Page 69 of The Dark War

Looks like they were in some deep poo.

Creed stood with another man, who looked like his father, scolding Adam. His tattered robes and cloak held dried blood with dirt and debris. Adam sneered at Creed’s father, yelling that Creed was the one at fault for the death of the alpha, his stepfather, and mother.

Goddess, what drama was this?

Kane motioned for the wolves to surround the tribe, linking them to get the women and children away from the upcoming fight.

“All lies!” Amora screamed, walking up to Adam. Her claws lengthened, running toward Adam, scratching his chest. The brutality of his now ex-mate made Adam falter, falling to the ground. Dragon warriors pushed her back. “You want proof!” Amora yelled. “Look at my mark!” Pulling her tunic to the side, the once light mark was now dark. Nicholas, Amora’s bodyguard, wrapped his arm around her.

Holy crap. Mates.

“This is the mark of a true mating! The dragon is dark, solidifying the bond. My dragon is stronger now! Can you feel it!? Feel how she burns in anger at the one we used to call our mate and Alpha!” Amora’s dragon radiated, growling until she shifted again. Her muscles rippled across her light green scales.

Yup, poo has hit the fan now.

I snarled, listening to the outrageous lies Adam spouted. It was obvious Adam was lying, yet members of his tribe looked dumbfounded. How could Kane not have known any of this for so many years that he was lying?

“Look.” Marcus nodded his nose to the satchels that hung from the elder’s waists. Bits of white powder hung around the outside.

“Memory powder!” Kane boomed. The ripple of betrayal gripped his heart as he watched his former friend. All hell broke loose as we heard the name Apollo shouted across the snow. Kane’s claws raked across a nearby tree. Adam and Apollo attacked each other, the elders trying to fade into the crowd.

Nope, not happening.

Warriors pulled the innocent back while Kane, Marcus, and I wrestled the five elders that tried to pull away. Kane quickly gripped hold of two, ripping arms out of sockets. They wailed in pain as I grabbed another by the ankle.

My more diminutive form was a challenge as I pulled the large dragon shifter away. I pulled him further from the innocent dragons who were being herded away. I felt weak, but I was able to roll the elder to his back. His eyes reddened with anger, pulling at the pouch attached to his waist and throwing the white dust into my eyes.

Giana sneezed, roaring, pulling the healing agent inside us to bypass the memory powder. “Got this,” she murmured. Shaking our head, the memory powder flew off our maw. I blinked, still remembering the task at hand.

“Figured out how to heal us,” Giana answered my question before I asked, and she forced us forward. Landing on top of the elder, his eyes widened as he realized it wouldn’t work on us.

My teeth pulled at his shoulder, and he wailed, dropping the powder beside him. The blood on my maw dripped as I pulled away, ready to go for his neck, until I felt a sharp pain impale my stomach. His claws pulled out, full of my blood. I paused, feeling the warm glow of my healing taking over.

Rolling off, I whimpered. The outside of my body healed faster than the inside. Giana wailed, howling, not just in pain but loss. My vision doubled, and my body staggered to get away. This was just a flesh wound. I should have healed far faster than I was.

The elder propped up on his good elbow, grinning wickedly as the blood from my stomach healed. Gods, the pain I felt inside my body was worse than I expected. I retched, throwing up blood from my stomach.

The elder crawled toward me, his claws pulling at the bloody snow.

Chuckling, he pointed to my stomach until he spitefully threw his head back. I whimpered again, slowly steading myself on all four paws, trying to ignore the searing pain. “Your wolf can’t heal that.” He snorted.

Pouncing forward, I sunk my teeth into the hand that dared to impale me, twisting it until I heard it crack. Holding back a scream, the elder continued to chuckle until I pushed him to his stomach, standing on his back. “Kane will be distraught once he finds out,” he said. Growling, my teeth went around his neck, snapping it before another word could be heard from him. Once his body grew lifeless, I fell to the ground, panting.

“Are you all right?” Marcus nudged me with his cold nose. He had the memory powder satchel beside him. Whimpering, still feeling the searing pain in my stomach, I hummed, gritting my teeth. Kane ran toward me, blood dripping down his torso’s front and scooping me up.

“Clara.” He whimpered, holding me. “What happened?” I grunted, shifting back in his arms as he held me. Marcus pulled a dried piece of leather from a nearby clothesline for Kane to wrap me.

“Your stomach—” Kane’s half-beast body looked down at me with the most concerned facial expression. I didn’t think it was possible with the hair, the teeth, and the blazing red eyes he had. His claw ran over the lower part of my stomach. Claw marks from the elder ran across it. It wasn’t healing. The pain subsided, feeling the warmth of his padded paws.

Yells of mercy echoed the clearing. Adam lay on the ground, half-charred as Creed hovered over him. “He’s gone,” Kane murmured, holding me close, shifting back into his human form.

“Take the powder back,” Kane commanded Marcus. His teeth wrapped around the satchel, bursting through the crowd. “We will have Taliyah look at it and see what she can make of it.” I nodded, holding my hand to my stomach.

Something was terribly wrong, but I wasn’t sure what. I moved awkwardly, shifting in Kane’s hold to feel the beating of his heart. Not caring about the blood covering our bodies, I wrapped my arms around his neck, needing to feel his warmth. My body tensed again, feeling the rolling of pain in my stomach again.

“Clara,” Giana whined.

“What’s wrong with us?” I bit my lip as I asked her. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know. Were we dying?

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