Page 81 of Wolf Tamer

“What are you doing, Wolf?” Mae barks to Emily. Her magic is faltering too, and the Redcliff wolves are starting to shove their way through. “Get to the portal!”

Licking her lips, Emily turns to Reid’s massive shadow, arm extended, and dread grips me. She’s going to hurt him! Just like Julius. I can see lust of murder and revenge in her eyes.

“I also believe in ‘an eye for an eye,’” she goes on. “And it’s time I got mine.”

She kicks Sarah in the back of the leg, making her stumble and lose concentration for a split second, but it’s all she needs. The one wall of magic comes down, exposing Reid and she raises my knife a final time.

I rush her, closing the distance and snatching her wrist to stop her right before the sharpened tip meets Reid’s flesh. She blinks at me, wide eyed, but in one swift move, I twist and wrench her wrist. It forces her to drop the weapon, and I simultaneously elbow jab her hard in the stomach, sending her stumbling back.

“You fucking bitch!” She tries to grab for me, but I throw my head back and hear the sweet, sweet crack of her nasal bone breaking. She screams, clutching her face as blood seeps through her fingers and coats her shirt.

“And this is the problem with you, Emily,” I say. “You’re always underestimating me.”

“This isn’t over, Tasha Ward!” Mae shouts as the last of them make a bee-line straight for the portal’s opening. The wind stops abruptly, and like an explosion, the wolves burst through. But as Mae climbs through, she sends out another strong blast of frigid air, powerful enough to knock everyone in close enough range on their asses. Including me.

Luckily for me, I land right besides my knife, so I snatch it and throw it with all my might at the rapidly closing doorway. I hear a high-pitched scream as it disappears on the other side and the last inch of the portal is sealed closed.

Man, I hope I fucking got Emily. But I’d take Mae too.

Strong arms wrap around me, drawing me in close, and I don’t need to turn around to know it’s Reid holding me. I push into his embrace, needing his closeness now more than ever.

“You were amazing, Tash,” he whispers against my ear, tickling the side of my face with his warm breath. “You magic—”

“I know, I know,” I cut him off. “It didn’t stick for long but…”

“It seems like you have better control over it.”

I nod. Even talking is a chore right now, and all I can think about is how the witches got away, how it’s not over, and…

“Julius!” Shoving away from Reid, I leap to my feet. Julius is always being looked over by the other pack members. Some have already collected towels and water and are assessing his wound.

Reid comes to my side. “It looks bad, but we have a lot of good caretakers here who’ve dealt with worse. There aren’t many things that can kill us, and when it comes to Julius, I doubt he’ll die just out of pure stubbornness.”

He tries to joke, but I can hear the fear hidden underneath his lighthearted tone. He’s worried for his brother. And so am I.

“He saved me, Reid. Emily was about to ram that blade through my heart, and he stepped in the way on purpose,” I say. The guilt of the entire thing clings to me. “I don’t understand. Why did he do that?”

Reid sighs. “I suspect that was…for me.” He pulls me into his arms again, and I lift my head to gaze at him. This strong man who feels like he was made just for me.

He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, and despite all the shit we just went through—and will be going through soon enough, I suspect—a smile spills out onto my face.

Reid dips his chin for a very public kiss, his hands fisting in my hair. I can feel eyes on us, watching us, but when his tongue sweeps past my lips, it’s clear he doesn’t care about the optics of our relationship anymore.

And, to be honestly, neither do I.

I loop my arms around his neck and lose myself in the sensations washing over me. The warmth that I know, with little effort, will turn into a raging fire I’m powerless to fight against. Right now, it’s the only kind of fire I want in my life.

Only him.

When he finally releases me, he presses his forehead against mine, and in that moment, I thank whatever powers that be that he’s still here. With me. Things were bad, but they could’ve been much,muchworse.

I’ll never leave him ever again. We need each other now more than we did before.

“You know what you said before? About me loving you?” I ask softly.

“Mmhmm”

“It’s true. I do love you.” I didn’t plan to say it out loud, but the moment I do, it doesn’t feel like a big secret being revealed. It feels simply like the truth. Which it is. It’s about time I start being honest… to him and to myself. “I love you and it scares the hell out of me.”

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