Page 55 of Redeemed Wolf

Eric’s blow didn’t have a chance to land, though.

The air around us seemed to thicken, cooling noticeably by several degrees. I became aware of a droning chant in the background, in a raspy ethereal voice that seemed to echo, reverberating through the trees. The wind began to churn around us, whipping my hair in all directions, my clothes flapping.

Eric cried out in surprise, and I opened my eyes in time to see a crow swoop down, its talons aimed for his face. He abandoned his attack on me to bring his arms up. The crow was only the first. A flock descended on him, a flurry of wings and beaks and talons, leaving scratches and welts on all exposed skin, murky blood welling to the surface. I was close enough to feel their feathers brush against me, but not once did any of them try to harm me.

"Wha—” Eric managed to say as the birds backed off, just in time for the animals to emerge from the woods. Wolves and badgers and one huge stag, its rack of antlers lowered to charge. I retreated, leaving him to his fate.

Eric did what he could to protect himself, but even the smallest of wounds could add up. Lashes crisscrossed his skin until it split, and he staggered. He was so distracted by the madness that he didn’t notice the vibration beneath our feet. I moved to cross over to where Silas was trying to sit up, but I nearly lost my footing. Was it an earthquake?

I dropped to one knee, looking back at Vesta who seemed to be standing in the eye of a hurricane. Her long gown hung straight, her braid unmoved by the gale-force winds swirling around her,strong enough to bend the trees, their trunks creaking. Vesta’s eyes seemed to glow pure white, and her lips moved as she chanted in a language I’d never heard before. It certainly wasn’t English. It sounded… ancient. A creeping sensation crawled up my spine and down to my fingertips.

Vesta tilted her head back to the sky and let out a scream of such rage, my wolf cowered inside me. Then she bent down and slapped her hand to the pavement in front of her.

The animals scattered, heading for the cover of the woods, and Eric turned, stunned in the sudden silence, to lock eyes with me. His lips pulled back, revealing bloody fangs. “You all think you can escape your fate, but you’re only delaying the inevitable,” he seethed, stomping back over to me with a wide stride. I stood, backtracking as quickly as I could.

Just as Eric reached me again, the ground lurched and an almightycracksplit through the air. Static seemed to sizzle, the hair on my arms rising as what could only be described as powerful magic closed in around us. Just behind Eric, the earth split with a huge crevice, like a sinkhole had opened on a whim. Clumps of dirt and grass fell inward and down, and Eric staggered back a step. I thought for a second that he would fall, but he reached toward me and snagged a handful of my shirt. He regained his balance, then gave me a hard shake for good measure.

“Make that witch stop chanting,” he barked, an unhinged look in his eyes, spittle flying off his lips.

“Witch? You don’t believe in magic, do you? I thought you were a man ofscience,” I said with a sneer.

Snarling, Eric grabbed me by the neck with his other hand, his claws digging in as he squeezed. I wheezed as I tried to draw breath. He lifted me by my throat until I was nearly dangling, only the tips of my toes on the ground. Spots appeared in my vision, blackness closing in.

My eyes closed, but I heard Eric whisper in my ear, “This could’ve all been different if only you’d done what I said.”

His words lit something inside me, a spark. In this last moment, he was blaming me for his own monstrous acts, and I refused to accept that. I didn’t know where I found that last ounce of strength, but I reared back my leg and kicked him straight in the balls. The hand around my throat loosened and I was dropped back to the ground. I took a deep breath, coughing.

And that was the moment Silas managed to get to his feet and came charging forward. His shoulder connected with Eric’s gut before he dropped to his hands and knees, the momentum enough to send Eric backward toward the chasm.

Unfortunately, Eric’s fist was still bunched in my shirt, and as he fell backward over the edge, I was jerked off my feet and hit the ground hard. I felt myself being dragged toward darkness, the edge of the pit like a maw, about to swallow me whole.

I felt Silas grab my ankle, stopping my slide but leaving me dangling halfway over the edge. “Hold on!” he yelled.

I braced myself on the edge, palms scraping against dirt and rocks. I stared down into Eric’s eyes as he hung over open air. They were so… human. He was frightened, but weren’t we all? He’d caused so much fear and harm, and he had no intention of stopping there. “Please,” he gasped as the fabric began to tear. He scrambled to find a toehold, but the soil continued to erode. He reached up with his other hand, begging for my help. “Please, pull me up!”

I set my jaw and reached for my shirt, widening the tear. “No, don’t—” he began, but it was too late. The fabric gave way, and he fell, deeper into the earth than I could see. I didn’t hear him hit the bottom.

Silas didn’t let go, not for a second. He practically climbed along my body, anchoring me in place until he could pull me up. He was panting, his skin slick with blood as he rolled us bothonto solid ground. I lay across his chest, listening to his heart to assure myself that he was still alive. That we both were.

“You’re okay, you’re fine,” he kept repeating, his lips in my hair as he breathed me in, his hands roaming my body to check for injuries.

“I’m not hurt,” I assured him.

I became aware of someone crying, and I pushed myself up with shaky arms to sitting. Over in the parking lot, in the center of a crater that hadn’t been there before, Tristan sat with Vesta cradled in his arms. His shoulders shook with the force of his sobs, and he bowed over her, stroking her hair. Vesta’s eyes were closed, her skin too pale.

Pacey limped over and helped me get Silas up, and together we hobbled our way over, picking our way around Nathan’s deformed body, his chest gone still. Whatever human soldiers might’ve been left of Eric’s group seemed to have fled. All that remained was pack.

We came to stand with the rest of our family around Tristan, and Shan crouched down at his side, taking Vesta’s hand. Tristan looked up at his Alpha, his blue eyes filled with tears. “It was too much for her,” he said, tears dripping down to soak into her nightgown. “She gave the last of what she had to put an end to this war.”

“Let’s make sure her sacrifice isn’t wasted.” Shan turned to look up at Silas, and a silent message passed between them.

Those who weren’t injured helped those who were. The two packs worked together to bind wounds and dry tears, then food was passed around and everyone sat right there in the grass or on benches in groups of twos and threes, spending time with their loved ones.

I was still staring at the crack in the ground where Eric had disappeared. Silas tried to pass me a sandwich, but I shook my head. “Not hungry,” I said, though it was more like my stomachwas full of worms, twisting and writhing. I wasn’t sure I would ever be hungry again.

Silas sighed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in against his chest. He’d taken a shower to wash off the blood, and the wounds had scabbed over. “I can’t imagine how you feel right now,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “He was… your father.”

It didn’t matter than he’d manipulated himself into that position, for years of my life, that was exactly what he’d been. “I loved him,” I admitted with difficulty. “No matter the lies he told, the people he hurt, my memories of him are real.”

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