Page 66 of King of the Unsightly

I stood there frozen, unable to move my body as I gawked at its colossal size that was comparable to an overgrown grizzly.

The wolf lunged at Kaschel again and dug its claws into his back, and Kaschel groaned out in agony as it brought him to his knees.

I panicked.

What could I possibly do? Poke it with this tiny dagger?

Run?

The dagger wouldn’t even pierce through its fur, and I couldn’t risk running since others were silently watching us from the forest.

And I would never survive on my own.

The wolf howled again, and Kaschel crumpled to the ground as it hovered over him. Drool poured from its malformed mouth, hitting Kaschel’s neck and making a low hissing sound each time a droplet fell onto his skin.

Kaschel clenched his jaw as he wrestled to get the wolf’s claws off of him.

But the wolf overwhelmed Kaschel, edging him off the cliff. It snarled and lunged at his neck.

My heart hammered harder against my chest as adrenaline took over my limbs and propelled me forward.

I grabbed the nearest rock and sprinted to Kaschel’s side.

Without thinking, I smashed the rock against the wolf’s skull.

And I smashed and smashed, screaming as spraying blood obstructed my vision.

It toppled over him and slid down the mountainside.

I inhaled and exhaled heavily as the silence rang in my ears.

I glanced down at Kaschel who breathed just as erratically. A wild look unraveled on his face as he stared back at me.

The wolf tore Kaschel’s shirt in half and drenched him in blood, but I couldn’t tell if the blood was his or the wolf’s.

I held the rock to my chest as my uneven breaths exacerbated my unhinged appearance.

I threw my head back and laughed.

I mean, I fucking laughed like some deranged psychopath—not someone who had just murdered something.

My feet were at Kaschel’s side as I tilted my chin to meet his confused expression. He narrowed his eyes and mine sparkled back with mayhem as a wicked grin stretched my cheeks.

I had never been one to filter myself, and I said the first thought that crossed my mind, “You know, you really are too weak to be this pretentious.”

Palpitations

The rock slipped through my fingers. “Oh, shit.” It nailed Kaschel in the chest. We both gasped simultaneously but for extremely different reasons. He groaned and turned to his side, and I panicked as I crouched down beside him. “I’m so sorry. Let me help—”

Kaschel tossed a hand up and staggered to his feet as the rock thudded loudly on the ground, creating a small dust cloud around it. He wobbled for a few steps before he straightened his stance.

I stood up and eyed him cautiously.

His hair was in disarray, and his lowered gaze made him look gruff and dangerous in a hot kind of—I slapped my cheeks. Girl, it was not the time to be drooling over someone who just got mauled.

Why did my mind think now was a sensible time to head straight for the gutter? He almost died! What was wrong with me? Was I really depraved or what?

Kaschel cleared his throat, and my attention went back to him. “You’ve done plenty, but I could have done without the boulder to the chest. If you had any animosity toward me ... you could have waited until I was more conscious.”

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