Page 103 of Blade's Battle
Anna woke to screams and growls, and the horrific sight of two men being ripped to pieces by a brown and tan wolf. The men’s bone-chilling wails opened a new terror inside of her, until she recognized her savior. Blade, except it wasn’t Blade, not entirely, not the way he continued to shred the man who was already bleeding out on the ground.
“Lay still, Anna,” a calm, low voice said from somewhere behind her.
“Callen?”
Why wasn’t he stopping Blade? Her attacker was dead, but Blade’s wolf continued to tear into the mercenary.
When she tried to sit up, her ribs and face exploded in pain. The cry that tore from her was unavoidable, and it caught the wolf’s attention. Yellow eyes, not Blade’s brown ones, locked on her. Gums pulled back, exposing sharp white teeth with bits of blood and flesh between them. The low growl made her freeze. No, this wasn’t Blade. He’d given in to his wolf, to save her.
“Callen?”
No answer.
She needed to get Blade back from his wolf, to remind him who he was. “You’re safe now, Blade. The men are dead. You can come back to me.”
The wolf’s hackles remained up. Even if she were in the shape to run, Blade was in there somewhere, and she wouldn’t abandon him.
Anna laid her head back on the ground and started talking about anything that came to mind. From her childhood and her summer jobs as a junior volunteer at a hospital to her time in college and summers as a research assistant at a zoo. The wolf didn’t back away, but he didn’t advance either. Yellow eyes locked on Anna as he stood there, watching, waiting.
A black wolf slammed into Blade from the side, sending them both crashing into a tree. Another wolf, tan and white, jumped out of nowhere and descended on Blade. The gut-wrenching sound of growls mixed with yelps of pain filled the air as they took Blade down in a flurry of teeth, claws, and blood. Blade wouldn’t submit. His teeth clamped down onto legs, backs, anything he could grab hold of, but he was outnumbered, and they were wearing him down. More yelps and whimpers as they delivered bite after bite trying to subdue him.
They were going to kill him.
“Stop!” she yelled. They wouldn’t stop, not until Blade submitted.
And then it was done, the black wolf’s jaws clamped around Blade’s throat. Wild, gold eyes desperately sought a way to escape. Anna dropped to her knees beside Blade’s wolf.
“Please, Blade. Shift back! I need you. Don’t let your wolf win!”
Callen released a low growl, a warning to Blade probably since Anna stood so close. She didn’t care that Blade’s claws could strike her. If Blade didn’t come back to her, Callen would kill him.
Blade’s wolf bared its teeth and struggled against Callen’s death-grip, but made no sound. Callen’s grip was too tight.
A hand gently gripped her shoulder from behind. “Anna, it’s time.”
Frank stood behind her, his voice as soothing as could be. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. In a few days, they were supposed to return to the pack to blood-bond, to permanently calm his wolf and then start their lives together.
“I can’t leave him,” she said, reaching out to Blade’s wolf with her hand.
His gums pulled back in a snarl as her hand neared, but he couldn’t move his head, not with Callen’s jaws digging into his throat. Once move and Blade would be dead.
Blade’s wolf didn’t seem to recognize Anna, but she didn’t let that stop her. She kept advancing, reaching for his head. With two fingers, she stroked from the top of his snout back between his eyes to his head. Anna buried her head in the fur between his ears and cried. Then Frank was lifting her.
“No!”
“We promised him you wouldn’t watch.” Frank carried her past the trees. She could no longer see Blade’s wolf. Her heart felt tight and her soul empty, dark, utterly lifeless. Blade’s name tore from her throat with a cry that echoed through the canyon.
In the distance, a howl pierced the darkness, carrying love and sorrow. Blade was saying goodbye.
“Let me down!” Anna kicked and screamed until Frank dropped her.
She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her ribs and face. Several times she stumbled and would have fallen, except for Frank who ran beside her and steadied her.
When she reached the spot Callen and Frank had taken Blade down, Callen and Blade’s wolves were gone. Had Callen already killed Blade and dragged his body off?
“Where are they?” she pounded her fists against Frank.
“Here, Angel,” the softest voice said behind her.
