Page 25 of Fated In Winter

CHAPTER7

Conner

Romyand I rolled to the side, both of us going to our feet as we moved out of the way of Darren’s claws. The other wolf shook, his eyes bright gold with a manic emotion, glaring at us.

“Don’t you let him kill you,” Romy growled, and I held back a snarl and a smile. I was fighting by my mate’s side. And the way that she moved, the flowing way that she was able to duck out of Darren’s lunge, nearly sent me over the edge.

She was beautiful.

She had a grace to her fighting rather than the brute force that I usually used.

It would be a wonder to watch her grow, even more, to see the way that she fought and protected our Packs.

I ducked out of the way of Darren’s claws and held back a growl.

“Darren, come back. You don’t need to do this.” I looked at the man who was a father of twins, the mate of a loving woman, and I didn’t want to kill him today. I wanted to find a way to bring him back. Something was pushing these rogues over the precipice. Something was changing them at a remarkably higher rate than ever before.

I needed to find out what it was. I needed to protect my Pack.

But I didn’t want to kill a man I could one day call a friend.

I couldn’t.

Romy cursed under her breath, and my wolf pushed at me, feeling her wolf along the bond. She was so strong, elegant. She might not be as dominant as I was, but she was a brilliantly dominant wolf in her own right.

She was a protector, even though nobody had protected her when it had mattered most.

But now I would. That was my duty, my purpose.

I would not allow myself to become what Darren was, nor would I allow Romy to get hurt in the process.

She was my salvation, and I hadn’t even asked for her.

I surely hadn’t expected her.

I could sense other Talons coming near us, but at the same time, snow began to fall in earnest. The blizzard that had been threatening for days now had finally arrived, and the snowfall started to make it difficult to see. White filled my vision, even as I tried to sense where Darren was coming from. We were interspersed among the trees, the foliage so thick it was almost dark with the snow coming quickly. Cold seeped into my bones, even as Darren came at us.

The only reason that we hadn’t taken him down yet was because there hadn’t been a safe way to do it. In order to do it, we might have had to kill him. We couldn’t do that. Not yet. There had to be a way to save him.

And that meant being careful.

That meant not being able to subdue him until it might be too late.

Because rogue wolves held extra strength that wasn’t normally theirs. It made them stronger than most wolves, even some Alphas. It made them deadlier, without remorse, without anything.

That meant sometimes it took more than a single wolf to fight a rogue. Even if that wolf was the most dominant of them.

“The storm’s intensifying. We need to stop him and get covered,” Romy called out.

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me, and growled.

“Darren!”

“Subdue him!” she called out, from the other side of the slight clearing we were in. I couldn’t see her, the storm raging around us. The ice chilled my bones, and I jumped at Darren, only I moved too late. Darren twisted, and I growled, letting out a howl as Romy hit the ground, a high-pitched sound erupting from her mouth.

I growled low, reaching for Darren, but I couldn’t find him. It was pitch black, the storm turning to ice. This didn’t feel like a natural storm, but what did I know anymore? Everything kept changing, turning on a dime, and I needed to know that my mate was safe. “I’m fine,” she yelled out, but I didn’t believe her, not when she was so used to taking care of herself. Darren jumped, bit down onto my hip, and I growled, a hiss of pain escaping from my mouth. I’d been so focused on Romy, ensuring that she was okay, that I had been lazy. I hadn’t been paying attention. My own wolf tore jagged claws through me, wanting to push forward, wanting to attack and to kill.

But that was my dominance talking, the strength of my wolf. That was what could turn me rogue, so I calmed myself, and I pulled on the bond that connected me to the one woman that could change everything.

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