Page 98 of Mortal Shift
Three figures loped into the clearing, human—or at least, human shaped—followed by a pair of wolves. All heads turned to look their way.
“Stop,” Ryker commanded, and the circle fell still. He strode forward to its center, locking eyes on the newcomers. “You’re interrupting a sanctioned moon hunt.”
The taller of the human figures, completely unfamiliar to me but lean and wiry in a way that suggested he was strong and fast, and still in a way that said he was self-disciplined and wholly in control of his power, dipped his chin in acknowledgement, but not low enough to suggest submission.
“Forgive the intrusion, Alpha Ryker. We’re here on official council business. You have a shifter by the name of Cole Bryant here?”
All twenty gathered wolves turned to look at the wolf beside me, and I couldn’t keep myself from taking a half step in front of him, shielding him from the penetrating gaze of the newcomers.
“I do. What does the council want with him?”
The man nodded, and his wolves slipped round to circle the two of us.
“Step aside,” the man said to me, and I shook my head.
“What does the council want with him?” Ryker repeated stiffly.
“Cole Bryant,” he said by way of response, “You are under arrest by order of the council.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Arrest?” I spluttered. “Arrest for what?”
At my back, Cole rumbled a low snarl, either at the sentence or the pair of wolves glaring at the woman standing between them and their target—which was exactly where I intended to stay.
“Alpha Ryker,” the man said, “This will be less bloody if you command him to return to his human form. We wouldn’t want the girl to be harmed in the crossfire.”
“Bite me,” I snapped. “This isexactlywhere I belong.”
“Alpha?” the man said tersely, arching a brow.
“Cole,” Ryker said, and I felt the alpha compulsion rolling through his tone. “Shift back to your human form.”
A feral, agonized sound, half howl, half snarl, burst from Cole’s throat and his wolf form seemed to grow smaller and misshapen, bones cracking and changing, but I’d never seen him shift so slowly before…or so painfully.
“Stop fighting it, boy,” Ryker snapped, but Cole’s jaw clenched tighter as he tried to hold this form against the alpha’s command. But Rykerwashis alpha while he was on Darkveil grounds, and slowly but surely, he lost his battle.
Rage burned in his eyes as he completed his shift, trapped in his human form, naked and crouching on the floor. He lunged to his feet at once, and thrust me behind him.
“Don’t be stupid, boy,” Ryker snapped. “You’re outnumbered.”
Cole didn’t look like he cared as he caged me in his arms, keeping me at his back. His head snapped side to side, trying to take in both the new wolves at once, without taking his eyes from the man commanding them.
“I won’t let them hurt my mate,” he snarled.
“Your mate?” The man’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed again. “Then she shares in your crime, and in your punishment.”
“You lay one finger on her, and I’ll fucking kill you,” Cole vowed.
The man turned to the other two behind him, and made a sharp gesture with his head to Cole, which I was pretty sure boded nothing well. They advanced on him, on us, and I felt all Cole’s muscles bunch. We both fixed our eyes on the pair, and that was our mistake.
Movement flashed in my periphery, much too late for me to react. One of the wolves drove itself between us, sending me tumbling in one direction and Cole in the other. I hit the ground hard and cursed, then rolled quickly and came up on my feet. From the corner of my eye I saw Cole mirror the action. His hands came up into a fighting stance, and the two men advanced on him at once, one from either direction, and my heart leaped into my throat. He was a good fighter, but these guys looked like professionals. No way he could take both of them at once.
I lunged forward but the wolf was there, pushing me back with raised hackles and bared fangs. I tried to duck round him, but each step I took he was there, blocking my path, warning me with a guttural snarl.
I heard flesh striking flesh and a grunt of pain and tried to rush past the wolf again, but he jumped easily, his bulk blocking the route to my mate.
“Move, dammit,” I snarled at him, and he snarled right back, his yellow eyes locking with mine.
