Page 61 of Midnight Mate
“You’re going to pay for putting your hands on her.” East’s voice held a note of violence I’d never heard before, and I shivered with the promise of what he was going to do.
“Oh, it was more than hands, mutt.”
East growled and attacked.
Figures moved among the broken furniture. Thumps and thuds echoed between them as they knocked things out of the way to get closer. A punch was thrown, and I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like Travis went down on one knee.
One of the figures transformed from two legs to four. Then, the second one did the same.
My heart pounded as the two collided.
I wanted to believe East would be stronger than Travis, but worry kept me from feeling any kind of relief. The fight looked vicious even in the dark.
I had to help him.
Creeping back inside, I used the grainy light coming through the open door to find a piece of the chair I’d broken earlier when I fell. Gripping it in my hands, I inched closer to the fight.
Fur and claws flew as they came at each other again and again.
This close, it was easy to recognize East. His light gray coat contrasted with the shadows, but more than that, his wolf was much bigger than Travis’s wiry, brown frame.
Their next tumble nearly took me out. I leaped clear before a claw could slash through my skin then scrambled up onto the kitchen table. In high school, I’d secretly dreamed of becoming a werewolf like Easton. But I’d never wanted it more than I did in this moment.
To protect the man I loved.
East tossed me a look that I knew was meant to reprimand me. I didn’t need words to know he wanted me to get the hell out of here. But I wasn’t leaving without him. Instead, I hovered on top of the table, watching and waiting for some opening that I could use to help.
Travis’s claw buried itself in East’s throat and pulled. East’s fur tore, leaving a thin red line of blood.
“No!” The scream ripped from my throat, the pain of his wound echoing in my own body.
I gasped, but East only looked more furious. He doubled down, swiping at Travis then snapping out with his canines. Travis dodged both, the effort sending him reeling away. Off-balance. Creating a gap between them the size of a human woman.
Urgency gripped me, and a voice inside me whispered,now.
I leaped from the table, clearing the space below me where East still crouched. Both wolves stopped moving, too surprised by my attack to do anything but watch me fall.
The moment felt suspended like magic had slowed it to allow all my slower senses to keep up.
Below me, Travis began to straighten, but it was too late. The chair leg in my hands sank into his exposed throat. He yelped, twisting away, but I held on, using all my strength to shove the wooden shard as far as it would go.
“Cat, look out!”
Travis’s paw swung blindly, catching me in the thigh.
My skin sliced open. Blood pooled then dripped down my knee.
I rolled away, not stopping until I hit the wall with a thud that stole my breath. My vision blurred, and I squinted up at the sight of a female silhouette framed in the open doorway.
Outside, thunder boomed, and lightning cracked, illuminating the woman for a split second. Long, reedy-thin arms lifted to the sky, and sharp, dark eyes found mine, intense enough to make me forget about my injury for a moment.
I’d never seen her before, but I knew instinctively she was here to help me. Her mouth opened, but when she spoke, I swore it was an echoing voice inside my head rather than anything spoken aloud.
When blood is spilled under the moon, the fates will have their offering.
Her cryptic words were unsettling like a warning. Or a solution to a problem I didn’t yet understand. I tried scooting closer, to ask her what they meant. But her form shimmered like moonlight over a pond. Then I blinked, and she was gone.
Beyond where she’d stood, I caught sight of a slivered moon hanging low between parted clouds. And all I could think of was unleashing the wolf. If only the thought made sense.
