Page 143 of Just One Bite
They say the first dual full moon after the shift as an accepted Alpha is the hardest. They weren’t fucking joking. The rush of it is so intense I nearly throw up. My skin flushes and I brace for what’s coming. The throbbing in my skull. The stretching of my skin. Any lingering bonds to Gavin’s pack vanish in an instant, and when it’s gone, there’s just me.
I thought I’d feel empty, but as I stare at my hands in the moonlight and the searing hot pain runs through my blood, I’m whole and free like never before. There’s power in my shifted form.
Shit, is this what I’ve been running from?I guess Olivia hasn’t been the only one running.
I’ve dreaded this moment, but this is what I was meant to accept. I am destined to be a pack leader.
With my nose to the ground, I search for her. The others have already scattered in a flurry of howls and dirt. It should be easy to find her, but my senses are off. I inhale and smell … nothing. Not even the trees or the soil.
I’ve never smelled nothing before. I growl, baring my teeth. Someone enchanted me. But how? When?
It could have been my food. Maybe someone had access to the kitchen?Olivia.
I’m already heading west like she mentioned, moving fast. Zant warned me someone would try to sabotage The Hunt. That means someone could have enchanted her too.
There’s no other option than for me to tune into the bond.
She’s scared. Her lungs are burning—she’s probably running and hurt. The rain turns from droplets until it’s pelting me and wetting my fur. I have to hurry.
Feel for her.I trust the bond. It’s all I have to find her. I stop at a riverbank, spotting a shoe floating by. It’s hers. I know it even if I can’t smell it. Every second, the enchantment wears off. The smell of rain floods my senses. Then the dirt, but it’s still faint.
I follow the footprints at the edge. Her heart is racing, and so is mine.
"Where are you?"
I stop. That’s Olivia’s voice in my head. I don’t have time to ponder why. She’s close. She needs me. I howl into the night as a warning to other Weres. I’m coming for her, and if they want to avoid a fight, they need to flee.
A broken branch in the distance catches my attention, and thunder cracks and rumbles through the ground.
Her scent hits me.
It’s the sweetest, most intoxicating thing I’ve ever smelled.Mine. Mine. Mine.The pull of it is so strong I break into a sprint of pure hysteria.
I need her.
I’ll have her.
She can’t get away from me. Olivia is mine. My muscles are numb to pain, my senses dull to anything that isn’t her scent. I need to claim her.
I stop when a rush of anxiety runs through the bond. She’s close. I sniff the air, and the hairs on my back stand on end.
Garrik walks into the clearing slowly. Two glowing orbs locked on me. He’s an enormous werewolf with black fur.
Then I see her. Olivia is lying in the dirt and rain, covering her ears from the thunder, then she ducks behind a tree.
“I’m not backing down on this one,” Garrik says.
“Good.”
I’ve never been bluffing. This is a fight I won’t allow myself to lose.
He keeps his head low to the ground and circles me. I always thought themost important moment of my life would be on the ice, not in the mud and dirt.
The rain falls between us, filling the ground in wet puddles, and the thunder cracks in a dull rumble.
He lunges and I dodge, but he’s on my tail and bites into my shoulder. I don’t howl at the pain. I don’t even feel the teeth dig into my muscle before I shove him to the ground and slash his chest.
I’m vaguely aware of my human senses dulling. That part of my brain is off as the alpha blood inside me relishes the crimson staining my claws. Let’s taste. Let’s tear. Let’s kill.
