Page 66 of Wolf Bitten

I bounced a little on him, and he grunted. His claws retracted, and he pushed me away.

Using the momentum, I got onto my feet, but when my back muscles moved, I almost crumpled from the blinding pain. The presence’s rage and mine combined, making me angrier than ever before.

I refused to die, not when Raffe and I had just gotten our shit together.

Throwing my head back, I howled, the sound vibrating in my chest. Light Gray caught up to us, and Dark Gray stood, chest heaving. I needed Raffe, Slade, and the others to hear me and come to my aid.

Light Gray’s side was bleeding like something had poked her, but that didn’t keep her from sidling up next to Dark Gray and staring me down.

I searched the area for something …anythingto use as a weapon. But with no fingers and thumbs, I couldn’t think of a damn thing I could use other than my blood, which was fritzing in my animal form.

Please, take over,I begged the presence, hoping her animal instincts would get ussomewhere.

The wolves attacked. Each one lunged for a different side.

I shot backward, ignoring the sensation of the skin on my back ripping open. A whimper lodged in my throat, but I swallowed it as the two wolves landed and leaped at me again.

What were their paws made of? Bouncy balls?

Unable to stumble back farther, I braced myself for pain and targeted Light Gray. I hunkered to the ground and to the right, and Dark Gray overshot me.

I extended my claws and dug my nails into Light Gray’s side, connecting with her wound as she sailed over me and landed on my back. She yelped, and I bucked her off before she could claw my back up again. The agony of her weight hitting me made me want to lie down and never get up again.

Her body crashed to the ground, but something sharp pierced my back left leg. Before I could turn, I was jerked back, and my stomach hit the mulch.

Dark Gray had me by the leg.

He ground his teeth into my flesh and bone, and I yelped.

With my other back leg, I swiped at him and dug my claws into whatever body part I could reach.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Light Gray get up again, and I pushed harder with my other leg, trying to cut through Dark Gray’s flesh to the bone like he was doing to me.

His jaws slackened, and I curved around and raked my closest paw down his head, ripping his ear in half. He snarled and released his hold, rubbing his face against his front leg.

I opened my jaws, readying to slash his throat.

A howl sounded, startling me and halting my blood haze.

Was that Raffe?

I couldn’t kill these wolves. We needed answers.

Somehow, I stopped myself millimeters short of Dark Gray’s throat.

My blood hummed stronger, and something surged within me. Something that wasn’tme, but I wasn’t sure what it was. It felt familiar and calm.

Both enemy wolves moved toward each other. Their eyes glowed as they communicated, likely planning their next attack.

I tried to stand, but my left hind leg gave out. The pain was so bad that my vision blurred with tears.

There was no way I could fight.

I’d done my best, but it hadn’t been enough.

My blood sang, and I could read the wolves’ emotions.

They were angry, but something like curiosity crept into their feelings and morphed into emotions like determination and protectiveness, not from just these two but from many.

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