Page 149 of Awakened
“I’m fine. I just need to rest. You need to go give Marie backup. She has no idea how things have shifted in the last ten minutes.” She slapped my hindquarters, urging me back to the fray.
Marie and Alpha Stewart slowly shook off their frozen state.
“Alpha Stewart, I’m willing to give up my soul to end you.” Marie shook her hands, but nothing happened. Her eyebrows drew together as I approached her. Tilting her head, her mouth dropped open. “She didn’t—” Marie whipped her head toward the porch and snarled. “Rose, my curse? You didn’t!” A growl rolled through her chest.
Grandma Rose struggled to sit up. “Not now, Marie.”
Alpha Stewart grabbed Marie by the throat, and her claws sunk into his forearms. I was on his leg in an instant.
He struggled to kick out. “Get off me, you bitch!”
I clamped down harder. The taste of blood ignited a feral need to destroy. Stewart’s hands uselessly grabbed at my mouth.
“Girl, you need to let him go. You can’t kill him in this state.”
I snarled at my alpha.
She’s trying to take my kill.
Something in me demanded his life and the life of anyone who got in my way.
“Beta Celeste, stand down.”
I could hear the authority in Marie’s voice, but my body rejected the compulsion to bend to it.
Destruction was my number one concern.
Swiping a paw out, I brought Alpha Stewart to his back. I released his leg for one second, and in that moment, Marie tackled me, still in human form.
Pinning me in the mud, she wrapped around me. “Les, you can’t give into the curse. You kill that fucker with his blood in your mouth, and you’ll never be satisfied. Tap into your heart—think about Brandon, the Amazons, and your friends. They need you.”
I growled.
No one’s going to stop me.
More weight fell on top of me. From their small whines, I knew it was Emily and Sarah.
I struggled to free myself. There was a crunch, and the battlefield cleared as Old Church wolves retreated into the woods. Howls filled the air, our fighters pushing them out of the yard as the vicious storm finally let up.
Within a few minutes, the cicadas drowned out the movement around us.
Rage burned through me.
They stole my kill.
I pushed up, nearly forcing the three women off me. More weight piled on. By the smell of them, it was Bonnie and Taylor.
My growling only got louder.
I will cut through every single one of them if they don’t back the fuck up.
Grandma Rose knelt before me and reached toward my face. I lashed out, my teeth barely missing her fingers.
She swatted my nose with a tsk. “Stop it. Focus on my touch.” She began to mutter nonsense, her warm hands caressing my muzzle. Peace forced its way through me. My eyes fell shut, and the rage fought against her influence.
Grandma Rose kissed the top of my head. “Don’t worry, honey. We'll figure this out.”
Giving into the calm, I drifted asleep.
