Page 26

It hit the ground hard.

The woman exhaled, rolling her shoulders. “NowI like you,” she muttered.

Before I could respond, a voice crackled over a radio, startling me before I realized it was hanging from her belt. “Commander Sorin! Sector three is holding, but we’re taking heavy hits to our forces in the process.”

The Resistance soldiers moved when she barked an order because she was their leader, not just another fighter.

I took a moment to breathe before I caught sight of a giant dark gray wolf barreling through the camp.

Silas.

A streak of muscle and teeth, ripping through anything in his path.

He was an unstoppable force to be reckoned with—brutal, relentless, his enormous body moving like a fucking nightmare through the blood and snow. His wolves fought beside him, their fur flashing in the moonlight, but none of them were as fast or as ruthless as him.

A black wolf tried to sink its fangs into his side.

Silas turned mid-stride, caught the wolf by the throat in his jaws, and crushed it.

I felt something deep in my gut tighten.

Not fear. Notquite.

Sorin glanced toward the fight, her brow furrowing. “Your Alpha can more than hold his own.”

I gritted my teeth, keeping my rifle raised.

“He’s not my Alpha,” I snarled.

She gave me a look. One that said she knew bullshit when she heard it.

I didn’t respond.

Another wolf—tall, lean, its fur as dark as midnight—bore down on us. The moment it lunged, I pivoted, dropping low as Sorin struck high.

Her blade slashed deep into its side while I jammed the barrel of my pistol beneath its ribs and fired.

The wolf let out a choked snarl before collapsing, twitching violently in the snow before finally going still.

I turned, breathing hard. “You always fight this well?”

Sorin didn’t look at me, already scanning the battlefield. “When I have to.”

Gunfire erupted from the ridge nearby, and I followed her gaze just in time to see a Resistance fighter go down, a wolf’s massive form pinning him to the ground. The human barely had time to struggle before the beast’s jaws clamped down on his throat, blood spraying across the snow.

Fuck.

I whipped my rifle up, aiming for the wolf’s head and a blur of gray shot past me.

Silas.

He slammed into the wolf at full speed, his momentum sending both of them rolling across the ground in a tangle of fur and claws. Snarls and yelps filled the air as they tore into each other.

The moment Silas got the upper hand, he pinned the black-furred wolf beneath him and tore out its throat.

For a moment, I couldn’t look away. The firelight flickered over him, his smoky gray fur streaked with blood, his golden eyes scanning the battlefield, seeking out the next threat.

His wolves fought fiercely alongside him, their forms blending together in the storm of battle. The Human Resistance was holding the line too, but it was brutal.