Page 91 of Teeth To Rip & Tear

I couldn’t lie, so I returned her question with a question of my own. “Nervous? What would I be nervous about?”

The female wolves kept moving towards the forest. I tried to stop walking, but they carried on. Tara’s grip on my elbow tightened, and I tried to wrench free but couldn’t break her hold.

“Hey!” I barked as my adrenaline spiked, and a sinking feeling settled in my bones. “Let go of me!”

I twisted at the waist, searching for help from the bystanders, but no one looked up. No one cared as I was carried away.

I grabbed the hand on my elbow, digging my fingernails into the skin. Tara cursed but held tight, and the three wolves walked faster. I stopped walking, digging my heels in; the shadows swallowed us as we approached the trees. My screaming protests echoed through the forest.

The Dullahan emerged from behind the trees, his horse blending with the shadows. The rider wore dark armor the color of dried blood. His hands gripped the reigns of his horse, and though the Dullahan didn’t have a head, I sensed his gaze.

“We didn’t lie when we said this was a hunt.” Tabitha cooed in her sing-song voice. “But you’re the prey!”

I tried reaching for the magic threads surrounding us, but they weren’t there. Something was blocking me. My vision swam, my stomach twisted, and bile coated my throat. My scant ability to defend myself wasgone.

Tara, whose grip on my arm hadn’t waived, dug her nails into my skin. “Iron powder.” She declared. “Courtesy of the Huntsman.”

“Wyatt is going to be so pissed off when he finds out about this.” It stretched the truth, and my tongue locked around the words, but I didn’t care. “What will you do then? Huh?”

Teagan rolled her eyes, flicking her ponytail. “Huntsman’s orders.” She declared. “But we asked to have a little fun with you first.”

“Why?” My brow creased. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Wolves don’t like weakness.” Teagan shrugged.

Tabitha leaned forward, inhaling the air dramatically. She licked her lips. “And you reek of it.”

The Dullahan shifted, gesturing something I couldn’t understand.

Teagan waved him off. “Did you bring the collar?”

My muscles locked briefly, and my heart pounded in my ears.

A collar. Around my throat.

I felt phantom hands squeeze my neck, and breathing grew difficult. Short, shallow puffs that did nothing to fill my lungs. I had to escape. I didn’t care if I was poisoned with iron.

I’d rather die than let anyone collar me.

I felt the heavy weight of my grandmother’s coin in my pocket, though I had no idea what it meant.

I couldn’t break Tara’s grip. I’d tried. I couldn’t reach my Weaver magic. The iron made my head swim and my stomach sour.

There was one thing left.

A lever inside of me that I never pulled. That I buried deep down and hoped would go away.

The wolf.

I pulled my Wolfkin magic over me, like turning a sweater inside out, allowing the golden threads to turn my body from two-legged to four.

Tara must not have been expecting me to shift because she let go.

I didn’t hesitate as I raced away as far as my four legs would carry me.

I recognized the scent in the air.

Dean. Kaleb. Mitchell and Wyatt.

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