Page 40 of Shifted Existence

“So, he values you so little he sends you to do his dirty work,” said Bardulf.

“No, he values me so highly, he knew I was the one for the job.”

“You will die here tonight, but not until after I’ve had my fill of you and watched my men do the same.”

“I challenge you, Bardulf.”

“You what? You cannot challenge me.”

“I just did. Are you so pathetic that you know you cannot beat the mate to your worst enemy? Or do you fear the terrible toll Talon will exact on you if you so much as breathe wrong in my direction?”

Bailey watched, secretly terrified, as if in slow motion Bardulf became wolf. Snarling and baying, with a cry of pure lust and triumph, he launched himself at her.

CHAPTER22

Shifting did not come easily or naturally to Bailey yet, so instead she turned to run. She knew she wasn’t faster than Bardulf as a wolf, but she hoped that her familiarity with the terrain might give her an edge. Once more she was running for her life towards an open portal. Although she wasn’t just running awayfromsomething, but rathertowardssomething or more accurately, someone.

Bailey could hear Bardulf closing in on her, his strides faster and longer than hers. And while she might be more familiar with the ground on which they raced, he knew all too well what her destination was. As fast as she was, she was no match for Bardulf’s speed as a wolf. She could hear his four feet as they hit the ground.

Suddenly there was a span of silence followed by Bardulf’s massive form body-slamming her from the back and causing her knees to buckle. Bailey screamed as the wind was knocked out of her and she fell forward, skinning her knees and bruising her hands and pelvis as she landed in the dirt, her face slamming into the ground so she tasted rock and dirt.

“Bitch,” Bardulf cried as he kicked her in the ribs, rolling her over so she faced him as he loomed above her as a man once more—and one with an enormous erection. “You should have stayed with him and let him plow your pussy until you were huge with child. Tell me, do your warriors take their mates’ dark channels when they are too far gone? Fucking a pregnant woman’s ass does nothing to harm the baby. No need for a man to do without his comfort.”

Bailey couldn’t believe how vile he was. He was everything Talon believed him to be and worse. “Hold her down while I take my pleasure and then each of you can have a turn. Has he claimed your ass yet?” Bardulf stroked his cock as two men moved to pin her down. “Gordo likes ass, don’t you, Gordo?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Then you can have her ass, maybe while another takes her mouth. Two more of you come get her legs. I want her spreadeagled, but off the ground. I’m going to impale Talon’s bitch on my cock. We’ll return her to him when she has cum oozing from all three of her holes.”

Bailey heard what sounded like the approach of an enormous wolf, only it wasn’t coming from the foreground, but rather sounded like someone, a very big someone, was charging down the path through the Void.

Bardulf shifted just as Talon burst through the portal like a madman seized by primal lust and fury. He had the advantage of size and weight over Bardulf. The latter was vicious and devious but was far outclassed by the wolf who leaped through the portal. Bailey watched in horror as the battle unfolded with growling, snarling, and the snapping of jaws as the soundtrack to fur flying and blood spurting.

Grabbing Bardulf by the throat, Talon tossed the smaller wolf over his shoulder and rolled with him. Bardulf howled and tried to fight back, but he was no match for Talon’s greater size and strength. The two rolled over and over, each of them inflicting damage on the other, but it was easy to see who the victor would be.

Two of Bardulf’s men shapeshifted and looked to join the fray. Bailey called forth her wolf and ran at the smaller of the two, broadsiding him and knocking him away. She had expected him to fight, expected to draw the other away from Bardulf and Talon as well, but it didn’t work. Before she could turn back to try and help Talon, the wolf she had knocked aside had gotten to his feet and made a run at her, trying to grab her jugular. Bailey dove to the left, came up and sank her teeth into his flank. That surprised him. Bailey was sure he had expected her to run away or submit in fear.

The taste of blood was sweet and coppery and evoked a primitive savagery in her. The other wolf might have had the advantage in size, strength, and experience, but Bailey was working off fear and fury, fueled by adrenaline. She might be smaller, but she was fighting for her mate and what was right, which gave her a singular focus and viciousness. Bailey felt her fur being torn from her as she managed to grab the larger wolf by the throat and rip it open. It was a bloody crescendo to her first fight, and it felt exhausting, empowering… and sticky.

She turned to help Talon who was now in a fight with two of Bardulf’s men. Bardulf had been badly wounded and had crawled away to safety, guarded by the last of his men. Bailey watched as teeth flashed, snarls and growls sounded, and the smell of blood filled the air. Talon now faced only one opponent. Having found a second wind, Bailey was about to join her mate in his battle, but he dispatched one of the wolves before the other flattened in front of him, whining and admitting defeat.

Bailey thought that Talon might not accept his surrender, but standing over his opponent, Talon glanced toward Bardulf and his remaining bodyguard who, like the wolf at his feet, lowered himself to the ground, tailed tucked so far under his body that it scraped his belly. Talon shoved the wolf at his feet away and it belly-crawled to join Bardulf and the other survivor. He raised his muzzle to the sky, eyes blazing in rage, and howled in triumph before flowing smoothly back into his human self.

Talon turned to her and his eyes softened as he extended his hand. “It is safe to shift, beloved. They are defeated.”

Bailey allowed her wolf to recede and flowed back into her human form. The mist that always surrounded a shift seemed to be gentler, as if it knew what she had been through. She took Talon’s hand, and he helped her to her feet.

Turning to Bardulf and the two wolves who refused to make eye contact, Talon said in a voice as cold as any winter wind she had ever known. “If I see any of you ever again, I will kill you. I will register this blood feud with the Council. Keep yourselves from my presence and any of my pack.” He glanced at her and grinned. “Normally, I’d tell them to avoid my warriors, but I think, my beautiful mate, you have shown them that our she-wolves are to be avoided.” He looked at the corpse of the wolf she had killed. “I am proud of you. You did well.”

He led her toward the portal, and they stepped through together. This time the Void didn’t hold the terror for her it had in the past. She was with Talon and as long as she was, she would fear nothing. The Void seemed to sense that she was no longer afraid and softened all around her. They traversed the path and when they emerged, their people were waiting for them with a triumphant cheer and clothing.

The mage shut down the portal behind them as she slipped into the shift and Talon pulled on his breeches.

“What would happen if they were in the Void when the doorway on this side shut down?” she asked.

“If they could not make it back to the other side before it timed out and collapsed, they would be trapped in the Void forever. There are times when you enter the Void that you can hear the cries of those who lost their way or became trapped. It is not a pretty sound.”

He led her back to their home. She smiled when she realized that’s how she had classified it in her own mind, watching as Talon pulled back the flap to allow her to enter before he did. The sight of the copper tub filled with steaming water and food laid out on the table next to it made her heart fill with joy.

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