Page 80 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

Then a bolt of lightning crashes down from the sky, so close that I cry out in shock. I can actually feel the ground shake.

A moment later, the sky clears.

Emlyn collapses to the ground.

Wilder drops his hands and runs to her side.

I look at Milo. “What happened?”

In answer, he points to the charred remains of a body lying on the ground where, just a moment ago, Victor was standing.

48

WILDER

Somewheredeepinsidemyself,I’m horrified at what I just saw.

She should not have been able to do that.

I knew Emlyn was skilled at elemental magic. I knew she had an affinity for it. But summoning a storm and calling down a lightning strike like that—that’s something else. That’s bigger than any magic I’ve ever seen from anyone besides a Moon Drinker.

But I can’t worry about that right now because the size of what she just did has obviously wrecked her. She’s trembling on the ground, gasping for air. She looks like a fish that’s washed up on a beach.

I pull her into my arms. She’s cold.

The wolves aren’t moving toward us. They seem hesitant.

Nate limps over to me, back in his human form. “Milo’s healing,” he murmurs. “He’s going to do me next, if we have the chance.” He looks at the wolves, still standing around us. “Are they going to attack us?”

“I can’t tell,” I say.

I’m drawing on the power from the moon. Now that Emlyn’s storm clouds are gone, it’s shining bright above us once again, and it seems to fill me like I’m an empty vessel. It’s as if the moonwantsme to use it to protect us.

I’ve never quite felt like this before.

I wonder if it’s my connection to Emlyn that’s making it feel this way. She used power I wouldn’t have imagined to be possible tonight. Maybe it’s going to change the way I relate to the moon too.

I funnel my power outward toward the wolves surrounding us, not just holding them off but actively pushing them back.

Only a couple of them dig in their feet or try to resist at all. Most of them turn and run. It’s not an organized flight, either—they’re scattering. They’re just scared and trying to get away.

Milo comes over to us now. He’s weak, obviously, but the open wound I saw on his back is gone, replaced by a new white scar running the length of his spine. He really is good at healing.

He kneels beside me and reaches for Emlyn. I hand her off to him. Hell, from what I’ve seen, he’s better at healing than I am. It was never my specialty.

A glow seems to surround the two of them, almost as if the moonlight is shining out from inside them.

After a moment, she opens her eyes.

“Did we win?” she asks.

Her voice is as hoarse and ruined as if the lightning had actually passed through her body. It terrifies me to hear her sound like that.

But she’s struggling to sit up now, and Milo lets her. He reaches for Nate instead, laying both palms on his back. The two of them close their eyes, and the light seems to radiate from Milo to Nate now.

A moment later, Nate jumps to his feet, seemingly fully healed.

He strides away from us, toward the largest clump of wolves that remain.

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