Page 83 of Mated to the Enemy
“Klaue!”
He whirled at the shouted warning and growled as a wolf slipped past his men and went for the girls. Not this time. Notany timewhile Klaue still stood. Bestial rage overcame him and he threw himself at the massive creature, wrapping it up in a bear hug, the likes of which it had never felt before. Squeezing tight, Klaue roared, half in pain and half in bloodlust as paws tore at his arms and legs, trying to free itself.
Ribs cracked, but he didn’t stop there, pulling it in even closer, letting his body change, grow larger. The wolf yelped as more bones snapped and Klaue dropped it to the ground, towering over it now, nearly fifteen feet tall and two thousand pounds of fury. His forelegs came down on the wolf’s chest and it instantly ceased all movement.
Glancing over his shoulder, Klaue saw the girls safely ensconced in the SUV, one of his men firing up the engine. He tried to tell Jessica to put her seatbelt on, but the change was complete, and he couldn’t speak. She rolled down the window, shouting to be heard over the bellows, howls, yips and roars that filled the space.
“You’re not coming?”
He shook his head, motioning at his men as best he could with a paw. The point was clear:I can’t leave them behind.
“You come back to me, dammit!” she shouted as the SUV lurched into reverse and sped away.
I will. I promise.
Turning to survey the battle, he stalked across it to the thickest knot of wolves still remaining. Many were down. Most were still moving, though a good number were not. Here and there, the corpse of a massive bear indicated momentary success, but for the most part, House Canis was getting a little worse than they were giving.
Time to truly tip the scales in our favor.
Now that Klaue and his team were free, their weight turned the battle swiftly. They formed an arrow with him at the point, moving across the field, dispatching any wolf stupid enough to come into range, or too injured to get out of their way. None of the bodies in their wake moved.
They approached a solid knot of twenty or more wolves, all clustered around a singular wolf. Large, with perfectly white fur and eyes an arctic blue, there was only one person it could be.Lorran.
No matter what happened, Klaue was going to ensure the Canis Title Holder did not leave the battlefield with a breath of life in him. He’d been responsible for too much pain, and if left to his own devices, would have killed an untold amount more.
He started to move faster. Around him, his men picked up the pace as well, maintaining formation. The wolves tightened ranks, teeth bared, saliva dripping. Eyes tinged with red watched the oncoming charge, eager to rip bear flesh apart.
Klaue’s vision narrowed, turning the world around Lorran into a blur. It didn’t matter how many wolves were in his way. He would kill them all if that was what it took to end the threat. The ground trembled and shook as the gathered Ursidae bore down on their foes.
As one, they roared a challenge just before they struck, the noise deafening and disorienting the wolves. Then the mass of bodies struck. This wasn’t an attack; they didn’t stop to finish off the wolves that went down under their paws. It was an avalanche. They poured through the circle, ignoring all wounds, trampling any wolf that didn’t get shouldered aside bodily.
Lorran saw them coming and when it became clear they weren’t stopping, he turned to run. Klaue growled angrily. He couldn’t catch a wolf shifter, no matter how fast he was. His only chance was to stop him before he broke away from the pack.
Putting his head down, he raced forward, taking more wounds as he broke away from his bodyguards, exposing his flanks to the wolves that still remained. None of that mattered. The white wolf yipped, summoning more support from his fellows, but he’d noticed too late that Klaue had sped up.
Gotcha!He launched himself forward, stretching out with his foreleg.
Lorran tried to dodge, but he was a hair too slow. Claws dug deep, parting the white fur and slicing deep into the muscles of the wolf’s hind leg. The force of the blow whipped Lorran around, sending him tumbling. He howled in pain and tried to get up, but his leg caved under the weight.
Klaue knew it wasn’t over. On three legs, Lorran might still escape. That couldn’t be allowed. He too got to his feet and went after the wolf as it hobbled away.
Another wolf tried to block his path, but Klaue just walked right into its range, reached out and swatted it aside as it darted in to try and bite him. The move cost him a fist-sized patch of fur, and left a tooth lodged in his frontside, but the sable-furred wolf slammed into the corner of a crypt and collapsed, leaving no doubt that it was dead.
I have you now!
A human-shaped figure dropped down from the roof of the crypt and drew a line with its hand between the retreating wolf and Klaue. As it did, flames of a pure crimson red erupted from the ground.
Klaue jumped back as heat boiled off the magic wall of fire, barely avoiding getting singed. The mage snapped at Lorran, saying something Klaue couldn’t understand, and then was gone again with a laugh—just a moment before Kvoss appeared in pursuit with an oddly irritated expression fixed on his face.
Frustrated at the delay, he raced around the far end of the flames and resumed his pursuit of Lorran. The wolf was moving quickly, but by reducing it to three legs Klaue had seriously hampered its top speed. He gained on it, sprinting on all four legs through the cemetery, begging for forgiveness from the ancestors of his House and all the other Houses.
Somewhere behind him, someone screamed, a loud, high-pitched noise. He hoped it was the mage. It bothered him to have to leave someone who had caused him so much trouble to another, but Klaue knew that magic wasn’t his strength.Leave it to the professionals. Up ahead, Lorran had disappeared. He raced to catch up. There was no way he was letting him escape now.
