Page 53 of Enspelled

I try to make myself appear taller than my five-four height despite my rising fear. “I thought you wolves were supposed to have a nose good enough to track anything. Use that.”

“I don’t have to track anyone, becauseyouare going to take me right to them,” the shifter snarls.

“No,” I tell him as I draw my magic up and around me, “I’m not.”

His eyes darken. “A witch tortured a wolf. We found his body.”

Huh? I know he can’t be talking about Briar, because she’d never do anything like that.

“Nothing to do with me,” I say, backing up.

“A witch is a witch,” he says. “You’ll do.”

“So you’re going to kill me for something I didn’t even do?” I ask, my mouth dry because it’s looking like he’s on his way to doing just that.

“You’re a witch. That’s enough of a reason to die,” he sneers.

Yeah, things aren’t going well. At all.

The shifter steps toward me. But then Bodie is suddenly right between us.

“Move aside,” the shifter snaps. “This witch is coming with me.”

“And the reason I’d want to do that?” Bodie doesn’t move a muscle.

“Because as Liam’s new beta, you don’t want to piss me off.” This time, the wolf doesn’t ask. He must shove Bodie, because he stumbles back a couple of steps.

The shifter turns to me with a dark smile. “Now, tell—” His words end with a grunt of pain. He sways.

My eyes go to the wolf claws buried in his neck, and then I turn to Bodie, who still has an amiable expression on his face. “Looks like Liam’s going to be in the market for a new beta.”

I have no words. None.

Bodie yanks his claws free, and the shifter’s body thumps to the ground, his eyes unblinking.

“You ready to go, Sera? I think my popsicle is melting in the hot car.”

I lift my head to find Bodie already walking away, his clawed right hand returning to just a normal hand.

Before he steps past the last line of trees and into the parking lot, he pauses and peers over his shoulder. “You coming?”

“Why didn’t you just knock him out?” I ask in a daze.

He shrugs. “Some shifters you can scare a little and they know to leave you alone. But there are some you don’t leave alive, unless you want to wake up with claws in your throat. Guess which one he was?”

Does he know this from being a drifter lone wolf, or from his old pack?

Why would he kill another wolf for me—a witch?

It’s bizarre to consider, but the more I think about it, the more I’m certain it’s true. He protected me. A wolf protected a witch. It’s… insane.

There’s the same friendly smile in his eyes, but now I’ve had solid proof there’s more to Bodie than meets the eye. I remember when I flung a spell at him. If he’d lunged at me… I don’t think I’d have survived it, because he’sfast.

I didn’t even see him move, and neither did the shifter. He’s strong, and he’s much faster than I thought he’d be, because surprising a wolf when he’s that close can’t be…

Bullhorn Ellie’s words swim in my mind. A rotten smell hung in the air on the night that someone killed the Destin pack, she said. She thought kids were throwing stink bombs, but that isn’t the only thing that has a rotten smell. Something else does—and that something is strong and fast enough to surprise a pack of wolves.

“Sera?” Bodie’s call drags me from my deep thoughts.

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