Page 12 of Hunted By Wolves and Shadow
Was I on the same path now? Would I end up all monster like him, the last glimmers of the man snuffed out by the shadows?
The passionate hatred I’d felt at learning Emi’s true name still lingered alongside the fiery call of the Mist in my flesh, and I felt closer now to becoming that monster than I’d ever been. Closer even than when my own canines had sunk into the Ruby Witch’s throat, or when I’d bathed her blood from my fur after scratching dirt over her grave.
All this time—annums of it spent fighting this—to come so close to ending the curse only to have it swell into this, worse than ever. I would never be free. What was I fighting anymore?
A fist in my ribs brought me lurching from my thoughts.
“Ow,” I snarled down at her.
Emi’s eyes turned to wide circles. “Your teeth,” she squeaked.
Curses and clouds. The Mist’s effects lingered.
I shoved back to my knees and scrambled off her, willing my mouth back to normal. My hands brushed down my arms as if that could rid me faster of the hint of reddish fur sprouting there. Given the brightness of the clearing, I assumed my eyes were still half-changed to their more light-sensitive form, so I blinked until the dim gloom returned. When it felt safe to talk, I faced her.
“I think you mean ‘thank you,’ since I just saved your life.”
She gawked at me, blinking furiously with tiny shakes of her head as if she couldn’t trust her own eyes. Nostrils flared as her breaths came hard and fast.
The reek of her fear and blood hung heavy in the air, but she stood with a flush of rage flooding her cheeks.Now. Now is when I would see her power.
I had no words for my surprise when she simply flung herself at me, hands clenched and eyes narrowed.
“You killed my grandma! You think I care about what you did now? You’re a murderer. You lied. This whole time! You think I care about anything else you’ve said or done?” She punctuated each shouted accusation with a hurled fist. “Liar. Killer. Swine.”
It was comically easy to dodge her flailing limbs, as if she had no training in combat whatsoever. But she was a gemstone witch, not some innocent village girl. She wouldn’t attack me if she couldn’t fight me.
“I wasn’t the only one lying, was I,witch?”
As if my words reminded her of our situation, she backed away, turning wide eyes toward the forest where the fenriswulf still stalked us.
“Yeah…You’re not escaping that way.”
Her gaze swung back to me, fear returning with a sharp tang. “You…You…” Bright green eyes darted from the forest to me to the cottage and back again. They landed on the ax.
“Oh no you don’t.” I stepped between her and the stump.
“Just let me go,” she said, fresh fear pouring off her.
“Go where? You might be immune to the Mist, little witch, but you’re not immune to that.” I gestured to the prowling beast.
Nothing about this was adding up. What was her magic? Why hadn’t she used it to protect herself?
Blood trickled down her arm where teeth had grazed her. Maybe that first attack had come too fast for her to react, but she’d had time since then. Why wasn’t she using magic against me?
I probably shouldn’t wait for her to remember she had power. I should be the one grabbing the ax to protect myself. I should be the one fearful and retreating. No matter her innocent act from the previous day, I saw the truth now. I should have already ended the threat she posed.
It had been a very long time since I’d spent this much consecutive time as a man, and it was clear I was letting the wrong instincts and desires control my thoughts where Emi was concerned. The wolf would have known better. He would have seen past her big eyes and big laugh to the rot at the core.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at,Emerald, but I see through you. This fair exterior doesn’t hide your foul nature. That,”—I stopped to point at Fenrir in his monstrous shape—“that foul beast has a heart more fair than yours, I promise you.”
“You know nothing about me, you animal! You’re as much a monster as that thing is,” she snapped.
“I never claimed otherwise.”
We froze, our gazes locked together in matching glares. A deadly hush draped across the clearing, smothering us in silence. Even the fenriswulf stopped growling, and any other life had long since been scared off by the battle raging here.
I sucked in a breath. “Yes, I may be a monster and a killer, but so was your beloved grandmother. She was far worse than any beast, and I doubt you’re any better. So go ahead. Prove me right, little witchling. Use your wicked magic and do your worst. We both know I deserve it.”
