Page 49 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

I stared up in horror as its large eagle head turned its gaze to me with narrowed eyes. The creature paid no mind to the others, his large body turning slowly in my direction as he marked me as his target.

I could hear the others screaming for me to move, their voices sounding as if they came from a large distance away rather than just on the other side of the beast.

“Sasha!” I could hear Rory’s voice call out. “Come back this way! Stop!”

I hadn’t even realized I’d been moving, my feet stepping back with each step forward the Griffin took. I couldn’t find a break in his defenses to dive out of his path. Every move I made, the eagle eyes seemed to follow intently.

Why was it so intent on me? I couldn’t register what it was that the griffin wanted with me. Weren’t they supposed to be guardians of some kind? Creatures of the sun and all that were light and good.

This mythical creature was nothing like the others we had encountered here. The others were creatures of the darker side of myths and legends. They were known for targeting the innocent and causing trouble to those who crossed their paths. But Griffins, they were the opposite.

In every legend I’ve ever heard, griffins were always sentinels, protecting everything. And while in some stories they had attacked the hero, it was only ever because he took the item they had been protecting.

But that wasn’t the case here with me now. I had touched nothing but food, and I doubted that was what the creature was so angry about. Baer and Rory each took food as well. Far more than what I had. And Ayden held a book from the building he had explored. Yet the creature’s gaze never once touched on any of them.

‘You know how to stop it,’a distant voice whispered.

I could barely recognize the voice that had haunted me so much before. The whisper was barely audible in my mind, but still, he was there.

‘Do what you did with the kelpie,’the voice urged.

I shook my head, my heel catching on a loose stone as I continued to step back. I stumbled several paces more, the griffin’s feathers ruffling, as my jagged movements to correct my balance.

‘If you don’t do something, he will kill you,’the voice whispered.

My wolf let out a low growl at the words.

‘Don’t do it, Sasha,’she warned.‘You barely managed to come back last time you used that magic. It is too dangerous.’

‘The griffin is dangerous,’the voice argued with her.‘If you don’t stop it, it will kill you. Its light will destroy you.’

I flinched at the words, my throat drying as I tried to swallow. “Its light will destroy me?”

“Sasha!” Ayden’s voice called over the sounds in my mind. “Don’t give up! Fight!”

I barely comprehended his words before the large talons of the creature swiped out quickly, the claws cutting into my skin as I flew back across the stone ground, knocking the breath out of me.

A scream ripped through the air, my throat dry and hoarse as I tried to understand if the scream had come from me or Rory. My head was spinning, my vision blurred as I felt a pulse at the back of my skull.

I squinted up at the monster as he charged at me once again, my eyes widening at the speed of his enormous body. My mind raced with thoughts and ideas of what I should do, none of them quite processing as I remained frozen in place, just as I had been with the wisps before.

My body ached to react the way the voice in my mind urged me to do. I could feel that strong magic sizzling beneath my skin. The sparks of darkness aching in my fingertips to be released. But I couldn’t allow myself to let it out.

Images of Ayden’s eyes as he questioned if I was the evil my prophecy had spoken of. His fear and uncertainty over my use of dark magic before making me fear ever thinking about that magic again.

I knew it could save my life in this moment, but I questioned if the cost was worth it at all.

The griffin leaped in the air, his body so close now that I could make out each individual feather along his neck and chest. I squeezed my eyes closed as I waited for the impact of those talons to come. I could hear the screams of my cousin as she urged me to run, but I couldn’t bring the strength to my limbs. Too busy fighting within myself on how to save myself from the oncoming threat.

The griffin let out a loud screech and my eyes flew open just in time to see a large brown wolf clawing and biting at the gigantic creature’s neck. The clawed front limbs swiped at the wolf’s body, his hind legs flexing with the leap to safety just before shifting his weight back at the creature.

I stared on in awe and fear as I realized who the wolf was. I hadn’t seen Ayden’s wolf form before. We don’t get our wolves until eighteen, the same age that we are able to find our mates. My prophecy had come before then, and we both shifted for the first time in the comfort of our own packs.

He was large, a true sign of an alpha king. If not for the clear canine build of his body, he could easily be mistaken for a large grizzly bear, though he was slightly smaller than Baer’s wolf form. Not by much, not even noticeable to most, but I had seen Baer shift many times through the years. It was hard for me to not notice that subtle difference.

The griffin let out an angry screech at Ayden as he sprang towards its hind legs. The feline limbs quickly caught in his jaws as he fought to knock the bird off its balance. The larger creature reared at the bite, his claws reaching down and finally making contact with the furry back of my mate.

I felt that pain flash through my body. My fresh scream mixed with the angry howl of my wolf as she tried to force a shift.

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