Page 23

REN

“ R apunzel, run!” The words tear from my throat as I charge at the Wolf.

We clash in the air, tumbling to the ground in a tangled mess of limbs and fangs. Sharp claws rake across my side, slicing through me like white-hot knives.

He howls as I sink my fangs deep into his shoulder, warm blood filling my mouth as he writhes beneath me, desperate to escape.

The bridge groans as the wooden planks begin to fracture and splinter under our combined weight, each of us fighting to gain the upper hand as the river roars below.

Searing agony rips through me as he swipes out, his sharp claws raking across my chest. My vision blurs, and blood soaks my fur as we remain locked in a deadly embrace, neither of us willing to surrender.

I cannot fall. I will not fail her.

A scream shatters through the violence. “Ren!”

I whip my head toward Rapunzel, and my heart stops as the boards give way beneath her.

“No!”

Terror filled eyes meet mine a moment before the river swallows her whole.

Without hesitation, I leap toward her. The breath explodes from my lungs as I crash into the ice-cold water, the violent current catching me and dragging me under.

Still in my Fox form, my muscles burn with every stroke as I fight to stay above the surface. Raw panic claws at my throat as I scan the river, searching for her. “Rapunzel!”

In the distance, I see Finik balanced atop a submerged boulder. He leaps onto a hanging branch overhead and scrambles to the shore.

Through the churning chaos, I catch a glimpse of Rapunzel’s silver hair shimmering beneath the turbulent waves. Shifting back into my two-legged form, I dive beneath the water and grasp her long braid, dragging her up from the riverbed.

She breaks through the surface, gasping for air, her eyes wide as she clings to me.

“Hold tight,” I instruct as I wrap one arm solidly around her, navigating the current to swim to the opposite side.

When we reach the shore, I push her up onto the riverbank as she coughs several times, violently expelling the water from her lungs.

Without warning, white hot pain sears across my back as sharp claws dig into my flesh and the Wolf Shifter jerks me away from her and back into the water.

“Ren!” Rapunzel calls out from the shore as Sevryn pulls me under.

We’re both in human form as we fight beneath the churning water, tumbling along the riverbed as the current drags us downstream.

Kicking out, I manage to free myself and push up through the surface. Dread coils tight in my chest when I see the water disappearing over the edge of the cliff up ahead.

Sevryn crashes into my back, but I spin and punch his shoulder, pushing him away and closer to the waterfall.

“Ren!” Rapunzel calls out.

I whip my head toward the sound of her voice, watching in wonder as magic arcs from her hands, and a thick vine explodes from the riverbank.

Leaves unfurl and flowers bloom as it thickens into a living rope, stretching toward me as the river drags me closer to the steep drop off. “Grab hold of it!” she yells.

I reach for the vine, barely managing to grasp the end. Gripping it firmly, I struggle to pull myself toward the shore, fighting against the strong current, but my weight is too heavy and it snaps.

Time slows, my pulse pounding in my ears. Rapunzel’s eyes lock onto mine, wide with horror, as the current drags me over the edge of the falls.