Page 117 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
Strong hands scooped me up. “Gotcha,” Lincoln said, easing me into his arms and down.
“Lincoln!” I struggled in his grip, awakened by his touch.
“Hey, hush,” he murmured. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now. It’s gone. You drove it off. Somehow.”
Pushing his hands away, I got myself to my feet, the world spinning wildly around me. Gritting my teeth, I tried to nail the corners of it in place.
“Sylvie, lie down,” he growled commandingly, standing up and taking me by the shoulders. “You’re badly hurt. But it’s over now. It’s done.”
“No,” I whispered, grabbing at his hands and holding on to them for dear life. “No, it’s not over. Not yet. We have to stop it, Lincoln.”
“You tossed it through my house,” he pointed out. “You stopped it.”
I clutched at him, my eyes wide. “No, you don’t understand. It took something. From inside me. I-I don’t understand, but Lincoln, if it reaches the river …” I shook my head. “You have to stop it from crossing that river.”
“How do you know this?”
“I don’t know!” I shrieked. “But I just used my voice to toss it through your house. Maybe you could trust me on this? I can feel it. Whatever it took … I need it back. The Chained can’t be allowed to have it.”
Lincoln listened and nodded. “You’re right. I should trust you. Let’s go.”
His face and arms sprouted fur and he changed right in front of me, assuming the form of his giant wolf. Tossing his snout behind him, he stared me down. The intent was clear.
Get on.
I leaped for his back.
Chapter Forty-Five
Sylvie
The pain in my shoulder and the rest of my body was secondary as I grabbed fistfuls of fur and held on for dear life. Lincoln tore after the tree-thing. We passed other wolves and he barked orders as he flew by. Some came with us. Others stayed.
I had to focus on not falling off the massive beast as he raced along, following the tree-thing’s tracks out of the den and into the forest beyond. Bushes slashed and tore at my face and arms as we left the borders of the den. I buried myself in his thick fur. Water came down through the canopy out here, drenching my clothing, plastering his fur to his sides, and turning him slick.
“Sorry if I’m grabbing too tight!” I hollered, forced to twist my fingers into his hide to keep from being thrown off.
Once upon a time I had ridden horses for a summer. I’d thought it would be similar. I was wrong. The wolf was sleek and powerful, able to cross terrain a horse would never dare. His spine was straight as he ran, but without a harness or saddle,I had nothing but my fingers and the squeezing of my knees to keep me on him.
If we had to turn sharply, I was doomed.
Around us ran the other wolves, their fur wet and matted as well. Silent and deadly, they followed him into the dark, chasing down … whatwerewe chasing down?
Not just the tree-thing, but something from me. I could picture it now, the darkness oozingoutof me, and into it.
I had a million questions but couldn’t ask a single one of them. Even if we caught up to the tree-thing, it couldn’t answer anyway. It had no mouth, no features. Nothing.
Up ahead, I saw movement in the deepest of shadows. The three-thing. We were closing on it. I bared my teeth. Glancing to the side, I saw a similar look on the face of the wolf nearest me.
While the wolves flowed across the forest like the breeze, the tree-thing seemed to pull itself forward, each extended leg diving into the forest floor and hauling the rest of the body with it. The weird gait was unsettling to watch but undeniably effective. Upon noticing that we were now in sight, it increased speed, reducing our rate of closure.
I couldn’t smell water yet, but at the clip we were moving, it wouldn’t be long before we reached the river. As if sensing this, the other wolves surged ahead, breaking left and right as they raced to intercept the tree-thing.
Lincoln was lagging behind, and I could sense his frustration matching the rumble of thunder audible through the treetops.
“Let me off!” I shouted, spewing water as it dripped down my face. “I’m only holding you back.”
The answering snarl told me all I needed to know about his feelings regardingthatmatter. He didn’t want to leave me alone. I wasn’t keen on being stranded in a dark magical forest either.We pushed on, perhaps even picking up the pace a bit, but I knew that had to be tiring for him. He’d already fought a battle tonight.
