Page 19 of Cruel Mate

Again, the two enemy wolves began to circle. They appeared less confident now as Zander glared back at them, moving backward to stand over Layla’s much smaller wolf. If they wanted her, they were going to have to tear him apart first.

And he would sure as hell like to see them try.

Come on then, you cowards! He thought, even as he growled a warning. They would only get to her now over his dead body. She might have been an annoying pain in the ass she-wolf, but she belonged to his pack, and that meant she belonged to him.

When the two wolves attacked again, Zander didn’t give them a chance to get a single blow in. He met them blow for blow, knocking away claws and smashing at open jaws with the brunt of his head, battering them both back with skill and sheer brute force where necessary.

It was only as he started to tire that he began to worry. These guys weren’t giving up. No matter how much blood he drew, no matter how many times he bit at them and clawed their faces, they just kept coming.

And when he heard the howls in the distance, dread filled him fit to bursting.

Those weren’t the familiar sounds of his packmates. They weren’t even the howls of the newer packmates that he had begun to recognize as his own.

The wolves that were coming were enemies. And he and Layla were viciously outnumbered. If he didn’t do something fast, they were both done for.

Howling for help now would only alert the enemy wolves to their presence and draw them in even faster.

No, their only hope was to do what he had always promised he would never do. They had to run.

Having disoriented their current two attackers enough for a brief respite, Zander stepped away from Layla and dropped his head to nuzzle her to her feet. Encouraging her up, he shoved her in the direction of the edge of the clearing.

And when the shock finally appeared to subside and the seriousness of the situation started to sink in, Layla began to run.

Zander kept up with her, nose to tail, never stopping to look back.

And they ran on and on, leaving their enemies far behind, though he could still hear them in the distance, the howls remaining ever-present in his ears as they were hunted down like a pair of rats.

When Layla stumbled and tripped before him, making it almost impossible to avoid trampling her, Zander knew they were done for.

Exhausted, her wolf sank away, leaving behind a naked and panting human Layla trembling in the leaf mulch.

The energy of his own wolf sapped, Zander shifted too. Maybe the adrenaline spike that came with it would give him a much-needed boost.

“What happened?” he hissed under his breath as he came to crouch over Layla.

“I…I twisted my knee,” Layla grumbled back, rubbing her bare knee. Zander tried his hardest not to be distracted by her nakedness.

This was no time for admiring her, even if her skin was as smooth and pale as cream.

“Not just now. Back there,” Zander demanded, inclining his head back the way they came.

“They chased me all the way from Pine Valley. Whoever they are, they think I had something important on me.”

Her every word was tinged by pain, and glancing down, Zander could see why. Her knee was already beginning to swell.

“Can you walk?” he asked. Layla’s response was to try to stand.

Fuck! Zander thought silently when she sank back down with a cry.

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” she whimpered, shaking her head when she saw the grim expression on his face. “We need help.”

Zander scoffed. He didn’t need to be told that.

Standing, he prepared to howl for his pack. It was only then he realized the dangerous mistake he had made.

“What? What is it?” Layla asked as if she had sensed the realization on him.

“We’re too far from town,” Zander pointed out. In his desperation to get her out of the clearing and to safety, he had urged her in the wrong direction. It was a rookie mistake, one he hadn’t made since training, and one that might well get them both killed.

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