Page 3 of Finding Embers and Stars (Twin Flames Duet #1)
Chapter three
I can feel Piper’s confusion. It’s overshadowed by her fear and determination. All she cares about is saving Sage from being forced to mate one of these pathetic excuses for wolves that are surrounding us.
I would have helped her anyway. My goals align with hers. Sage is my mate and I’m the only one that will claim her.
In the moments that it took for Piper to let down her walls, the silver wolf pounced on Sage. Biting down on her shoulder, he crushed her wing in his teeth, pulling a shriek of pain from her raven.
“Nooo!” My shout is internal, hidden within Piper’s mind, but it transforms into a snarl of rage as the change races over us.
As Piper falls forward, she lands on my paws. The magic of the shift is still flowing over me when I leap for the wolf that harmed my mate.
His eyes widen when he sees me flying towards him. My much larger frame sends him tumbling across the ground.
Spinning back to Sage, I growl when I see blood flowing from the bite on her shoulder. Her beautiful wing hangs at an odd angle. This monster ruined her chance of flying before she even made it into the air.
Taking a protective stance directly over her, I put my back to the fire so they can’t sneak up on me. I don’t have any illusions about this situation. One on one I could fight them all easily. If the three of them come at me together, things could get messy.
“What’s happening?” Piper’s voice floats through my mind. It took her a few moments to adjust to being the passenger in her own body. I’ve had years to get used to it. At least now that we can shift, the communication barrier is removed so we can make a plan.
“I won’t let them claim my mate. Sage is ours, and we will always protect her.”
A black wolf and another silver one stand in front of me on either side. The first attacker is still laying in the dirt, passed out or hurt too badly to get up.
Faintly, I can hear the murmur of the crowd, the outraged yelling of Piper’s father. I refuse to call him an alpha, mine or anyone else's.
The silver wolf darts in, but it’s a distraction for the black wolf. I spin to catch him by the throat and toss him into the silver wolf. I’m at least twice the size of them and we’re all beyond what would be considered a normal size for a wolf as it is.
The silver wolf picks himself up and charges in again. This time I’m going to end this. With a savage snarl, I leap for him, catching him by the throat and taking him to the ground.
The warm, copper tang of his blood crosses my tongue, and I squeeze even harder. These fools tried to steal my mate!
“Let him go. If you kill him, it will make trouble. Please let him go, then check on Sage.”
Piper’s voice breaks through my killing instincts and I reluctantly acknowledge that she’s correct. Sage is what’s important.
The three wolves cower away from me on the other side of the fire. Heads and tails lowered in a proper submissive pose to show they won’t attack again.
“I should have known you would be some kind of fucked up abomination.” Our father walks towards us, and I step up to meet him, putting my body between him and Sage.
“A woman with a male wolf. It’s never been seen before.” He casually pulls out a knife, the fire light glinting off the blade. “And it will never be seen again.”
The crowd around us roars to life, questions and objections hurled at the alpha so fast he can’t possibly answer them all. The Elders form a wall between my father and us, one of them waving a hand behind his back as if shooing us away.
This is the moment Mama Rose spoke of. The moment we need to flee for our lives.
Picking Sage up carefully in my mouth, I slink into the darkness at the edge of the crowd. I hate running, especially from our own flesh and blood, but I know we aren’t ready for this fight.
One day, though. One day we will teach him the error of his ways.