Page 101 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

Rogue. Rogue and magic. The pungent smell of the intruder mixed with the sweet scent of his mate. Fear ripped through him, something he had never felt until he’d met this half-blood. Fear that he would be too late. Fear that the witch controlling the rogue would get what she wanted and his mate would be lost just because she was his.

Cain ran faster, the trees whizzing past him in a blur as he went deeper into the woods. There was a deathly silence in the air as if the forest animals had sensed the impending doom in the air. Cain kept his teeth bared as his paws pounded the earth. He could sense Micah and the other warrior following, but he knew they would never catch up.

Then she saw her.

Layla was stepping back while the rogue snarled at her. Even from a distance, he could tell this one was a little different from the other rogues. It looked more rabid, more unhinged. More willing to do whatever the witch commanded.

Layla fell backwards and started to scramble back. Her heart was still perfectly calm despite the situation she was in.

Moments later, he launched himself over his mate and into the rabid wolf. He knocked it a distance away and rose immediately to attack it. Unlike the other rogues, this one turned on him. There was nothing in his eyes except darkness and the promise of death. The wolf’s sharp teeth had already started decaying, but he knew it would fight to the end.

The rogue moved so fast that he didn’t react quickly enough to dodge. It took a bite of his flank, even though it was only half his size. With his hind leg, he kicked the wolf off and went for his neck. Once again, the wolf dodged.

Magic. The wolf had been enhanced by magic. The bite hurt like fuck, and the magic swelled around him as if to confuse him.

But they had fucked with Layla. They were trying to kill his mate. And that just wouldn’t do.

He lowered his head and watched the wolf’s movements, looking for a tell. Anything to show what its next move would be. Cain was faster than anything on land; a hexed rogue would not best him.

The wolf’s eyes briefly shifted to his left leg moments before it moved. And that was all Cain needed to intercept it and catch it by the throat. He clamped his teeth down, and the wolf stopped struggling in seconds, but he didn’t stop until the head was rolling on the ground.

And only then did he look back at his mate.

She was still on the ground. Her heart was still beating steadily. There wasn’t an ounce of fear anywhere.

And yet her mouth had dropped open, her eyes were wide open, and she was still steadily retreating from him. Her heart didn’t show it, but her eyes did. She was terrified.

She had seen something she was not meant to see.

And he wasn’t sure he could save her from the repercussions.

Chapter 54

Holy...

What the...

She had never seen anything like the monsters in front of her. This was not her mind playing tricks on her. She could hear the snarls. She could smell the matted wolf. It smelled like something dead that should have been buried long ago.

But the other thing, the one with the red eyes...

It was the thing she had seen the night of the storm. It had jumped over her the same way.

That couldn’t be real, but her mind told her it was.

She’d thought the red wolf was huge, but this thing was humongous! Its teeth were razor-sharp and could easily chomp off half her body without trying. In the reduced lighting in the woods, its dark grey fur looked as silky as the red wolf’s. And while she had never felt afraid of the red wolf, she was terrified of this one.

At least she knew she was supposed to be terrified. She felt nothing as she watched the wolves tumble and fight each other.

And then a head rolled right to her feet.

She stifled a scream as she looked at the matted wolf’s open, lifeless eyes and then at the thing that had killed it.

Was she next?

She started to inch back again. She should have run when they had been fighting, but she’d been too busy trying to process what she could see.

She was still trying.

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