Page 62 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

It took a few rips, but he succeeded in severing the vampire’s neck, sending the bloodless head flying over the rocky wall and out of sight.

Gael’s wolf spat and grunted as he tried to get the taste of vampire out of his mouth. The blood wasn’t harmful, but it was nasty, especially to the wolf’s heightened senses.

“Let’s move!” I barked the order with alpha command as I spun, finding a pale-faced Shay standing not five feet back, clutching Leigh for all she was worth, the rest of the pack at their backs. Leigh looked nauseated, but the command had already kicked into effect, spurring her forward as she averted her gaze from the headless body. It would turn to ash when the sun rose, incinerating the black-and-silver uniform right along with the headless corpse.

I softened my expression as I approached. “We’ve got to keep moving. The bears are strong, but there aren’t that many of them. We need to get off this rock before they realize we were here.”

Shay nodded, resolve straightening her shoulders. I’d never been prouder of her than I was in that moment. She was quiet, my mate, but she was all steel under her soft curves. She clasped my hand again, and we ran hell-for-leather toward the airstrip. Gael stayed in wolf form, darting ahead on swift paws to scout for more ODL soldiers, but no more boogeymen appeared. The pilot was grim faced, but already strapped into his seat as we dove through the door, copilot at the ready to seal the hatch behind us.

No sooner had the light flashed green and the cabin wassealed than he had the throttle down, and we were moving down the runway.

I ushered Shay to a seat with my hand on her lower back, even the simple contact lowering my heart rate. We’d made it, and as the plane lifted from the runway with a familiar lurch, I breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe. We were all safe.

“Where are we going?”Brielle asked once the plane had leveled off to cruising altitude.

“Away from there, mostly,” Gael said, sarcasm heavy as he tiredly pulled on a pair of gray sweats kept stashed in the plane. Shifters tended to have stashes of clothes everywhere. It was well past midnight, closer to dawn than dusk, but still it felt like the day that just wouldn’t end.

“We should stay on the move for a while, until we figure out a course of action,” Kane said, stroking his mate’s dark hair.

Brielle nodded, guilt painting her expression as she turned to gaze at her two best friends. “Are you sure you two don’t want to go back? It’s me they’re after—we’ve got that confirmed now.”

“I’d love it if we could stop flying,” Leigh said, already looking pale and queasy, “but how many times are we going to have to tell you that you’re stuck with us?”

“At least one more,” Brielle said with a watery smile.

Shay was quiet at my side, half-burrowed into my shoulder as her friends bantered quietly. When she spoke up, all eyes turned to her, and I could feel her flinch into my chest as if she could disappear there.

“Any word back from your Aunt Kari on when she can meet?”

Brielle dug her phone from her pocket—luckily, she’d grabbed it on the way out of the caves, because we’d beenforced to leave our luggage behind. “No signal yet. But that’s a good point. Should we head to Texas? That’s where she asked to meet me?—”

“Is it safe to sit in one place? They sensed your powers,” Gael interrupted, arms crossed over his chest and wearing a disgruntled expression. “We got lucky this time, but we don’t know how long the bears will keep them occupied, or if they’ll figure out we were the ones who triggered their wards. We should find a safe house, somewhere remote where we can see them coming. Then we can wait it out and see if they’re able to trackyouor if it was just the ceremony.”

“They’ve never been able to track her before, so I think it’s a fairly safe assumption that the presence of the Goddess’s magic was the key difference,” Reed said.

“You want to park ourselves in Johnson City like sitting ducks on afairly safe? Bad idea.”

Reed scowled at Gael’s haughty tone. “Just because you’re head enforcer doesn’t make the decision yours. It’s up to Kane.”

“The Alpha?—”

“Can speak for himself,” Kane interrupted the brewing argument. “Right now, we need rest and a moment to get our bearings. We’re not making any decisions yet. The plane is fully fueled, and we’re all going to try to get some sleep. They can’t attack us in the air.”

I nodded, appreciating his level head. Shay sighed against my arm, clearly relieved at the diffusion of the testosterone spike. It seemed like she was uncomfortable any time alpha energy ramped up, which was something I should ask her about when we had some time alone.

Like when we’d had that very delicious interlude that had been so rudely interrupted. Best not to think about that, though, or I’d have an awkward boner for the whole damn flight.

But when Shay sighed again, I settled my arm over her soshe could get comfortable against my chest. And somehow, with her safe and snug against me, the rest of the world and all its problems faded away. I soaked in her scent, reveling in her perfect softness and warmth, and let my eyes drift shut.

We’d figure out the rest in a few hours.

FORTY

Shay

The solid jolt of the plane’s wheels touching down woke me sometime around midday. My neck was a little stiff, but I’d slept surprisingly well, cuddled up to Dirge’s side. Though when I looked up at his face, I was fairly certain he hadn’t slept all that much.

“Everything okay?” I whispered the question, not wanting to disturb anyone else. The plane was quiet, nothing but the steady hum of its propellers and the rush of wind outside as we rolled to a stop to break the steady white noise.

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