Page 7 of Their Mate
I had no time to catch my breath before one massive feral leaped at me. I ducked low, feeling the wind from its snapping jawsbrush past my neck. Pivoting swiftly, I drove my knife into the beast’s flank, ripping it free just as the feral howled and spun away. Hot blood splattered my face, stinging my eyes.
Another beast tackled me from behind, and the force of the impact drove me face first into the dirt, knocking the breath from my lungs. My blade skittered from my grip, landing just out of reach. Panic surged like wildfire through my veins as the feral pinned me down, razor-sharp teeth snapping in my ear. With a roar, I twisted hard, shoving the feral wolf off me.
“Declan!” Lila’s desperate scream cut through my panic.
My hand closed around the fallen blade, and I plunged it into the beast’s throat, cutting its roar short in a sudden spurt of blood.
I staggered upright, turning back toward Lila just in time to see her thrown violently to the ground, another creature bearing down on her. Pure horror froze me for half a heartbeat. Then I charged, sprinting toward her with every ounce of strength I had left.
“No!” I bellowed.
But before I could reach her, searing pain exploded through my shoulder, tearing a scream from my throat as powerful jaws sank deep, bone and muscle crushed beneath pointed fangs. I stumbled forward, spinning around and seeing the feral’s glowing, maddened eyes locked onto mine as it wrenched its teeth free, blood pouring from the gaping wound it left behind.
I staggered back, shock making my limbs heavy. My vision wavered. The feral circled closer, saliva dripping from its jaws as it prepared to finish me off.
Then a blur shot past me.
Aidan.
He collided with the beast, their bodies slamming together in a clash of power and fury. Teeth flashed, snarls ripping through the clearing as they fought viciously, fur and blood flying in every direction.
I spun toward Lila again, but time stopped cold.
She lay on the ground, her blue eyes wide, staring blankly upward. Blood seeped slowly from a deep wound across her chest, soaking into the dirt beneath her. She wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing.
“Lila!” I choked, agony ripping through my chest.
Just feet away, Kait staggered sideways, her wolf form bleeding, weakened and panting heavily. A feral leaped at her, jaws clamping brutally hard around her throat. Aidan howled, sprinting to help, but it was too late. Kait collapsed, her form crumpling to the earth, eyes fading as the feral lunged again, tearing into her with merciless finality.
Aidan’s howl shattered the night, a sound of raw grief that cracked me open.
I fell to my knees, reality crashing down around me. My world had turned to ruin in mere seconds. Pain radiated from my bitten shoulder, deep and pulsing, but I barely noticed. All I could see were Lila’s lifeless eyes, Kait’s still form, and the anguish etched across Aidan’s wolfish features.
There was no time for grief though, because the ferals weren’t finished yet. They circled us, closing in again, snapping and snarling, hungry to end what they had started.
Aidan shifted back into human form, staggering to my side, battered and bloodied. His green eyes blazed with grief and fury as he met my gaze.
“Declan,” he rasped. “Get up. Now.”
But I was frozen, kneeling helplessly, my heart ripped apart.
Aidan’s strong hand grasped my shoulder, pulling me up to face the approaching ferals.
“Stand,” he growled. “They would want us to fight.”
My pulse pounded like a war drum, faster and faster, louder and louder, until it was all I could hear. The world around me narrowed, darkening at the edges, closing into a tunnel.
Then everything exploded.
Pain tore through my limbs, deep and searing, every muscle wrenching violently beneath my skin. Bones cracked, snapping and reforming in a cacophony of agony. A guttural roar ripped from my throat, echoing through the clearing—wild, and full of a rage I’d never known before.
A deep, new power within me was taking over, a dark and savage thing.
I’d been bitten. I was a wolf now. A shifter.
The ferals paused, hesitation flickering in their eyes as they stared at me, but it was too late for them to run. The creature within me had already seized control.
I surged forward, propelled by an uncontrollable fury, feeling strength explode through my new form. My claws dug into the earth, tearing great gouges into the dirt as I charged.
