Page 11

LIVIA

Claws slashed through the air, ripping through flesh. In a blur, Caelan tore through the first rogue, snapping one arm, then the other, then tore his ribs right out of his body with his canines. The sound of his cartilage cracking echoed through the forest.

My eyes widened at the glowing crimson blood pooling around him.

Terror built higher and higher and higher inside me, and red clouded my vision for a mere moment. What… What was that? I almost felt like I had right before I killed Elijah in the arena barely twenty minutes ago.

When the second rogue slashed at Caelan’s throat, he ducked low, grabbed his paw with his hand without even shifting, and snapped it. A sickening crunch jolted through my ears, and I squeezed my eyes closed, remembering what it had felt like to shatter Elijah’s spine.

I swallowed hard and stumbled back against a tree.

The third rogue hesitated, his eyes wide, but it was too late. Caelan lunged at him, balled his hands into a tight fist, and hit him so hard it indented his skull. My eyes widened. I had always known that he was strong, but I had never seen him fight.

No, they never let me go into war, nor into battle.

When the corpse hit the ground, I fell to my knees.

The blood… all of that blood was glowing… dripping through the dirt.

I stared at it for a few moments, my vision blurring once more, then I shook my head.

I didn’t know why my body was reacting this way. I wanted to go home, to pray to Lycos that this was all some sort of sick dream. I didn’t want to kill anyone, and now… this feeling… it wasn’t going away.

A layer of sweat covered Caelan’s muscles. His chest rose and fell deeply, his eyes scanning the forest for any more. Gold flecks danced in his irises, his wolf slowly emerging. But for some reason, he kept him down.

My mate was so powerful.

Suddenly, another rogue leapt from the shadows toward me.

I whimpered and tried to make myself as small as possible because I didn’t want to feel like this anymore.

But before he could land on me, Caelan spun, caught him mid-pounce, and twisted his entire body until each bone in his spine snapped loudly.

I shivered as he landed beside me.

“He’s already called for your head,” Caelan said.

“Who?”

“Alpha Soren of the Whispering Pines Pack.”

My heart raced inside my chest, so loudly that I could hear it in my ears. I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times. Was that why they were suddenly attacking us? Was it true? Had they been sent by Alpha Soren?

“Are you okay?” Caelan asked, his chest rising and falling quickly.

I stared down at the three rogues; no, the three dead corpses. Red streaks covered the forest around us, smearing across the trees and leaves and even his forearms. I blinked a few times, hoping this feeling would disappear.

“I’m fine,” I said.

He moved his gaze down my body, assessing. Possessive. Then his jaw twitched.

“I’m fine,” I said again, trying to assure myself.

But my throat was dry, and that blood… it was still glowing in my peripheral vision.

Before either of us could say another word, more heavy feet pounded against the forest floor. My stomach dropped. A few dozen figures slid into view about a mile to our north. Some were rogues. Some warriors from the Whispering Pines.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Caelan, hiding behind him. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

He squared his shoulders, his claws extending. “Stay behind me. Don’t move.”

My pulse raced. “There are way too many. You can’t take them all.”

“Yes, I can.”

Caelan shifted into his huge black wolf, nearly twice the size that Elijah was, his eyes a glowing gold underneath the forest’s canopy. I sucked in a sharp breath and stood up, staying behind him, yet my heart hammered against my bruised ribs.

We were outnumbered.

There was no way he could defeat them all because I wouldn’t be of any help.

I didn’t know how I had used that power earlier. And I wouldn’t know how to do it again.

“Stay on your feet,” he howled.

A loud roar echoed through the forest, and suddenly they were all running at us. I swallowed hard and stared at them, my vision blurring with red. Thunder cracked through the sky again, and the moons above almost pulsed in perfect rhythm with my heartbeat.

Heat washed through my veins, and my knees buckled yet again. Caelan stood in front of me, scanning the forest to make a game plan, deciding how to react. But I couldn’t let him die. No, I needed to do something.

I needed to help.

The air tasted like blood. I pressed a shaky hand to the ground, and the blood from the three dead rogues drifted into my palm, slipping through my wound and into my body. I squeezed my eyes closed, unable to stand upright.

Roars and growls echoed through the forest, rattling my bones. I placed another hand on the ground, and something deep inside me stirred. It was something I’d never felt before, not even during the battle at the arena.

Pressure built underneath my skin, in my blood, in my bones.

Before one of the rogues or wolves could touch Caelan, a shriek left my mouth and echoed through the entire forest. The wolves stopped immediately. The first line of them fell to the ground, their blood splattering everywhere.

The others looked at them, then at me, and then they ran away in the opposite direction.

All the pressure inside of me suddenly exploded, and I fell to the ground, unable to stand. My head was spinning, the blood pulsing inside me. Caelan shifted back into his human form and dropped to his knees, gathering me in his arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked urgently.

“Yes,” I breathed.

“What happened?”

“I… I don’t know. Everything is hot, boiling. My blood…”

I didn’t know how to continue.

None of this made any sense. But I needed to sleep. I needed something.

“Rest, little mate. I’m here to protect you.”