Page 14 of Wolf Tamer

And my cue to act.

“She might not, but I do.” I call out the warning, and before anyone can set her on fire, I attack.

My wolf presses against the surface of my consciousness with more force, begging me for release. For blood. We’re thirsty for more than simple revenge, on those who did us wrong and those who wronged our mate.

The red staining my vision grows as the man in me recedes and my wolf takes over completely. I release any restraints holding me back, allowing the change to take over my body with a flash of its own internal fire. The melding of wolf and man isn’t necessarily pleasant, and rarely painless. My muscles lengthen and twist. Bones thicken, become stronger, dark fur sprouting along my skin and my jaw popping out of its socket as my muzzle forms. Canines become jagged teeth, with claws ripping past my fingernails.

A howl tears from my throat, because these witches aren’t playing. The wolf thinks of nothing but helping his mate. Of getting to her, keeping her safe, protecting her from our enemies, and it doesn’t matter that we’ve already survived one attack today. Or that the entire herd of humans turns to us as one.

Hackles rising, I take a single step forward. The snarl I shoot them is usually enough to have any upstart pups backing down, and I’m counting on its potency now.

The first witch to turn at the sound of my voice without running falls soon after to my claws. My muscles cramp from my fight and my subsequent escape through the autumn woods.

I snap at whatever piece of the witch I can get before she shrieks and turns tail. My wolf immediately gives chase and manages to catch her by the hem of her cowl. A shake knocks her off balance, sending her down to her hands and knees. I dive at her until the weight of my fully grown wolf sends the air from her lungs. My jaws wrap around her neck and crunch through bone and sinew.

“Reid!”

Distantly, I hear someone calling a familiar name, but with my mouth filled by the taste of the witch’s blood, I can’t look at her. I can’t turn in her direction or distract myself from what I’m here to do.

With the first witch still beneath me, I jettison off her back and manage to snag a second, too slow to escape. I break her neck in the same manner, with my canines sliding easily through skin and muscle.

The others scatter and give me an amazing and absolutely delightful chance to hunt them down. Two down, a couple dozen more to go, and the ones who hurt my mate will be dealt with. My tongue laps at the blood dripping from my maw until pain lashes through my backside, and I whip around to see a spark of flame near my tail. Now the witches are trying toburnme, too?

Let them.

At least I hadn’t gotten there too late. Thank goodness for small miracles. Pushing my body to the limit certainly has its silver lining, doesn’t it? In this case…

It’s saving the girl who was contracted to kill me.

Sometimes the world is a fucked-up place, and I’m smack dab in the middle of the chaos.

One of the witches fires off a second rogue fireball, heat whizzing past me and singeing the fur near my left shoulder. I jump out of the way a split second too late and land with a hiss to hide my whine. The scent of scorched fur colors the inside of my nostrils.

Shaking my head to rid that terrible smell, I launch myself at the nearest witch and latch my jaws around her ankle. We have to make her pay for the pain. For everything. Retaliation spurs me forward.

Her scream is a thing of beauty and urges me on to the next witch, and the next, rampaging through their impromptu circle, sending all those who aren’t smart enough to the ground and the rest scattering.

Blood dripping from my jaws, I don’t see the older witch still standing next to the pyre until Tasha’s scream echoes in my ears. I finally turn in her direction. My chest heaves, and I wonder if I’m going to be fast enough to stop the spark of flame in the gray-haired witch’s hand from falling.

She sets me with a rueful smile, winking, then lets her magic fly directly at Tasha’s feet.

The dry logs ignite with a whoosh and a hiss, and I know I’m out of time.

Shrinking away from the heat for a moment, I gather courage and head right into the flames.

ChapterSix

Tasha

It’s the wolf of my dreams, and he’s rampaging around these witches like he’s starved and they’re juicy deer ripe for the taking, which is almost a great enough scene to help me forget about the fire eating its way toward my feet.

Almost.

The scene is certainly great because Reid is the dark avenging angel I needed to get me the hell out of this predicament. Sweat bursts to life in places where no sweat should be the longer I stay tied, tugging against the bindings and giving myself rope burn in the process. I just hope he’s fast enough to help.

Because I’m stuck.

He downs more witches than I gave him credit for. One right after another, they topple faster than dominoes. And the blood, well, the blood makes my demonic little heart happy. Except I don’t have any time to admire the way he moves.

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