“You know why,” I called. “You kidnapped him. He’s your prisoner. Now, show him to us.Now.”
The command wiped away the smile from her face. Even at a distance, I could see fury flashing in her eyes.
“Well, of course we can,” Desdemona said. “Why not let you see my new mate?”
The scowl on my face dropped as Carlton stepped aside, and Levi stepped up beside Desdemona. There were some bruises and dried blood on his face, but otherwise, he looked fine. The most horrifying thing was watching Desdemona run her hand lovingly down his chest, and he didn’t flinch away.
Seeing another woman touch him like that, intimate and familiar, sent a wave of horror and fury through me. I actually shook with anger, my wolf growling threateningly. I could even sense the distant remnants of Naphele howling in indignation at the sight.
“No fucking way,” Rainier whispered beside me.
A similar rumble of unease swept through our group, but I ignored it, turning to keep my eyes on Desdemona. She continued to caress Levi’s arms, chest and stomach. I swallowed down bile.
Seeing our unease, Desdemona grinned. “You see?” she said. “He is no prisoner. He is here on his own accord. Once I told him the truth, there was no other answer he could give other than agreeing to join us.”
Levi stood, motionless, staring back at us, but not meeting my eyes. The backs of my eyes stung with unshed tears. Could hereallyhave betrayed us? So quickly? It made no sense.
“What truth?”I screamed, my voice taking on a threatening note that I barely managed to keep under control.
“That I am his reincarnated mate,” Desdemona said, her tone haughty and conceited, her eyes burning into mine.
Her words came as a slap to the face. What? She couldn’t be serious. There was no way she could know…
I snapped my gaze toward Anders, and he leered at me, his eyes shining with glee. He’d told her. That was the only possibility. In a sudden rush of awareness, I understood where my journal had gone. All those notes and details of my visions about Naphele. Anders must have stolen it and given it to Desdemona. She could have used the information in those pages to trick Levi into believing her.
Would he have taken her story as true, though? Even if she could give him details that no one else could know, he had to understand how ruthless and cruel Desdemona was. Levimustknow that Naphele would never choose to let her soul reside in someone like that. No. This had to be a trick. Levi was playing along and would allow no harm to come to us. Ihadto believe that, otherwise everything was lost already.
Looking at Levi’s face, I tried to send a mental message to him. Four simple words that I wished I could say out loud.I believe in you.
Unleashing a banshee cry of rage and pain, I shifted, my cry morphing into a howl as I led us forward in attack. The field became a cacophony of sound as my army joined in, all of them shouting, screaming, and howling.
Desdemona and her men all shifted as one, ready to meet us. To my horror, Levi was running right beside her, his wolf a full head higher than any other on the field. To my surprise, only Desdemona’s wolf was anywhere close to his size.
Please, Levi. Please help us. Don’t believe her.
I rushed straight for Desdemona, salivating at the thought of tearing flesh from her bones. My undersized wolf was like a pup compared to hers, but I was willing to fight with every ounce of strength I had rather than give her what she wanted. I woulddiefirst, giving my life to ensure those I cared for in Hidden GroveandIdlewild had a chance.
Desdemona and Levi took the lead, racing out ahead of the others. The female alpha headed straight toward me, her light gray fur fluttering in the wind. When I could see the amber of her eyes, she leaped, paws out, teeth open, claws extended. A moment before she pounced on me, Levi slammed into her, sinking his teeth deep into her shoulder.
I wanted to let out a roar of triumph. He hadn’t betrayed us. My celebration had to wait, though. A single second later, the entirety of our two forces crashed into one another, turning the field into an orgy of manic violence and chaos.
92
LEVIATHAN
Desdemona cried out as I bit down and tackled her. I’d wanted to wait until the battle was underway to reveal my true colors, but when she went straight for June, I had no choice. Desdemona would have torn her limb from limb. June had no idea how to fight and would have been killed in seconds.
Desdemona thrashed about and snapped at my face, a single canine tooth slicing across the top of my muzzle. A hot line of fire drew down where she’d struck and I released her, tumbling aside as I did.
The world turned mad as hundreds of bodies threw themselves at one another. Before I could even stand, a dozen paws trampled me, stomping on my feet, face, and stomach. Roaring, I righted myself and spun around, looking for my quarry. If I could fight and kill Desdemona, her pack would have a hard time rallying. The death of the pack alpha would mentally and emotionally throw them all, and make it hard to fight as one unit.
“You and me got a meeting, big dog. Time to pay the piper, motherfucker.”
Carlton was in his form, swinging that goddamn steel-toed boot at my face again. This time, I ducked under it and clamped my jaws around his other ankle. Thrashing my head to the side, I flipped him to the ground. As he fell, he shifted, twisting around to bite at me. Being bigger, stronger, and faster than him, I flinched away in time, then lunged, closing my jaws around his throat. He clawed at my chest, trying to tear my flesh or kick me off, but my vision had turned red. Instead of relenting, I bit down harder until the faintpopemanated from deep in his throat as his windpipe shattered. Letting go of him, I watched as he thrashed and pawed at the ground, shifting back and forth from wolf to human as he tried to draw breath. He was as good as dead. Leaving him, I dived headlong into the fight. I had to find June before it was too late.
Two more Red Maw wolves tried to attack me, but they were small, and I ended them quickly. Leaving their bodies behind, I rushed toward a large clump of wolves, but before I got to the group, a light gray wolf collided with me. I let out a bark of pain as my broken rib sent electric pain up and down my side.
Desdemona shifted and stood above me, glaring down at me while a cacophony of battle roared around us.
