Page 60 of Veiled Fate
Between them and Lycaonus, it would be over. Everything lost unless someone did something. UnlessIdid something. It hadn’t worked back in the streets of Lycaon, but perhaps now, here, I could make a difference. Either way, I had to try.
Shrugging aside Clive’s arm, I stepped forward to confront Lycaonus. The huge white-furred beast bared its fangs in a challenge.
“What are you doing?” Clive hissed, trying to restrain me.
“Whatever I can,” I replied, slipping free of his grasp.
“But he’ll kill you.”
“He’llprobablykill me,” I said grimly, “and that, unfortunately, is better odds than any of the rest of you have. You’re going to have to trust me on this one.”
“I always have,” Clive said grimly. “I always will.”
And after that, he didn’t argue any further. Perhaps it signaled the changes we’d all gone through. Or maybe he simply didn’t know what else to do. Either way, I faced the Alpha alone.
The guards were too far away to be of any help. All that mattered now was dealing with Lycaonus.
My eyes locked on him as I slowly stripped out of my clothes. The yellow wolf-eyes watched the entire time. Waiting. I braced myself for a surprise attack as I lifted the shirt over my head, but none came. Lycaonus, it seemed, was content for a one-on-one challenge.
That was fine with me. Every second I stalled sent the barge farther upriver from the pursuing guards. It also meant someone might come up with a miraculous plan that would see us survive.
Clenching my jaw, I summoned my wolf, reaching into my mind, unlocking her cage, and welcoming her into my body. Limbs cracked, and joints shifted. My skin disappeared as ivory fur, slightly more yellow than the complete white of Lycaonus, covered it, thickening and lengthening.
My palms grew, partially swallowing my fingers as they turned to claws. The bones in my face lengthened and jutted forward into a snout lined with sharp teeth that I hoped would soon taste Alpha blood.
The world swam with clarity as I dropped to all fours in an easy crouch, colors and scents filling my mind in a dizzying whirlwind.
Lycaonus growled, the low throaty rumble focusing all my attention on him and him alone.
Please, I need your help. Don’t abandon me again, not now. I have to save the others, and I can’t do it alone.
Was that tingling in my limbs a sign that Fate was with me, that she was responding to my pleas? Or was it little more than the tremble of adrenaline pumping through me, keeping me on edge?
There was only one way to find out.
I lunged for Lycaonus with every ounce of speed I possessed, jaws wide, angling for his throat. It was a killing blow and one that I had absolutely no expectation of landing.
Which was good because I didn’t. The beast casually flowed to the side, darting out of my reach. But only barely. I saw in the way his eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in thought that I was closer to striking than he’d expected. That my speed had caught him off guard.
He lunged at me, and we went down in a tangle of limbs and jaws, biting, snarling, scratching, each of us taking cuts and wounds, but nothing serious. Not that there was any such thing as truly serious for Lycaonus. He was an Alpha, an immortal. Even if I tore his throat out, it would only slow him down.
But that was fine. The time it would take for him to return, and heal, would be more than enough for us to make good our escape. I hoped.
Our battle took us from the bow of the transport barge to the stern. We were coated in blood, from ourselves, from each other, and from the dead that littered the deck. Crouching low, I sprang at Lycaonus but not his throat. I hit him in the side, tearing a chunk out of his flank before bouncing away.
The alpha riposted faster than I could see. He barreled into my side before I even felt the wooden decking through my paws as I landed. Tumbling backward as we wrestled, we both went over the side into the water.
“Jada!” Clive roared, rushing to the edge of the barge.
The current had already carried both of our wolves downstream while the wind filled the barge's sails, pulling it upstream. The distance was too great, and there was nothing to be done.
I snarled at him as my legs paddled through the water.Go.
“But—”
The ferocious snarl that ripped from my lungs stopped his argument cold.
Go. Now.
