Page 107 of Rogue Wolf

His eyes lit up and she bit her lip.

“Tamaska!” That was Channing. “Don’t tell him!”

“Get Kodiak to the van, and get out of here,” Tamaska said.

“You’re not their alpha,” said Kodiak. “I am.”

“I’ll stay,” said Onai. “You go.”

“You will not. You’re both too wounded. Get the fuck out of the way so you don’t get killed, or kill me instead,” said Tamaska firmly. She was the only one there that could tolerate silver, so it was up to her to retrieve the chain. Shadow Pack’s hierarchy could fuck off—a strict sense of order wouldn’t save them now. They needed more.

“Take the opal,” she said, loudly as she could.

She didn’t say who. She wasn’t giving it up on the off chance Amdis could sense it. But she figured if he didn’t know who had it after her unfortunate slip it might help.

“Go,” she hissed.

“No—” Kodiak said.

Tamaska missed the rest of his protest as she rushed toward the vampire who’d grabbed the silver chain.

Ash, in wolf form, snapped at his heels, distracting him. Tamaska took the opening to rush in and grabbed the dangling length of silver. She began to dart away, but the chain pulled taut, stopping her in her tracks.

She turned to see the vampire laughing at her, pulling the chain to reel her back to him.

That hadn’t played out quite the way she’d imagined. She redoubled her efforts, straining against his pull. But he was too strong.

Time to mix things up. She released her grip on the chain, and the vampire was taken unaware. He stumbled backwards, the momentum overpowering him—but he wasn’t the only one affected. Tamaska couldn’t keep her balance, either, and she tumbled forward landing on the vampire.

She screamed and pushed it away as its fangs approached her skin.

Ash leapt to her aid, snarling before pushing Tamaska out of the way. A sharp pain tore through her upper arm as she rolled away.

Ash fought the vampire, but her movements were slow, fatigued. The vampire easily gained the upper hand.

Tamaska gripped her left bicep, trying to quell the blood spurting from her wound. She winced as she got to her feet. There was no time to worry about an injury, especially a bloody one. After all that fighting, the vampires would be hungry, and she didn’t want to become their next target.

The chain slipped to the ground.

Tamaska snatched it up. Immediately, Ash’s fighting improved. Soon, she was tearing the vampire to pieces.

She pushed the silver back into her pocket. She couldn’t let it fall into the vampires’ hands again.

The rest of the wolves were still fighting the vampires, wounded and struggling but slowly gaining the advantage.

Tamaska rushed toward the door to keep the silver safe, hoping that would be enough to help the wolves finish off the few remaining vampires.

“This isn’t over!” yelled Amdis. “Mark my words.

“No one says that,” she said. “And it’s over!”

“Your blood will be mine.” Amdis smacked the railing, then turned and strode away.

After the pack finished off the last vampires, some switched back into human forms. They protectively closed ranks around Tamaska.

“Channing, go help them bring the van up. We need to get the fuck out of here,” Tamaska said, out of breath. She was touched that they were finally treating her like one of their own. Had she finally proven herself to them, or was it a result of her bond with Kodiak?

Right then she didn’t know or care; her wound still bled and everything hurt, and she missed Kodiak with a physical ache.