Page 81 of Tangled Fates

A resounding crash followed the scream, and it tore me toward the front door. I ripped it open, damn near taking the thing off its hinges as I tried to locate where that hellish sound had come from. I didn’t have to look for long, though, because as I watched a woman running with her children in her arms down the road, I heard the most familiar set of lumbering footsteps alive.

“Bears!” I bellowed.

“Not just bears,” Levi said as he rushed up to my side.

I caught a beady pair of glassy eyes peering at me from the darkness of the woods across the street. And as another bear tore down the road in front of me, the beady eyes crept closer. Emerging from the shadows.

“Panthers,” Levi growled.

And I had never shifted back into a wolf so quickly in all my fucking life.

27

RAVEN

I leapt into the air, shifting in the middle of my jump before I sank my teeth into the panther charging head on toward Brody’s front door. I tackled the black cat to the ground and ripped my head off to the side, taking with it the cat’s jugular in the process. I sank my talons into its flesh, listening to it growl, purr, and hum in pain. And when I stood, dripping in its blood, I spat out the veins I had torn from its neck.

Before a glowing aura overtook my entire being.

Everyone, listen up! I called out to my pack within our groupthink. Do not be afraid! Do not be alarmed! Protect what’s yours at all costs!

I spun around, watching the twinkling aura that surrounded me trickle this sort of glitter substance to the ground. And as I watched it fall to the ground, the cracks in the cement beneath me slowly fused together. I looked over at the dead panther, its eyes unfocused and laying open for the world to behold. I walked over to the panther and shook my coat of fur, spraying it in the starlight that seemed to overcome my body.

And I watched as it healed the panther back to life.

Good to know.

I swiped my claws over the jugular that had barely healed itself and watched as the stupid black cat died all over again. I knew I shouldn’t have taken that much pride in things, but I couldn’t help but feel as if I had triumphed. Finally, my powers were working with me instead of against me. Finally, I had something I could use at my disposal.

HAVE YOU BRAIN-HOPPED YET?

I gazed around at the all-out war unfolding around me. Have I done what?

OH, THIS WILL BE FUN. FOCUS ON A WOLF. ANY WOLF. AND THEN CLOSE YOUR EYES AND TRY TO SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THEIR EYES.

What are you going on abo?—

JUST DO IT, DAMN IT.

A bear leapt out of nowhere, aiming directly for my face, and I simply stepped out of the way. I watched the bear as it flew through the air, skidding across the pavement after it fell face-first to the ground. It grunted and whimpered in pain, its face gaped open with every rock it hit on the way down.

I walked over and raked my claws down its back, effectively filleting open its skin.

Before I ripped through its spinal cord and left it be to rot.

Serves them fucking right.

Alpha! Help me!

My ears perked up and I twirled in circles, trying to find the source of the pained voice. But I found no one.

Wolfy, help me. Where did that sound come from?

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND ENVISION THE SOUND AGAIN.

I decided not to fight for once and I simply did as I was told. The world raged around me as flesh tore and blood spilled to the ground. The earth itself seemed to weep with the horrors taking place around me, but I did my best to focus on that shriek. On the wolf that had cried out for me in my mind.

And when I opened my eyes, I didn’t find myself standing in the middle of the road in front of Brody’s house. I was no longer hovering over the bear I had just incapacitated. Instead, I was on the other side of the neighborhood, toward the back tree line.

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