Page 88 of Taken By The Wolves

I don’t know if he will hear me. Everything’s futile. But then—

Reinforcements.

Silver, gray, and deep brown forms tear through the brush. Finn’s limping, his fur clogged with dried blood, but still he runs. Nixon is a streak of steel in motion, and behind them, more. Wolves and bears. Our allies.

The tide begins to turn, but Reed is motionless and silent.

He shifts, his wolf melting back into the form of a man, bloodied and barely conscious, lying naked and pale in the dirt beyond the porch. Has he lost consciousness… or worse? He looks so vulnerable surrounded by battling animals, so weak and slumped awkwardly in the cold.

“I have to help him!”

I thrust Ahya into Goldie’s arms. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

Goldie argues, but one look at me silences her. “Okay.” Her arms tightening around Ahya.

I sprint for the door, unlocking the bolts and yanking it open, barefoot and wild, stumbling through mud and blood until I reach him. The bolts clunk back into place as my knees hit the earth beside Reed’s body, and I shove my hands under his arms to drag him toward safety.

“Come on, baby,” I whisper. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

He moans weakly. He’s alive, but barely.

I tug, groaning as I haul him a few inches, tears streaming my cheeks, the weight of him nearly too much. I yank harder, gritting my teeth, grunting with the effort. I can’t stop. I won’t stop.

I’m almost at the door when a shadow falls over me.

I turn as a hand clamps around my throat and hauls me upright, my back slammed to a hard, hot chest.

The man is naked, strong, his scent all wrong.

“Don’t scream,” he hisses.

I gasp as he pulls a blade from a strap on his ankle, the edge of it biting cold against the fragile skin beneath my jaw.

A growl explodes over the thudding and scrapping of battle. I’m spun until I’m facing Nixon, who’s still in wolf form.

The knife digs in.

“Move and I’ll open you up,” the stranger growls.

Everything goes still.

The stranger’s grip around my throat is like iron, cutting off enough air to make my body scream, but not enough to knock me out.

From the trees, a voice booms out.

“Let her go, Gregory.”

Finn.

I turn my head as much as I can. He’s shifted back into his human form, bare-chested, blood streaked across his ribs and thighs. He’s panting, but his eyes burn with uncontained fury.

The man holding me, Gregory, laughs. It’s a low, scraping sound, like gravel caught in his throat.

“You think I’d let go of my creation so easily?” he sneers. “The child is mine. She carries the bloodline I forged… wolf, bear, and magic. When she’s grown, she’ll be my mate. Every pack, every clan, bear and wolf will surrender their alphas and join my pack.”

“Bullshit,” Finn spits. “You violated her mother. You tortured her. Ahya isn’t a weapon, and she’ll never be yours.”

Gregory chuckles again, then yanks me back another step, dragging my heels across the blood-slick ground. “Worried for your mate? I know what you’ll do to keep her safe. You’d give up anything, wouldn’t you?”