Page 39 of Wolf Touched

CHAPTER TWELVE

Raffe groaned, and his agony churned in my chest. Nausea roiled inside me, and Raffe dropped to his knees. He grasped his shoulder wound, pressing over the bleeding.

No!I shouted to myself.Raffe can’t die. Something has to save him.

My wolf took control. I threw my head back and howled, then took off toward him. The sound was so loud and strong that it echoed all around, even over the sound of the burning house behind us.

I kept my eyes on Cade, using hatred to push me forward as my power sang and radiated from my body.

In that moment, there was only one thing I knew for certain.

Cade was going to die.

Stay back,Raffe linked, his icy fear contrasting with my blazing anger.You need to get out of here. Take the car and run. Their perimeter won’t stop you if you can figure out how to get through it like you did the last one.

His love and concern spurred me faster.

Cade paused, enjoying the moment. “Not so strong and princely now, are you?”He chuckled then winked at me cruelly. “Hope you got to say goodbye.”

Dammit, I was still twenty feet from him. I wouldn’t make it.

He swung, but Raffe rolled out of his way. The agony of his injured shoulder hitting the ground sheared through me. Cade must not have thought that Raffe would move to his injured side because Raffe was still breathing.

Rolling onto his back, Raffe kicked Cade in the stomach, and the warlock stumbled back into the woods.

As I reached my mate’s side, a hiss came from the woods. I snarled, ready to protect my mate, but a bobcat leaped from the darkness and landed on Cade’s back. It wrapped its front paws around his neck and jerked him backward. Cade stumbled and dropped his knife as his hands grasped the bobcat’s paws.

Realization of what my magic had been calling slammed through me.

Animals.

The very ones who lived in the woods here.

That must be why the raccoons and foxes had been out here earlier. They’d been drawn to me and my power, and now nature was responding to my call for help.

My vision turned red as I locked on Cade. I would make the lily ass pay for everything he’d done to my mate and then some.

Move back,I commanded, hoping like hell the bobcat would understand.

The bobcat indeed dropped away, and my teeth sank into Cade’s flesh. Blood poured into my mouth and down my snout as I clenched my jaw, making sure I killed thisasshole. No one hurt my mate and got to walk away to tell the story.

He gurgled, and I jerked my head, ripping out his throat. Cade clasped his hands around his neck as if that would help. Then he dropped to the ground, and his eyes went glassy.

I spun around, ready to attack the next person who tried to hurt my mate, but what I found stopped me in my tracks.

Animals were everywhere.

Bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, and skunks were taking on the witches in the yard, and I could hear snarls and cries in the woods, where I assumed more animals were attacking the witches who’d been hiding.

Supreme Priestess Olwyn had sent at least fifty coven members here to fight us. I swallowed. None of us had been meant to survive. She’d wanted to make sure of that.

Raffe growled from beside me. He clenched his jaw, taking in the sight. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, streaking the soot. I wanted to cry, but we weren’t free yet.

Even with the animals’ help, Keith and Adam were still engaged in battle. Josie and Octavia had flanked Dave. Octavia held a long piece of wood from the fence in her hands, ready to use it as a weapon. That must be why she’d run toward the house earlier—to get something for protection.

This fight had to end before nearby humans realized what was happening. It would be hard enough to explain without the cops showing up.

My attention turned to three skunks fighting a warlock ten feet away. The skunks had their tails lifted, circling the warlock, hitting him all around. The warlock held out his palms, and fire blazed from them. The skunk spray lit up, and the fire rushed to the skunks’ back sides. The threecreatures screamed and took off running to the woods, away from the source of pain.

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