Page 129 of The Wolf and the Chimera
“Elle,” I breathed. “I can bring her out of the sorceress’sthrall. I need to find her—”
“Okay,” Bo said and squeezed my arm. “Okay. Have you tracked her scent?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “The damned mass exodus made me lose it.”
Bo nodded, and I wondered where my brother and Melanie were.
I wondered what they thought of Elle, their friend—the woman they had claimed as pack.
Would my brother run from her or toward her? After Lyall’s announcement, I couldn’t be sure.
“She wouldn’t do this,” I told Bo. “You know she wouldn’t. She needs help. And not the kind Lyall is giving.”
Permanently contained.
Did he mean to Entomb her? Or drain her of her power so thoroughly, she—
I couldn’t finish the thought. I couldn’t bear it.
“I know,” Bo promised, but something dark and sad lingered in his eyes. “I’ll go this way, and you search down that hall. They’re probably moving her from Kalli’s suite to the lab in the basement.”
I nodded, and Bo squeezed my arm.
“We’ll find her,” he promised.
With that, he raced to the left, and I continued down the other hall. Praying to any god who would listen, I begged for my mate’s safe return.
Pumping my arms at my sides, I ran down the hall and searched for any sign of Elle.
Instead, I found an onslaught of werewolves.
As I reached a dead end, they poured out of doorways and surrounded me. Kieran and Melanie were nowhere to be seen, and the world became a blur of claws and teeth and bloodshed.
Faster than I had ever moved, I swiped and parried and kicked. One of them landed a punch to my jaw, but I took the hit with a snarl and smashed the enemy wolf’s head againstmy kneecap. Another wolf leaped onto my back, but I crushed him against the wall and freed myself.
Too many,I realized.There’s too many for me to fight my way out of this.
I reached for the power that lurked under my skin, but nothing happened. Though I could access my wolf, I couldn’t reach for his dominance.Mydominance.
I didn’t want to accept the responsibility that came with my power, but its sudden absence was paralyzing.
The moment of distraction was lethal.
In a brutal flash of violence, a large male wolf grabbed my throat and slammed my head against the wall, while another raked their claws down my back. Before I could recover, a needle pierced my skin.
Fighting to hold onto consciousness, I fell to the ground. My head landed on my arm, and a spicy scent filled my nostrils.
Wolfsbane,I recognized,and something else.
Had the enemy wolves dosed me? I hadn’t smelled it on any of them.
But Bo had squeezed my arm.
He had found me in the hall and directed me toward a dead end, filled with wolves eager to take me down.
As my eyes were forced shut by the wolfsbane and sedatives, my last thoughts were of ripping the traitor’s throat out.
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