Page 92 of Wild Wolf

“It’s time to finish this,” I said heavily and she nodded, rising to her feet and drawing me after her, our fingers intertwined and my need for her painfully sharp. When this was over, I’d never part from her again.

I took in Benjamin’s fallen body, turning from him and knowing I wouldn’t need to look back upon the past anymore. The future where all my focus lay.

My gaze settled on the entrance to the tower where a furious fight had spilled out onto the snow, guards and monstrous beasts battling with Sin, Ethan and Max, all of them closing in around us.

I felt a protectiveness wash over me that extended beyond Rosalie out to the men she had claimed as her mates and knew I couldn’t see them fall this day.

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

Iturned from Cain, my flesh still buzzing with the magic of what had just happened between us and my heart thrashing with adrenaline. It was a pure force of will not to tear the clothes from his flesh and claim him entirely right there in the middle of the chaos with the moonlight pouring down on us and blood staining my flesh.

But I couldn’t give in to that urge just yet. Because a flash of movement had just caught my eye and I spotted Vard racing away towards the snow-covered mountains, his form already shrinking in the distance as he sped from the melee of battle.

“Go,” Cain barked, his eyes following mine to the monster who was so deserving of the death I had in mind for him. “I’ll clear you a path.”

The guards and remaining monstrous creations were putting up a ferocious battle all around us; Ethan, Sin and Max all caught up in the fight with them and more still racing for me and Cain.

I looked around for Roary but couldn’t spot him anywhere, my gut twisting with concern. But I knew what my mate would want me to do. He wouldn’t want me hunting for him; he’d want me to chase after his Lion. So that was what I would do.

I gave Cain a sharp nod and he shot from me, ripping into the guards who had gotten closest to us and hurling a fireball into the face of a winged beast which dove from the sky in my direction.

Its shrieks of pain and fury filled the air, and I ripped my coat off as I broke into a run, hurling the fabric aside before wrenching my shirt over my head and tossing that away too.

I howled loudly, Ethan echoing the call from somewhere at my back as I unbuckled my pants and shoved them down.

I leapt into the shift, the last of my clothes falling from my body or tearing right off of it as I burst into my Wolf form and howled again, moonlight gilding my silver fur so that I shone far brighter than the snowy landscape.

The scent of terror filled my nostrils as I locked my gaze onto Vard and with a snarl that curled my lips back from my teeth, I raced after him into the wilds.

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

Iflung open the door to the room at the very top of the tower, expecting a fight to ensue as I finally tracked down Sin and Max along with Vard and my Lion. But the room was just a long storage space with a window at the far end giving a view back down to the snowy plain beyond. I’d fought tooth and nail to get up here, killed guards and monsters alike to make it here and this was all there was to be found?

I cursed, running to the window and flinging it wide, hearing the sounds of battle carrying from below before my gaze locked on the clash of Fae.

I could see Cain among them, Ethan and Sin too along with Max Rigel, but my heart didn’t rest until I locked sights on Rosalie’s silver Wolf form racing out towards the horizon. I frowned, my gaze narrowing in on the dark figure she was chasing into the snowdrifts and my heightened eyesight picked out Vard’s face as he threw a frightened look over his shoulder. Locked under his arm was the glimmering golden form of my Lion, contained in a jar like it was nothing more than a trapped butterfly.

A growl ripped from my throat and I swung myself out the window, casting a sheet of water ahead of me and turning it to ice at once. The platform sloped down right to the ground and I didn’t hesitate as I started running down it, sprinting at full pelt and fixing my focus on Rosalie and Vard.

With my Vampire speed, it wasn’t long before I was catching up, the icy wind whipping around me and setting the hairs rising along my arms. I didn’t slow as I passed Rosalie, my fangs bared and my bloodlust rising before I leapt at Vard and brought him crashing down to the snow.

My hand locked around the jar, saving it from the impact of the collision as we rolled and Vard screamed. Rosalie ripped Vard from my grip, tossing him in the snow beneath her and slamming a paw down on his chest, her teeth bared as he whimpered in terror.

I shoved to my feet, carrying the jar toward him. “Tell me how to return it to my body.”

“You cannot undo what has been done!” Vard cried. “My work will outlast me, even if I die this day.”

“Liar. Tell me how to reverse it,” I snarled and Rosalie’s claws dug into his chest, making Vard wail in pain.

“There is no reversal,” he spat. “You are my Nightroary and you always will be.”

“I am not your anything!” I boomed and he flinched.

“If I am to die, then my legacy will live on through you,” he hissed, his fingers twitching.

I lunged, trying to douse the flame he cast, but I missed and it came speeding towards me. No, not me. The jar.

The fire slammed into it, shattering the glass and my Lion spilled out of it, the ghostly form of it like smoke pouring across the snow, still glowing that golden glow. But it was fading. Already dimmer, losing light by the second.

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