Page 29 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

Ignoring the pounding in her skull, Phoenix crawled after her, wincing as the rough rock cut open her palms. She looked out the tunnel opening like a gopher poking her head out of a den. Though she saw no golden orb, the hazy sky glowed all the same, the light coming from everywhere, filtered through the dusty air. Rolling hills of sand that went on for miles made up their hostile surroundings. She was no more than a blemish among all the pale dust. She raised her hand, shielding her eyes from the glare. That’s when she noticed her hand had a strange coppery glow. Her veins solidified to sludge as she turned over her hand. Her skin glistened like a shiny penny. No wonder Tigress thought she was Daeva. She’d taken on her demon form! Strange. How did that happen? She crawled out of the hole, a wave of dizziness hitting her as she sat beside Tigress, who was crouching like a tiger preparing to strike her prey. The sweltering heat was unbearable. She thought about removing her jacket when sweat pooled between her breasts and down her back, but it shielded her from the dry wind that pelted sand in her face.

“Do you smell that?” Tigress hissed.

Phoenix gave the demon a strange look, but then the smell hit her, like spoiled food that had been left in the heat too long. She stepped back, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ew. What is it?”

Tigress’s eyes flared as she covered her mouth with her paw. “The lechers are coming,” she mumbled.

Phoenix clutched her throat. “What?” The lechers. Her mates. Would they recognize her? Or were they truly mindless zombies tasked to hunt her?

Tigress turned to her, panic in her eyes as four fuzzy shadows appeared on the ridge above them. “Run!”

Before Phoenix could think or act, the demon cat bound into the air, racing away on all fours, kicking up sand in her wake as she left Phoenix to face the four lengthening shadows on her own.

Chapter Four

Helius. Drakkon. Cadmus. Damon.

Zombies or not, they were her mates, and she would not forsake them.

Those four shadows drew closer, the smell hitting Phoenix like a brick to the head. She was too dizzy to run, too scared to move as fear weighted down her feet like bricks. The shadows took shape: four wolf-like creatures with exposed gray skin beneath patches of black fur, alligator-like snouts with razor-sharp teeth, long, knobby fingers ending in wicked curved talons as sharp as blades, and demon-red glowing eyes.

Great Ancients! Her mates were creatures of nightmares!

But even worse than their appearance was their pungent smell like rancid meat left out in the sun. That’s exactly what they were, though—decaying corpses, zombie shells of the wolves they once were.

Her heart faltered at the thought. Would she have the power to heal them when they were so far gone? Tigress had said they’d been this way for centuries. Would there be anything of her mates left beneath their ghoulish shells?

They’re your mates, Phoenix. Do not forsake them!

They let out scratchy growls as they approached slowly, moving like corpses afraid their spines would deteriorate if they pushed themselves too hard. Phoenix swallowed back bile, realizing that perhaps Hecate had been right. She shouldn’t have tried to save her mates alone.

She dug into her jacket for the crystal, alarmed when she pulled out Amarok’s claw instead.

The crystal!

She frantically searched her pockets as the demons approached. They were almost upon her, their sickly growls fogging the air, their bones clacking with the movement. She turned all her pockets inside out and found nothing except the empty velvet pouch that had held the claw.

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