Page 65 of The Fated Hunter Wolf

“The hybrid!” a duergar shouted with fresh reinforcements at the tree line. A whole group of them, too many for me to outrun in my state. “Don’t let her get away!”

I looked at Rhys’s wolf, who still wasn’t moving. “Go—for fuck’s sake!”

There wasn’t time for both of us to make it.

Silver magic flared around me one last time as I pushed Rhys toward the outpost before turning to face the attackers, buying him precious seconds to run. At least one of us would make it home.

Rhys didn’t budge. He snarled.

At me.

And lunged.

23

RHYS

Death would have been kinder. Also more convenient for everyone involved.

I clawed my way back to consciousness like a man drowning in reverse—violent, desperate, my lungs apparently having forgotten their primary function during my impromptu vacation from reality. The bed beneath me reeked of healing herbs and old wood, which was charming, but underneath lay something that made my wolf pace like a caged animal.

The hollow where my heart used to live… I felt more broken than ever.

My memory trickled back in unhelpful fragments: Sable channeling enough power through our bond to light up half the territory. Magic burning through my veins like someone had replaced my blood with molten silver. Her scream echoing through my skull as the backlash hit. Then nothing—a convenient blank space where being heroic should have been, though my wolf stirred uneasily like he was keeping secrets from the management.

Had I actually managed to save her? Flashes came and went—her weight on my back, blood that might have been mine, crossing into Orion territory just as patrol wolves arrived towitness my dramatic collapse. The details felt borrowed, like someone else’s fever dream.

“Finally decided to rejoin the living,” Kenza announced from somewhere to my left, her voice carrying all the warmth of a tax audit. “Your pathetic whimpering was getting on my nerves.”

“Fuck off,” I rasped, and opened my eyes. I was in the Orion hospital, a place I was getting to know better than I ever would have wanted. I tried to sit up, and the world immediately punished me for the attempt by spinning sideways. Outstanding. Nothing like a near-death experience to really highlight your peak physical condition.

“He’s awake.” Logan’s voice cut through the fog, relief bleeding through his carefully controlled alpha tone. “Kenza, go tell the others.”

I blinked until the room decided to hold still long enough for me to take in what I saw. Stone walls, Logan and Eve positioned near a door like bodyguards. Kenza leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed, looking ready to throttle me for the crime of inconveniencing everyone with my dramatic collapse.

“How long was I out?” I managed.

“Eighteen hours,” Logan said. “The healers weren’t sure you’d wake up at all. Whatever she channeled through that bond…” He shook his head. “We’ve never seen magical backlash like that. Honestly, we’re starting to think you two are just showing off at this point.”

Right. Because nearly dying was clearly a performance piece.

Her scent hit me.

Honey and rain, now with a tinge of silver in it. The hollowness in my chest contracted like someone had just adjusted the dial on agony I hadn’t realized was eating me alive.

I turned my head, and there she was.

Sable stood against the wall, looking like death had almost had its way with her. Pale as fresh snow, hair hanging limparound her face, dark circles carved deep beneath her eyes. She held herself like someone who’d discovered that moving incorrectly might cause spontaneous disintegration.

Seeing her that way—vulnerable, damaged, barely held together with stubbornness and spite—unleashed something primal and possessive in my chest.

Mine.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, looking as fucked up as I was.

Mine, my wolf snarled again, shoving toward the surface with all the subtlety of a freight train.Hurting. Fix. Protect.

She’s not ours anymore, I reminded him with savage precision.We rejected her, remember? You were there for that conversation.