Harris spun away from it, faster than any human should be able to move, and raised his free hand—
No. Impossible.
Claws erupted from his fingertips, long and wickedly sharp, his eyes flashing pure gold. He slashed across the Algea’s face with impossible speed, tearing through its pale flesh and leaving deep gashes in its wake.
The creature screamed and recoiled.
And then I understood.
Harris was a wolf now.
He’d let the pack turn him. He’d died and been reborn, all so he could come here. So he could save me.
He’d given upeverythingfor me.
With his other hand, Harris raised his gun and fired twice more, both bullets finding their mark in the creature’s center mass.
The Algea shrieked and stumbled back, smoking wounds covering its torso.
Then Harris was at my side, dropping to his knees. His hand shifted back to human in the space of a heartbeat—the kind of control that should have been impossible for any wolf, especially a newly turned one—and he pulled the vial of Ethan’s blood from his pocket.
“Come on,” he muttered, uncapping it. “Come on, Reed. Stay with me.”
He tipped the vial into my mouth.
The effect was immediate. The paralysis shattered like broken glass, sensation flooding back into my limbs all at once. I gasped, my lungs expanding fully for the first time in hours.
The wounds on my chest—angry and bleeding—were already starting to close.
I barely had time to process it before the Algea attacked again.
Harris grabbed me and rolled, pulling us both out of the way as the creature’s claws slammed into the ground where we’d been a second before. We crashed into a heap together, but Harris was already moving, dragging me up with him.
We faced the Algea together, circling it.
I shifted my hands into massive, razor-sharp claws, feeling my body respond instantly despite the lingering pain. Being able to move again was such a relief I could have wept.
Instead, what escaped my lips was a dangerous growl.
And then I watched in amazement as Harris did the same. His transformation was fluid, effortless. His eyes blazed gold—alphagold, exactly like mine—and power radiated off him in waves.
The Algea lunged.
We met it head-on. Together.
Harris moved lightning-quick, his claws tearing through the creature’s semi-corporeal form. I went low, aiming for its legs, and felt my claws connect. The Algea screeched and tried to phase away, but Harris was already there, driving it back toward me.
We moved in sync, as though we’d been fighting together for years instead of moments. When I feinted left, Harris struck right. When the creature tried to slip past me, Harris cut off its escape.
We were stronger together than I’d ever been alone.
I’d been so catastrophically wrong about everything, hadn’t I?
Love hadn’t made Harris weak. It had made him unstoppable. It made both of us unstoppable.
The Algea was bleeding now, oozing black blood. It was slower, but more desperate. It lunged for me, claws extended, but I caught its wrists and held on with everything I had.
The creature thrashed, trying to break free, just as my mate reached for the machete at his side.
