Page 53 of The Howling (Monsters of the Yeavering #2)

H e has her.

He has his hands on my mate.

I will bite them off and feed them to him one by one for even considering putting them on her beautiful skin, let alone the dagger point he’s pressing into her neck.

I skid to a halt, my claws scraping over the ground before I shift into my were-hound form.

“If you hurt her…” I snarl.

“You’ll do what?” Lord Soulis mocks me. “Deal with me as you did with Guyzance? I am not as weak as he.”

“Probably too good for you,” Wynter says, gazing directly in my eyes.

She has something in her hand, something she closes her fingers over, and the second she does, the dagger flies out of Lord Soulis’s hand, and she ducks out of his grip, flinging herself into my arms.

“My mate,” I rasp, running my hands over her again and again. “Are you uninjured, unwell? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Reavely, I promise,” she says. “Lilburn and your mother helped me.”

“My mother?” I gaze at her, hardly able to take in having her with me once again.

How can the short time I’ve been away from her make my mate more beautiful? Her hair shines, her skin is like dew, and her ruby lips are all I want.

I need them, I need her, like I need life itself.

“She gave me this.” Wynter holds up a sparkling jewel on a chain.

It’s something I recall but only vaguely, as if it doesn’t matter much.

“It’s pretty, but not as gorgeous as you.” I brush my lips over hers, my cock instantly hard for her, which no doubt she is aware of.

“You don’t know what it is?”

“Should I?”

“It’s the Styne of Golorum.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“Wrong answer,” Lord Soulis bellows, breaking into my reunion with my Wynter.

I lift my lips, revealing in my fangs. We have some unfinished business. I look around at the Reivers who have crept from every nook and cranny.

“I have fought the Reivers, I have fought the Faerie, I have taken souls for the Reaper. What makes you think I care what answers I give?”

“If you are in control of the stone, you control the Yeavering. And if you want your mate to live, you’ll hand her and the stone over before giving yourself to me.”

Wynter looks up at me, pressed hard against my chest.

“We’re surrounded, Reavely,” she says quietly. “I have a plan. I’m going to offer to marry him in return for your freedom.”

My heart seems to stop in my chest.

“But you are mine.” The words are ripped from me.

“I will always be yours, but you mean too much for me to let him keep you under his control. I want you free of everything, Reavely. Once you’re free, I’ll figure something out.”

Her sweet face is upturned to mine. I swipe a thumb over her cheek where a tear hovers.

“You don’t need to do any such thing, my little deer. I will prevail. I always will.”

I see my mother immediately behind my mate. Her translucent form is even paler than usual. She nods at me, and I know my Wynter is protected.

Turns out there will be a battle to end all battles here today.

The battle for my mate and my family. Out of the corner of my eye, I see HIM.

The Reaper is here too.

He’s here to witness the battle, as he is for all battles. Stood on the edges, not interfering, only watching.

Watching me reap the souls.

The very last he will ever have from the Barghest because I will break this curse. I will be with my Wynter, no matter what.