Page 24 of Tangle of Lust and Lethargy

The air thickened with the metallic scent of blood, mingling with the sweet aroma from the stone circle.

“Stop it!” Maggie cried, her voice cracking with desperation. But her plea fell on deaf ears.

Garrick charged, tackling Justice with surprising strength. They crashed to the ground, a tangle of limbs and fury. Fists flew as they rolled through the grass, landing brutal blows.

Maggie moved to intervene, but I grabbed her arm, the urge to watch the fight overwhelming me.

“What’s happening to them?” Maggie’s voice trembled.

I shook my head, unable to tear my gaze away from the violent spectacle.

Justice gained the upper hand, straddling Garrick and raining down punches. “You’ve led us here to die!” he roared, his handsome face contorted with rage.

Equally thrilled and terrified, my heart pounded so hard that I feared it might burst from my chest.

Garrick bucked and twisted, dislodging Justice. In a flash, he was on his feet, blood streaming from his nose. “You power-hungry fool!” he snarled. “You’ll doom us all!”

They circled each other like predators, oblivious to our shocked presence. The stone circle pulsed with an eerie light as if feeding off the violent energy.

A low, rhythmic humming grew louder as they clashed again, trading vicious blows. This wasn’t like them. The fury in their eyes, the brutality of their fight—something was puppeteering them, inflaming their worst impulses.

Maggie grabbed my hand, her nails digging into my palm. “We have to stop them,” she rasped. “They’ll kill each other.”

But as she spoke, I felt those dark urges swirling within me. The desire to watch, to egg them on, to join in the violence myself. I clenched my fists, fighting the alien impulses. Sweat broke out across my skin despite the chill in the air, and my body trembled with barely contained energy.

As Justice and Garrick continued their savage brawl, their blood staining the grass crimson, a chilling thought cut through the haze of confusion and excitement.

What unseen force was manipulating us all?

Maggie’s hand slipped from mine, her fingers trembling. I turned to look at her with concern, and her expression gave me pause. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, with fury and something else—something primal—dancing in their depths.

“I have to stop them,” Maggie declared. A new timbre colored her voice, something wild and barely restrained.

Her hands moved to the hem of her shirt, and she yanked it off with unexpected violence. “A woman should be in control. These two are idiots.”

A knot formed in my stomach. Not from shock at her impending transformation but from the aggression in her tone.

Her furious edge caught me off guard. Maggie was usually the voice of reason, the calm in our storm. Garrick was her mate, and she loved him. But now…

“Maggie, wait,” I urged, glancing nervously at the others. “Maybe we can talk them down.”

She didn’t seem to hear me, continuing to strip off her clothes with single-minded determination. Her movements were jerky, almost frenzied.

I stepped closer, ready to support her if needed but wary of the wild energy radiating from her.

A chilling thought struck me. Was she succumbing to whatever was afflicting Garrick and Justice? The strange, sweet scent grew stronger, making my head swim.

Before I could say anything else, Maggie stood naked before me. Unlike usual, there was no self-consciousness in her posture, only raw, barely contained power.

Then, it began.

My breath caught as I watched Maggie’s familiar transformation, somehow more unsettling than ever before,

Though I had seen it before, the sight of Maggie’s body shifting and changing never failed to amaze me. Bones elongated, muscles rippled and expanded, and dark fur sprouted rapidly to cover her transforming body.

Within moments, where Maggie once stood, a massive dire wolf now towered, its black fur thick and gleaming. The air filled with the musky scent of wolf, overpowering even the strange sweetness from before.

Maggie’s dark eyes, with a sparkle of gold, shone with power and determination. They were still recognizably hers but wilder, filled with an ancient, predatory intelligence that seemed…different this time.

---