Page 51 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny

He had come for her. He had followed her. He wasfightingfor her.

She didn’t know what to do with the realization. It was too big, too overwhelming.

Rick shook the two wolves off his back and leapt over, knocking her assailant from her and hunching over her body, his snarling roar rumbling through her very soul.

The third wolf flipped onto his feet and joined the other two, approaching slowly, fanning out.

Surrounding Rick.

She tried to shift, but a screaming agony burst from her arm and lower leg, and she looked down to see the left side of her body bloodied and crushed, the bones shattered from where the wolf had pinned her.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she grit her teeth, willing her body to heal faster so that she could shift, so that she could help Rick.

He couldn’t face all three of them alone. Surely, he wouldn’t survive.

“Rick,” she wept, “don’t fight them, please! Go get help, go find the others!”

Rick just growled in response, crouching low over her, his warmth enveloping her entirely as he kept his eyes fixed on the three wolves facing him down.

There was a pause. A breath.

And then he lunged.

Rosalia scrabbled backwards, cradling her arm to her chest as Rick collided with Carter, teeth snapping and claws ripping. The other two wolves also launched at him, their eyes bright with fury.

Her bones were already knitting themselves back together, but not fast enough.

Not fast enough.

Rick had killed one of them. Got his jaws around his throat and wrenched, ripping viscera from his neck.

The other two, outraged, redoubled their efforts.

Rosalia tried to shift again, nearly screaming at her own body to obey her.

Carter looked over and lunged for her, and Rick had to launch forward to sink his claws into Carter’s flank, dragging him back away from her kicking legs.

It left his side open.

The other wolf tackled, and the two rolled over through the mud.

The wet crunch of Rick’s ribs shattering carved through the air like a knife.

He roared in pain and anger, bucking the other wolf off, only to be met with Carter’s waiting teeth.

Far away, too far, howls pierced the forest.

Iron Walkers. They’d heard. And they were coming.

But they were too far away, and Rick was injured, facing two opponents. He leapt to his feet, his breathing ragged, and feinted left.

The smaller wolf fell for the bait, and Rick pounced, claws rending through flesh and muscle. The wolf bellowed, and Rick closed his teeth around his throat.

The wolf slumped to the earth, eyes already turning glassy.

Rick fell back, planting himself between her body and Carter’s menacing growls, his ears flat against his skull, his muzzle peeled back.

The scent of his blood, metallic and raw, caught in her throat.