Page 50 of Rising Reign (The Wolves of Crescent Creek #3)

WREN

The mages were everywhere. Far more than we’d ever faced before, and they just kept coming, spilling out from around trees and across our borders.

Arrows whizzed through the air, and I knew Ender and Franco were on it. Mage after mage fell, but it didn’t stop the rest of them.

“Prepare yourself, Little Empath,” the familiar mage whispered in a tone that had ice filling my veins. “You’re strong, but you’re no match for me.”

“You said that the last time,” I snarled as I pulled my sword from its sheath.

The mage simply grinned, but it was as if he had no teeth at all. His smile was an absence of light and life. The chill running through me intensified.

You can do this. I chanted the words over and over in my mind as battle reigned around me. Brix and Kingston each fought three different dark mages, and I could see our other groupings fighting in the distance.

“There’s no one to protect you now,” the mage cooed. “Come to me willingly, and I’ll make your end painless. I can even make it pleasurable.” He waved his fingers in a come-hither motion with long fingernails the color of smoke.

My back teeth gnashed, and I took up a fighting stance. “I protect myself.”

The dark mage didn’t seem cowed by that. “As you wish. You’ll watch all your beloveds and friends perish, simply because you wouldn’t surrender.”

As if to punctuate the point, a howl of pain sounded to my right as a ball of smoke hit Kingston’s shoulder. He doubled over as pain rocked through him. But Brix swung out with two swords taking two mages’ heads clean off.

Kingston’s body rippled and he transformed on the spot, his wolf howling.

I saw the injury closing before my eyes now that he’d shifted, but it would still zap some of his energy.

The urge to protect them all was so strong.

I wanted to shield them like I had that night at the gym when we were all attacked.

But I couldn’t. There were too many of us, spread too far apart. All I could do was take out as many mages as possible.

A ball of smoke flew my way, and I ducked at the last possible second.

“Your mates make you weak,” the mage snarled.

“No. They make me strong.” I charged forward, my blade at the ready.

The mage blocked my first blow with magic, and I called on my caster half and the creek running mere feet away. Water from the stream rose and spun in the air. Be with me, Mom. I needed her now more than ever.

My caster gifts surged, splitting the arc of water into a dozen ropes. They circled the twelve mages’ necks, cutting off their air supply until my pack mates took them down, one by one. All except the mage in front of me.

He tore the water rope off his neck, then charged forward and lashed out with a strike to my jaw. My hold on my caster magic wavered, and the water slammed back into the stream. But I didn’t forget my lessons. This time, it was the training from Ender and King that I called on.

I used the force of the mage’s blow to propel me into a roundhouse kick. My foot connected with the dark mage’s jaw, making his head snap back. I lunged forward with my sword, ramming the blade straight into his chest.

But it hit just to the right of his heart.

The mage snapped and snarled, going almost feral as he ripped the sword from his chest. “What do you have now, Little Empath? Nothing.”

He prowled toward me, and I reached for King’s blade at my waist but came up empty. A curse slipped from my mouth. It must’ve slipped from my belt when the mage struck me. Now, I had nothing. The gun at the back of my belt would do nothing against this dark creature.

Rhys’s voice filled my mind. “Trust your wolf.”

The mage gripped my shoulders, his terrifying nails piercing my skin. “All that is yours will be mine.”

I let my wolf free. But she didn’t transform completely as I expected her to. Instead, I heard just one message in the space between her and I. We banish him together.

My hand shot out, my fingers lengthening to claws. I punched into the mage’s chest. All my physical training coming together. My claws tightened around his heart, and I ripped it clean from his chest.

The mage stumbled back, his white eyes widening with shock. And then he fell.

It was as if all the other mages felt it, too. They howled in pain, clutching at their chests and beginning to fall. One by one, they tumbled to the ground, disappearing into nothing but a pile of robes.

My pack looked on in shock, so confused by the turn of events.

King jogged to my side in wolf form, his shoulder still oozing from his injury. “He must’ve been their coven leader. End him, end them all.”

Relief swept through me. “It’s over.” I glanced down at him. “We need to get you healed.”

A shout rang through my head as I moved to turn. Puck’s voice rose. “Wren! Watch out!”

But it was too late. Some force hit me like a freight train, and then I was falling.