Page 73 of Wild Wolves

“We’ll kill all of you! Leave us alone. Eliana is ours!” Adam yells, swinging his branch, knocking the other wolf back. “She has been claimed by Sunset Pointe. Any act against us is an act against their pack.”

“Smart little bastard.” Ravi mutters, his voice growing louder in my mind. That, or I’m growing weaker.

The wolf responds to Adam with a long, low howl. Another wolf howls from the trees, and the wolf vanishes. I can’t believe they backed off.

“Not for long. They’re just regrouping and talking to their alliances.” Ravi refuses to get out of my head. I wish he would speak to someone else instead. I can’t communicate with the guys. I can’t do much of anything as another bout of pain crashes through me.

I think I black out.

One second, I was in Chase’s arms, and in the next, Tristan cradles me. Fear clenches my chest, and I thrash, my mind refusing to cooperate with my body. Cracks sound through the air, and I feel something inside me pop. I scream, the agony intensifying. And then I see it. My fingers curl in, cracking and breaking, the transformation deforming my body. Horror leaves me reeling. I can’t believe this is really happening. The moon calls to my very being, forcing my body into a beastly state. Fur sprouts along my forearms, and a guttural, wet noise escapes my mouth. I can see my nose changing, my face aching as if someone punches me.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Tristan chants the words, locking his arms around my writhing body tighter. “What do I do? She’s changing.”

“Just keep holding her. Watch her teeth. She might try to devour you or some shit. We don’t know if she’ll keep her humanity as a wolf.” Adam stays out of my view, and I listen to the world around me, trying to focus on anything else to distract me as I turn into the strange creature. The last thing I expected in my life was to be kidnapped and brought to an island. But turning into a lykoswulf? It’s unthinkable.

“Davian? Davian, can you hear me?” Chase’s voice swirls through the air, and I realize that he handed me to Tristan because Davian now lays flat on his stomach in the sand. His back arches, and I spot coppery fur tearing through his clothes.

“We’re not going to fucking make it out alive.” Evander growls with his words, his voice stabbing me right in my soul.

More howls call through the air, the cacophonous sound the most terrifying melody I’ve ever heard. It’s even worse than the screams of the unlucky. It’s worse than the cries for mercy. Because the howls come from those out to get us. Those hunting us in an attempt to stop the other packs from claiming new packmates.

Tristan groans deep in his throat, and the world drops out from under me. I crash to the sand, landing on my belly, and I stare at the two mahogany-colored paws burying in the sand. Holy fucking shit. That’s me. These two appendages were once my arms, but now they’re part of some freaky-ass monstrous beast.

I wish I had a mirror to see my reflection. I can’t get over how long my nose has become. The world shifts in color, the dark sky brightening and the ocean turning from gray to blue as if the sun rises. I see colors unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, the ethereal sight leaving me senseless.

I’d continue to stare at the beauty of the world around me if Adam didn’t holler. His voice whips through me, lashing my spirit, and I jerk my attention to where he kneels in the sand, transforming before my eyes.

“You better get your ass up, princess. It’s time to run.” Ravi’s voice sounds as if he sits next to me, but he’s not here. He’s nearby though, being a complete asshole and refusing to help the rest of my group. He’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going to just leave them.

“Fuck you. Leave me alone. If you’re going to stand by like an infraborne, you’re not worthy of making such demands of me.” My words resonate through me.

Ravi growls, his voice reverberating through my bones. He materializes in the tree line, staring at me from a couple feet away. I knew he was a stalking asshole. His white wolf form glides forward like a phantom in the night. His eyes shine golden, and he bares his teeth. I expect him to pounce on me and try to force me into submission, but he watches over me instead and crashes into another wolf, trying to sneak up on me from behind.

The two wolves roll, snarling and biting, sending fur flying through the air. I force myself up, my new form stupid-complicated to get used to as I try to stand on two legs, the task impossible. It feels awkward as hell being this low to the ground. My wolf body trembles, but at least the agony subsides, leaving an annoying ache in its place.

I stumble forward, landing on my belly again. I need to figure this shit out and fast. The others need me. They all remain in various states of transformation, the process taking longer than I had expected. It may be my lineage that gave me an advantage. But is that enough to make up for the bullshit that comes along with my grandmother’s bloodline? Absolutely not. Too many of these assholes think that my sole purpose in life is to breed power. All I feel like doing is destroying it. I want to sink my teeth into anyone who tries to get in my way.

I’m nobody’s omega. I’m nobody’s supposed mate.

A whimper catches my attention, and I crawl closer to Chase and Davian as they wriggle through the pain. I press my pink nose into Davian’s coppery fur, nudging him from his back and onto his side. Pain explodes at my backside, and something drags me a couple feet by my—Fuck. I have a tail. This is some other bullshit.

Jerking around, my wolf form releases an automatic growl, and I snap my teeth at a hulking grey wolf twice the size of Kellan. The wolf snaps back, grabbing onto the scruff of my neck and swinging me away. I don’t even know how to use my legs. I roll a couple times until a wave crashes over me, and I find myself floundering in the ocean.

“Rocco! Stop! Don’t do this.” Kellan’s words whirl through my mind, but I can’t see him anywhere.

Teeth lock onto the back of my neck, and the wolf drags me from the waves. I blow out water through my nostrils, unable to orient myself. I can’t think, let alone fight, and it gives this giant grey wolf an advantage.

“She was supposed to be mine. I cannot have a she-wolf tainted by the bite of the Sunset Pointe pack. They took her from me, so I will take her from them.” The snarly voice ignites panic inside me. This is Kellan’s alpha. He’s the one that Kellan has been disobeying when he was helping me.

“Please, Rocco. She’s my soulmate.” Kellan’s desperation ties around my heart, squeezing it.

“Infraborne don’t have soulmates! They don’t have mates at all.” Heavy paws slam into my side, pinning me down. My survival instincts kick on, and I thrash, trying to roll out from beneath this monster wolf.

“Rocco—” Kellan’s voice cuts off at the same time another grey wolf appears.

The weight of his alpha vanishes off me, and I force my paws to work, lifting myself up in the sand. Pain radiates through me, but it’s not my own. Kellan’s alpha and another wolf go after him, snarling and ripping at his fur, trying to force him into submission and to back down.

I spot more wolves coming from the trees and heading in the direction of Evander and Tristan. I think they might belong to the packs that bit them, and now they’re coming to take them away.

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