Page 64 of Voyage of Fury and Fate

“Stay back, Thorne. Amelia’s not going to hurt her.”

Amelia begins to growl. The sound starts low in her chest as she slices a claw across my chest, bringing blood to the surface. What the hell? “Amelia? What are you doing? I…I thought we were friends. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Elsie!” Alex yells from behind me. I turn, seeing Fran wrap her arms protectively around him, pulling him away from whatever this is.

“Stay back!”

“You have to fight!”Thorne’s voice echoes through my mind.“Fight her,dammit!”

I pull my dominant arm free of her hold, hitting her square in the chest. She barely budges but moves enough for me to free my other arm. Using both, I push her chest, knocking her to the side and freeing my body. Amelia turns and stands on her hind feet. Holy shit, she’s double my height and terrifying.

“What are you doing?” I repeat.

The wolf claws at me again, this time making contact with my cheek, slicing my skin, and leaving a trail of blood behind.

“Stop!” Thorne yells. “Let me go, dammit!”

Something inside me takes over. I stare at the giant wolf in front of me and allow the anger that’s filled me my entire life to surface. The power is nearly overwhelming. Without warning, I leap through the air, wrapping my arm around her throat, and hold her in place.

To my surprise, I’m easily holding the giant wolf in place with nothing more than my body. I bare my teeth ready to rip her head from her body when she shifts back into human form in an instant. The change in size throws off my balance and knocks me to the ground next to her.

She stands, ready to continue the fight if needed. Both of us stare at each other, breathing harder than if we’d run a race.

“What the hell was that?” I scream.

“Amelia killed the oldest vampire in the worldwhile in wolf form,” Topher’s words are no louder than a whisper.

“And?” I spew while still panting.

“You could’ve killed her just now.”

The lycan release their hold on Thorne who rushes to my side. “Are you okay?”

I nod, turning back to the redheaded woman. “I’m not that strong.”

“Yes, you are,” she argues.

I scoff. “I just got the upper hand. It was nothing more than luck.”

“And you could’ve easily killed me.”

Every member of our group is standing in awe of the fight that just happened, even me. I’m not stronger than Amelia. That was a fluke. Wasn’t it?

“That was fun,” Luna claps her hands, breaking the silence.

“Fran’s right. You have abilities.” Micah speaks for the first time. “You’re special.”

“While you were with Kragen, did anything happen?” Fran asks.

“There’s not enough time in the day to tell you everything that happened while I was with that bastard. You’re going to have to be more specific.” My words sound angry.

“Did you everfeelstrong? Maybe break something you shouldn’t have been able to, or overpower someone stronger than you?” she continues, seemingly unfazed by my temper tantrum.

I think back to the day I escaped and the young boy, Elliot, who helped me. “Yes,” I whisper. “I killed two vampires at once when I was escaping.”

“Were they older?”

“Yes.” I make eye contact with each one in our group. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

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