Page 29 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

And there must be a hundred of them.

Only the first few have managed to pack their way into the building. But looking over their shoulders, I can see the horde of them stretching back almost out of sight.

The one broken window we used to get into this building wasn’t enough for them. They’ve broken two more.

And as my mind adjusts to the horror of what’s happening, I see something that makes my stomach lurch.

One of the Moon Casters is on the floor in a pool of blood, and several Ravagers are grouped around him, tearing into him with their teeth.

I could kill one of them alone. But there’s no way I can beat back a pack like this. They’ll have me down in minutes, and if they get me off my feet, I’ll never get back up.

Still, I can’t just leave him there. I run forward, snapping and snarling, hoping to scare the Ravagers off.

It doesn’t work. Any other enemy would at least bestartled, but Ravagers don’t give a damn. They don’t care for their own lives. They don’t even think about trying to protect themselves or each other. It’s pack mentality taken to a psychotic degree.

So I charge them and swipe one with a claw, opening up a gash along his torso. I sink my teeth into another. Then I pivot and kick the third away hard with my hind legs.

Even the pain doesn’t stop them. They’re rabid. But it’s enough that their victim is able to scramble to his feet and run away, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

He only makes it about ten feet, though.

Then he falls again, and instantly so many are on him that I know there’s no hope.

I don’t have time to take this in for more than a moment because the Ravagers are aware of me now. They’re piling onto me, and I feel teeth sinking into my shoulder—blunt, human teeth, not fangs, but even so, Ravagers bitehard.

I could take one of them. It would be no problem at all.

But another one is biting into my ankle now, and even as I throw off the one on my back, three more are rushing at me, and even more are climbing in the window.

I should have run. I shouldn’t have tried to fight.

But I can’t run from a fight. I’ve never been able to do that.

I throw off attackers again, but they’re coming more quickly now, and I know that if they get on top of me one more time, they’re going to take me down and I’m not going to be able to get back up. This is going to be the way I die—under a swarm of Ravagers, people no stronger than humans, but a lot more insane.

My legs go out from under me.

I’m on the ground.

I feel the weight of them as more and more pile on top of me. I feel my skin tear.

I close my eyes and hope like hell it ends quickly.

And then, suddenly, the pain is gone.

I wheel around, trying to figure out what’s happened. The Ravagers are still all around me. Some of them are even screaming in frustration—a wild, terrifying sound that I wouldn’t even refer to asanimal. But they aren’t touching me. It’s like they can’t.

“Get back,” says a voice, obviously straining.

I spot him then. One of the Moon Casters—not someone I know—has a hand out. His face is tight with effort, his jaw clenched. He’s using magic to keep the Ravagers off me.

“Get upstairs,” he says. “Quick.”

I stare at him. What is he going to do if I leave him here?

“I’m right behind you,” he says. “Go! I can’t hold them much longer.”

I have to get to Emlyn and Milo. That’s the only thing that matters right now. I have to get us out of here.

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