Page 30 of Betrayed Wolf Mate

I bent so that we were face-to-face and tilted her chin so she was looking at me. Her brown eyes were wide and sparkling with determination.

“This isn’t your fault,” I said. “And if they take you, then all of this will have been pointless. Just do this for me this once. Please.”

She hesitated, then nodded. I let out a long, relieved breath.

“Thank you,” I said. Then, before I could think better about what I was doing, I pulled her into my arms and pressed her lips to mine. Her fingers gripped my arms, holding me in place as she reciprocated. Finally, we broke apart, and I think my surprise was evident on my face.

“Be safe,” I said.

“You too,” she said, her voice tight. And she followed Mark back into the woods and toward the bunker.

I breathed easier, seeing her retreating back. That was one worry off my back. In silent agreement, Oliver and I shifted and raced into the fight.

I had never seen underlings before. They looked like grotesque cherubs, their faces mangled and their wings leathery, and their skin blacker than shadow rather than pale as cream. They soared overhead, dive-bombing us periodically as we raced through the streets, yanking at our fur and tails and ears as if trying to tear them off with their bare hands.

All around us, pack members fought against unfamiliar shifters. It looked like all-out war. I couldn’t tell who was winning. Both sides had losses that littered the street. I kept running to the center of town, trying not to get distracted.

One underling swooped down. My wolf leaped, grabbing its wing in his teeth and tearing it to shreds before biting down on its throat even as we ran. I dropped the corpse without breaking stride.

We were nearing the center of town when I glanced down a side street and came to a screeching halt. A tall, pale man with ink-black hair was hurling shadows down the street, pushing shifters out of his way as he wreaked even more havoc.

I snarled. It was obvious who this was. Akron was laughing as he threw a wolf high into the air with a tendril of darkness.

Oliver appeared beside me, and I snarled, gesturing with my muzzle. My meaning was clear:go to Jameson. I’m handling this one myself.Oliver whined briefly in protest, but when I growled again, he acquiesced and ran toward the center of town.

My wolf turned and charged toward the demon. A small, rational, human part of me tried to point out that this was tantamount to suicide. We didn’t know this demon’s Name; we didn’t have a way to weaken him. But the wolf part of me, the part that was in control, didn’t particularly care. This creature was a threat to Stella, and that was enough to make me charge into the fray with abandon, despite the danger it posed.

Then our eyes landed on something that was a saving grace: a thick rod of iron, one side sharpened to a deadly point. It had come from a fence that had been destroyed during the mayhem. Rand had told us that iron worked against demons. This would have to do for now.

Shifting back to human, I grabbed the iron rod, hefting it in one hand. The demon still hadn’t noticed me. I could throw the iron rod, but that felt like too much of a risk. If I could sneak up behind him, I could stab him in the back. That was the best idea, most likely.

I crept forward, barely daring to breathe in case he heard me. But he was too busy casting shadows everywhere and damaging the buildings to notice. He thought he was completely alone—

A tentacle of shadow lashed out at me, throwing me into the side of the building, nearly making me drop the iron. I gasped, the wind knocked out of me.

Akron was staring at me with full black eyes. He was smiling in a way that would have made children cry as he looked me up and down. His eyes landed on the piece of iron, and that smile turned infinitesimally downward for the briefest of moments.

“You at least seem to know what might work against a demon,” he said almost conversationally as he walked towardme. The shadow that was still pressing me against the wall crushed my chest, making it hard to breathe. Another coil of darkness snaked out, wrenched the iron post from my hand, and tossed it. The clatter it made as it hit the ground was quiet and distant.

He came to stand in front of me, head tilted. “Maybe you can help me, then,” he mused. “Do you know what I’m doing here?”

When I didn’t answer, he laughed. If I’d thought his smile was bad, it was nothing compared to the sounds that came out of his mouth.

“You do,” he said. “Good. In that case, where is she?”

There was no real point in pretending I didn’t know who he was talking about. But I also knew the instant I told him anything, he would snap my neck unless I did something.

“Let me down, and I’ll tell you,” I said.

He considered me, then shrugged. The shadow pinning me to the wall vanished, and I collapsed onto the ground.

“Where is she?” he repeated as I got back to my feet.

“Not here,” I said. “Sorry. You lost.”

Akron snarled, the tendrils of darkness coiling around him, threatening to strike at any moment. “Tell me where she is before I burn this entire town to the ground,” he said.

“Somewhere you’ll never find her,” I said. “Leave now and take your goons with you, and we can be done with this whole thing.”

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