Page 79 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

The link crackles and pulses, dread sweeping through it.

Carter flashes to Raven’s side with his supe speed. “You don’t have to do it.”

“Wrong.” Jinx swings her hand up.

Bea squeaks, flying into the air upside down like there’s a rope tied to her ankle. Her hair and hands dangle over her head, and she cries for Raven to save her. The link pulls taut, threatening to snap.

Shrugging Carter off, she drops to her knees, blood seeping into her pants, and holds her trembling hands over Howard.

“I’ll do it. Put her down, carefully.”

Tsking, Jinx wags her finger. “Not until you do what I asked.”

Raven nods, glancing at us with wide green eyes. The link is flooding with too many emotions, each so strong they overpower one another until all I can make out is a mass of darkness. A pit of despair yawning inside the link. Carter falls to his knees at her side.

He places a hand on her back. “I’m here.”

I join them, kneeling on her other side and putting my palm above his.

Draco, Brayden, and Adler kneel on the other side of Howard, nodding at Raven when she looks at them with damp cheeks. With one shaky breath, she snaps her eyes shut, whispering to herself. Every word spoken fills the link with ichor, the tar like substance sludging up the connection with Raven. I meet Carter’s gaze over her head, wrinkling my brow when my stomach clenches.

Make her stop, my wolf says, sounding afraid for what has to be the first time.

I don’t know how, and even if I did, I can’t. She won’t stop until Bea is safe.

He whines when whispers fill my head, bleeding through the link. The voices of the dead. Images flash through my mind. Guns firing, bullets piercing chests. Endless rivers of blood. Hands clutching chests. Pained moans as bodies writhe in pain. Metal crumpling when two vehicles collide head on, crushing the people inside. Screams reverberate, bouncing around inside my head. My wolf snarls at it, snapping his teeth to try and make it stop. I shove at the images and sounds, but they won’t leave. If anything, the more I fight them the louder and more vivid they become.

“Raven,” Adler says, fisting his hands. “Stop.”

She shakes her head, face wrinkling in annoyance, but she continues to mutter, drawing more of the vile power into the pack link.

“Death.” Brayden growls, eyes flicking to mine. “She uses his power to bring people back.”

He hasn’t explained a lot about what happened when he died, but unease is written all over his face, telling me my wolf’s worry is valid. Whatever she’s doing is dangerous.

“Vivo,” she says loudly, snapping her eyes open. They’re greener than I’ve ever seen them, almost electric in color.

Jinx gasps, but we all ignore her to watch Raven bring Howard back to life.

Howard draws a raspy breath, sickly wet with the fluid in his lungs, and his fingers twitch. Slowly, his chest rises, filling with air, and his eyelids flutter open. The zeta’s eyes are dull and milky, not entirely white like Jinx’s. His wound is still open, but there’s no blood left inside of his body, so all that’s left is gaping slash marks and bright red tissue. He makes a few incoherent sounds, reaching for Raven. I grab his wrist to keep him from touching her and release a warning growl.

“It’s okay,” Raven says, placing her fingers on my arm. “I’m his connection to the world. He doesn’t want to hurt me; he wants to understand.”

Glancing at her, I take in her damp cheeks, red eyes, and trembling lips. She squeezes my arm, so I release Howard, glaring at him to make sure he doesn’t try anything stupid. Grasping his hand, Raven scoots closer to him, dragging her legs through the blood as she goes. The warm liquid covers me when I move with her, the rich copper scent growing stronger with the displacement.

“Howard,” she whispers. “It’s Raven.”

More incoherent sounds.

“His neck is torn apart. I don’t think he can talk,” Carter says. “See if you can force him to shift.”

“Okay.” She licks her lips, glancing at each of us. A seed of doubt breaks through the ichor filling the bond, growing and blooming into an ugly flower of self-deprecation.

“Hey,” I say, pressing my palm more firmly into her back. “Nothing’s changed. You will always be our luna.”

* * *

RAVEN

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