Page 82 of Shadow of Death

“No!” I screamed.

I was at his side in an instant, my hands trembling as I touched him. He was back in his human form and covered in blood. But he was still alive. I could feel the faintest pulse.

I covered his body as much as I could to shelter him in case whoever shot tried again.

I saw some people approaching out of the corner of my eye. “Get away from him,” I screamed, and they immediately backed off.

“Kicks.” My voice broke as I pressed my hands against the many wounds, feeling the warmth of his blood seeping through my fingers. “Please, please, Kicks. You can’t die.”

There was no response as he lay lifeless in my arms. I couldn’t lose him. I wouldn’t.

And then Death was in front of me.

“You’re not taking him. He’s mine! We had a deal!”

We had a deal and I saved him in the pit, not from this,she said as she eyed him up.

If she wanted his soul, she’d have to go through me. No one was taking him, not a god, not a human, not a shifter. No one.

“You were supposed to protect him,” I yelled.

The crowd around us moved a little farther back, not knowing who I was yelling at and clearly not knowing what to do.

She took a step forward.

“No!” I screamed.

Something inside me snapped. It was like an old, crumbling dam finally breaking from the last offense and unleashing a wave of energy burning inside of me.

I bent over Kicks, hugging him to me, willing everything I had to flow into him, to heal him, to save him. For a moment, nothing happened. Then my wolf was beside me. We’d left it back at the cottage, but that apparently didn’t mean anything,because somehow it was here. It began to lick Kicks’ wounds. As my wolf licked, Kicks’ wounds began to spit out the bullets and close, one by one. My wolf seemed to be healing him.

There were gasps around us, but I ignored everything but Kicks. His other wounds began to expel the bullets and then heal closed.

I watched, unable to breathe as his eyes opened.

“Pips?” His voice was weak, but he was alive.

A sob broke from me as I pulled him closer, feeling his heartbeat growing stronger. He was alive.

I stared back up at Death. “He’s mine,” I said.

She didn’t move for a minute, as if trying to compute what had just happened. She finally said,So he is.

She nodded at me and then backed away.

With my arms still around Kicks, I turned my attention on Varic. He was watching on with a gaping mouth.

“You had him shot. You claim foul play from me while you’re plotting and scheming? You’re dead. The only reason you’re still standing is that I want to see you beg before I kill you.”

He stood there for a second before pointing to me as he addressed the pack. “She’s a witch! She’s evil and deals in dark magic! You see what she just did!” He circled around as even his men were backing away from him.

Aunt Elara stepped forward. “Varic, you have dishonored this pack with your actions.” There were many nods of agreement.

“Ididn’t have him shot,” Varic said.

More of the pack shifted to come stand behind Aunt Elara. “Samson is missing. Someone go find him,” she said. Several of the pack took off, presumably to do her bidding. It was looking as if the pack had found its new alpha.

“I didn’t shoot him,” Varic yelled.

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