Page 5 of Empowering the Wolf's Heart

The dart hit him in the chest. He hardly moved. Most werewolves jerked at the pain of the wolfsbane coated in silver, but not this one. It made my eyebrow quirk. What kind of monster didn’t react to pain?

He shifted to his human form. Whoa. He was wearing clothes with knife hilts peeking through the shadows of his cloak. That meant the dude had coin. Only some could afford the large mana fee it took to give you an enchanted object which could hold your belongings until such a time as you shifted back to human form.

He stood upright, his eyes darting up to meet mine. They were dark and cold, a smile crossing his lips.

My arms tingled as adrenaline rushed through me. I blew a second dart, but he stepped to the side, avoiding the tiny dart with an ease that made my heart attempt to bruise my ribs.

Heck.

I blinked and he was beneath my tree. His speed was uncanny. I jumped, aiming for him like a bird of prey. His eyeswidened, as if he were not expecting a human to just leap from a tree.

I twisted, avoiding his blade poised to enter my chest by a hairsbreadth. I hit the ground and rolled, popping back to my feet and spinning to meet him. His blade came up to nick my throat even as I leaned back. Our blades clashed with the ring of steel. He showed no emotion as he stared down at me, our blades locked between us.

His muscles bunched and he pushed forward on his knife. My feet made divots in the ground as I winced from the strength he was showing, my blade slowly coming closer to my neck.

I backpedaled, pretending to trip over a root. I rolled in a reverse somersault. His blade nicked my arm, and I twisted to stare into his face with my blowgun to my lips. His eyes widened nearly imperceptibly.

The dart hit him in the forehead. He stumbled forward, and I stabbed him in the stomach. But he was already out.

Oops. I probably shouldn’t have stabbed him, but he would live. I hoped.

His weight smashed me into the dirt. I felt his warm blood soaking into my leathers. That would be a pain to clean later.

A question was rolling in my head. Why didn’t he call for help? He could’ve easily howled when the first dart—which should have laid him flat—hit. Instead, he acted like a lone werewolf who attacked and killed and asked questions later.

There had been murder in his eyes when he’d stared at me, and I feared what he would do if he woke in a position to attack. I would just need to ensure he had no way to get an advantage.

I snapped a spelled rope around his wrist that would help lesson his weight and used it to drag him to a side entrance while the other werewolves continued howling, their song covering my kidnapping. What the heck does he eat? Rocks? I was stout andwe were close to the exit, but I was still huffing and puffing by the time I moved him ten feet.

A guard stood beside the door. Human—his eyes didn’t glow in the scant light.

A dagger hilt to the temple was easy enough to get his keys from his pocket. Did they not have better trained guards?

My teeth nibbled my bottom lip as I tried the different keys in the lock. And… there. I jiggled the lock and heard it snip when a dagger poked through my bodice. I froze.

“Why are you kidnapping me?” said a silky voice tinted with… was that humor?

“Can’t a girl kidnap a pretty guy?” I said, my hands closing around my pipe. I pinched my skin to keep my heart rate from betraying the cold fear rushing through my veins at the sound of his voice.

“If one were that desperate to bag a mate, then I suppose it may be permitted?—”

A swish of fabric was my only warning. I spun in a crouch, his dagger slicing where the back of my neck had been a mere moment before. His second dagger was coming for my eye when I blew another dart and leapt backward in an ungraceful crab walk, the wooden handle of the door banging against the back of my head.

He was much slower during his attack, likely due to the blood staining the dirt where I’d dragged him. It was my saving grace because that dagger would have killed me were I a scant moment delayed. It would have sliced easily through my hood to sever my spine just before my brainstem.

His eyes were dark as an onyx stone and seemed to suck the light from my soul. His lips quirked. “You are too pretty to be so desperate, little Red.” He teetered and then he hit the ground for a second time. And I didn’t bother to break his fall. Oops.

I sighed. “Pretty can hide some terrible ugliness,” I said to his snore. His face was planted against the dirt and his hind end was up in the air. It couldn’t have been comfortable, so I kindly kicked his butt over so he was on his side as I opened the door.

Most werewolves would be out for the night with the first dose I gave him. It was about then that I wondered if I’d caught more dragon than I could ride. But I was too deep in the mire to backtrack now. I’d just have to dose him every fifteen minutes and get his weapons off sooner than later.

I lugged his rock-hard body through the gate and found Ran waiting on the other side. Her white hide glimmered in the moonlight, making her a beacon for any passersby. Her neck was an elegant arch leading to prim and proper ears and deep amber eyes over her long equine nose. “Dim the glow, nitwit,” I said.

Her lips peeled back, revealing pointed teeth instead of the usual flat teeth of a horse.Because you asked so nicely,she said, tossing her head and making her long mane ripple. She stomped a hoof and her hide became the shimmery dark night of an abyss with stars. It wasn’t any less eye-catching, but was definitely less noticeable in the dark, which was a win. Her amber eyes dared me to make her change again, so I huffed out a breath and lugged my catch onto her back, strapping him in place.

Couldn’t you have at least laid down so this would be easier?I asked as I wedged his upper body halfway over and then panted a few breaths. Why’d this guy have to have such long legs?

Do you expect me to read your mind, Two-Legs?

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