“I’m sorry, but you said Isis… What did you expect me to do?” I grunted, fighting the urge to puke my guts out all over the snow-covered grass.
As the ringing in my head cleared, the river sounds became more powerful, and the Hunters’ fierce growling and barking immediately reached me. “TheCrystal Glow Mountains!”I gasped, looking beyond the Fae. We were back in Colorado, but this wasn’t the top of our mountain, it was human territory, all the way down at the national park.
“Isis is around here. We have to find her before they do!” he urged, the growling getting closer and closer.
We frantically glanced all around us, Bjørn focused on her energy while I vigilantly surveyed the edge of the forest.
She was there, strewn half in the river, half above as she tried to hold the low branches that punctured the waters with one arm. She was visibly weak, the stream way stronger than her.
“There!” I screamed.
“Bjørn!” she rasped at the same time, seeing us, but the river surged and dragged her down the hill, stopping her from successfully climbing out or letting him get to her.
Heblinkedinto the river after her anyway. Unfortunately, the rushing energy was too frantic for him to conquer. Over and over, he tried to get to her in the water, but each time, he appeared far behind her or too ahead of her.
“Isis!” I yelled, the horrifying sight pushing me into motion. I ran after them along the riverbend, disturbed at the realization that all this time Isis had been here.
Why hadn’t her energy reached the Fae’s senses until now?
When the growls behind me became ravenous and a howl pierced the sky, I knew the Hunters had scented me. Glancing behind me as I ran, Boden, Lanzo, and Hendrix’s wolves burst from the trees. Thanks to the Goddess, it was just the three of them hunting for Isis, but now they were calling to the others to let them know I was here.
Sensing my dire need, my wolf took over my legs, lending me her mystical speed. Somehow, I ran faster than the river, well past Bjørn and Isis, leaving the Hunters behind until they disappeared from view. I knew he and Isis would be safe from the others while they were in the wild currents, no wolf would ever dare go inside and be taken by the river.
My desperate gaze spotted a campground of humans who were celebrating something in the clearing ahead of me.
“Please help us!” I shouted, reaching them. “My friend fell in the water, please!”
Thankfully, my cries didn’t go unanswered. Urgency entered their expressions when they looked at the river, and we caught the moment Bjørn finally grabbed Isis, but they were still being dragged by the force of water.
Three of the men shed their coats and ran past the signs that warned them of the dangerous current, jumping in it together. They held on to each other to brave the waters and spread their arms, catching my friends when they bumped into them. Together, Bjørn and the three men anchored themselves, staying in place.
Heart slamming against my chest, I watched a few women run past me, throwing a rope at the men so they could tie itaround themselves. Slowly, the other humans pulled at the rope, helping get everyone close to the edge.
We pulled Isis to the ground, and I fell to my knees beside her, just as the Hunters’ growling and barking pierced the air, they’d finally reached us.
“Oh my God, they are gigantic!” a woman gasped, but a couple of people rushed forward, pointing riffles at the seemingly rabid wolves. The humans were more prepared for the mountain than I anticipated.
“Not today, palls,” the man called out with a cigar in his mouth, firing a warning shot over Boden, Lanzo, and Hendrix’s heads. The sound reverberated in the forest, alerting the upcoming Hunters to stay away.
Boden and the others glanced at each other, but the woman with the riffle was as gutsy as her mate. She fired two more shots. “We didn’t come to hunt today. Don’t tempt me!”
Salivating from the desire to capture me and take me back to their Alpha, Lanzo stepped forward, growling at me.
“I told you not to temp me!” the woman shouted, like they weren’t unnaturally huge wolves she was facing. She shot at his paw, but the shot didn’t have the effect she expected.
Ignoring the pain, Lanzo sprung toward us with the others.
“They are going to attack the humans!” I gasped, shocked by their audacity.
The couple fired more shots, but it didn’t stop the giant wolves, their self-healing taking care of the wounds as they advanced.
“Get back!” I frantically gestured to the couple, rushing to their side to try to protect them, but before I could do anything, the Faeblinkedbetween the running wolves and us, a hiss escaping him.
The hiss was unlike anything I’d heard Vanessa or D utter as Vampires, its sound so powerful that it echoed through thetrees, forcing the entire mountain into silence. Even the wild river seemed to still in response. Bjørn’s back was to me while he squared up to them, but black twisted claws elongated from his fingers, gleaming a silver hue against the sunlight.
His hands were the only part I could see of him, but something told me he was no longerthe Fae.
Hendrix, Boden, and Lanzo’s wolves halted in their tracks at the sight of Bjørn like that, pieces of snow, earth, and grass splattering every which way as their claws dug into the ground to stop their run. Fear like I had never seen engulfed their eyes, and as Bjørn took a step toward them, they whipped around, hightailing it out of there.
