running back to Debbie, I pulled her aside and shielded her with my body when Jeter stepped forward to take his turn. This was a game for them. A hunt and I was the prey.
Vanessa sprung out from the other side of the crumbled wall in that moment—alone. Barret and Zain’s blood dripped from her chin and clawed fingers as she gripped the ragged tear in her stomach with one hand, holding herself to the building with the other. Her thigh and shoulder were also wounded— chunks bitten out of her.
The sight of Vanessa like that sent a wave of distress through me, just as her frantic gaze found us cornered by the Hunters.
Worse, with her reappearance, Kellan’s and the Hunters’ vicious gaze zeroed in on her.
“Cover your ears!” Vanessa shouted, and the look in her crimson eyes told me not to question it.
Whirling, I cradled Debbie to me, protecting her instead from whatever was coming.
