Page 243 of The Lands Defying
His eyes are wary, looking around at all the Elites still here, looking at Josh who’s baring his teeth at him while Hudson holds Colten back with an arm banded around his chest.
When he sees no one is following, he stands and turns, running into the trees, his arms pumping to go as fast as he can.
Rhea watches for a moment or two, and then the change is swift and quick.
The hunt is on.
She gives chase and I follow, also turning wolf. My paws hit the dirt floor, tails high as we keep pace with Rhea, but just a little further back.
I see the brown wolf up ahead that can only be Parick, and he tries to lose Rhea, running around trees, going in and out of them but it is no use. He is but a wolf, not an Heir.
I see the bottom of Rhea’s feet pulse a light blue, and then she’s off, racing through the trees and gaining on her prey.
“We are not about to be left behind, Drax,” I say to him and we pick up the pace.
Watching Rhea hunt her prey ahead does something to me, like the first time I saw her come back with a deer for her pack.
Knowing she had hunted it all on her own, took it down… I growl low, excitement rushing to the surface.
My Vihnarn is strong.
We run until we are parallel to them, just off to the side to give her space, but also close enough if she needs me. The fucker could turn suddenly and try to hurt her, but he will just prolong his suffering if he does.
Rhea reaches him after another boost, and I watch with eagerness as she lands on his back, tackling him to the floor. He thrashes, teeth bared and snapping, his legs scratching for purchase to get her off. Rhea bites the back of his neck, and he growls full of pain.
After everything she has endured, after what I read in the fucking book that I burned, after what she told me, the way she reacts to things, like small, dark spaces…It’s taking everything in me to stand back and watch, to not get rid of what hurt her.
He manages to get her off of him, turning and lunging at her and biting her front leg. She yelps and I growl, the flames on my body rising, but Rhea quickly recovers and charges at him again.
She’s impressive considering she hasn’t been wolf for that long. I suspect even though they hadn’t fully connected, Rhea and Runa have connected in other ways over the years, and it shows now with how in sync they are.
They circle each other, and then lunge again, continuing their fight as I stay sentry, watching as his blood coats the floor which has my pulse kicking up.
It makes me want to join her in ripping him to shreds.
When Rhea does a particularly nasty bite to his leg, the wolf once again becomes male with a pained cry, and she follows.
Patrick stands there, bleeding from all sorts of places, sweating and panting. Rhea on the other hand looks cold, hateful. I don’t like this look on her face, though it is warranted.
I change, then stride over to them and Patrick notices me, but I lean against a tree as he sneers my way, though fear shines in his eyes.
“Two against one? Who’s the coward now?”
I scoff. “I’m simply the observer.”
“How fortuitous for me.”
“No,” I say, “It isn’t. I am here to make sure my Vihnarn is well, and I am here if she needs me. Which she won’t, she is capable of doing this all on her own.”
“But you are here,” he sneers, looking over Rhea for any signs of weakness.
He will find none.
“She is mine, where she is, I am.”
“Are you going to let him treat you like property,” he spits at Rhea. “I knew you were a whore, but spreading them for the Alpha of the Elites?” My whole body locks at his words, remembering that I once said something similar to her. “Vihnarn?” he scoffs. “He doesn’t even like you, you know that, right? He just wants power like the Highers do. He probably hates you.”
I move toward him, anger flowing over me but Rhea halts me when she lifts up her hand. My jaw tics.
