Page 81 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
I scrambled backward as the tree-thing thrust one dark-wood arm toward me.
Bloodbound.
The tendrils of wood lengthened like leather, the end spreading like a maw of snakes reaching for me. It was death. That’s what it was. I stared it down, my spine gone silent. It knew this was the end. There was no escaping it.
To my left a branch snapped. It was followed by a growl so deep the very forest floor vibrated in return.
Out of the bushes stepped a humungous gray beast, stopping the tree-thing cold with its presence. Death receded in my eyes as I stared at the familiar gray wolf. One eye flashed with fire, the other with ice as it stared down the tree-monster, the two wicked gashes down its flank a vibrant warning that it was not afraid of a fight.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lincoln
Another growl filled my throat as I crouched low on all fours. How dare it. Howdarethisthingtry to bring harm to her. White-hot fury burned its way through my veins. She was mine. Mine to have. Mine to hold.
Mine to protect.
A vicious snarl lashed at the air between us as I bristled at the audacity of the creature that thought it could touchmywoman. The pain was wiped away like it had never been there, the still-healing wounds from the night before no more than a footnote under the anger infusing me with fresh strength. That strength had but one purpose, one desire, one need.
Murder anything that thought it could bring harm to Vee.
I didn’t know what I faced. The shiny ebony skin-armor looked mildly like tree bark, but the facelessthingwas unknown to me. Something new. But the stench of the Chained was all over it. That much was clear.
Recovering from my unexpected presence, the spindly creature again reached down toward Sylvie, ignoring me.
Big mistake.
Incredibly powerful muscles twitched, and I launched myself across the clearing in the blink of an eye, slamming the bulk of my massive dire wolf body into it. The creature was tossed back while I stood over my Vee, my teeth bared, snarling until I frothed at the mouth.
Limbs reached down into the forest floor, latching on and acting like anchors, as the monster spun through the air. The thing came to a stop and oriented upward. The entire time, it didn’t make a sound. Moving in eerie silence, it started toward Vee once more, ignoring me.
I stepped forward, blocking its path. One of its tree-limb-like arms whipped out with impossible speed, aiming to simply slap me aside. I barely ducked the blow—but not the backhand. Reversing its course, the limb crashed firmly into my flank, knocking me down and out of the way.
Rolling hard, I leaped to my feet the instant I could recover and pounced on the creature, pushing aside the astonishment at how hard it could hit with just one arm. The power of the Chained was pouring from it now, growing stronger with every passing breath. This was no rabid animal. No warped shadow creature. Whatever this thing was, it was the next stage of the Chained breaking its bonds.
Taking the tree-thing to the ground, I tore giant chunks of soft wooden armor from its flank and then bounced away before it could retaliate. Whatever its purpose, the single-minded focus on Sylvie was certainly helping.
Darting back in, I took a chunk out of its leg and then raced back out of reach just ahead of the strike. Now that I knew howfast it could move, I could time my attacks better and make sure—
Its leg split in half in a giant sweeping kick that should have been impossible given its forward momentum. The blow slammed into my flank with sledgehammer force, landing right on top of the deep cuts left from the night before.
Agony blinded me as I was thrown halfway across the little clearing. A tiny sapling gave way, simply snapping in half as I went right through it, the splinters not even noticeable under the intense pain lashing at my eyes.
When I came to a halt, my body was crying out for a moment’s respite—a second to catch its breath, to recover and let the pain subside. My wolf and I disagreed with the physical manifestation of ourselves. There simplywasno time. Take a second, and the tree-thing would get to Sylvie. That absolutely couldnothappen. Not while I still drew breath.
United in our furor, we forced ourselves up on all four legs. The world spun around us, but we took a step forward anyway. And then another. Sylvie was helpless before the tree-thing, and it was up to us, up to me, to stop it. Any way I could. If that meant suffering further pain for her, so be it. I would do whatever it took, to make sure she survived.
I couldn’t do less. Regardless of what I tried to tell myself, I couldn’t ignore that Sylvie was coming to be a core part of who I was. Of what I was. Without her …
Without her.
Cold fear at the idea of losing her dulled my brain, dulled my pain. Dulled everything except for the one thing that mattered—the battle ahead of me. Saving Sylvie.
Throwing myself clear across the gap, I landed on the tree-thing. My claws dug deep into its wooden armor, ripping gaps.Then I bounced off, and hit it again. And again. Driving it back, step by step, while ripping its outer body apart until it was practically shredded.
But nothing stopped it. Inexorably, bit by bit, it slowed my progress. Then it began to push forward. It hit back. Blood poured down my sides, and into my right eye, partially blinding me. Still it came on.
I didn’t yield. I couldn’t. Sylvie needed me.
