They’re not here for Ember. They’re here to keep me from her. Not again. Never again.
Rage floods me, molten and unstoppable. I whirl, snapping a foreleg between my jaws. Bone crunches. His scream gurgles into silence as I toss him aside. Another leaps for my throat. I catch him mid-air, sink my fangs into his jaw, and rip until the lower half of his face tears loose. He falls twitching into the dirt.
Ash doesn’t flinch. He only grins wider, circling me like a vulture. “She’ll never be yours. By the time you crawl to her, she’ll be bred by someone younger, stronger. Someone worthier of Alpha.”
“Over. My. Dead. Body.” I launch forward, but two more males crash into my sides, teeth digging deep into my haunch and neck. They’re trying to drag me down.
I let them.
Because once they think they have me, my power surges. I twist, ripping my body free in a spray of my own blood, then spin, jaws clamping down on the throat of the one behind me. I shake him until his spine snaps and his body goes limp. His blood coats my tongue, hot and metallic.
The other still clings to my shoulder, claws digging in. I slam backward into a tree. Once. Twice. Until his ribs collapse with a crunch. He slumps to the ground, gasping for air.
I finish him with a stomp of my paw, crushing his windpipe.
Ash’s grin falters.
I stalk toward him, chest heaving, white fur painted in blood that isn’t all my own. Around me, the bodies of his packmates litter the forest floor.
“You’ll never stop me,” I growl, voice gravel, fangs dripping red.
His smirk returns, but his eyes flicker with fear. “Then I’ll meet you at the Sacred Tree. And when you fall, I’ll be the one standing beside her.”
He whirls, vanishing into the trees before I can close my jaws around his throat.
Fine. Let him run.
Ember’s howl splits the night — raw, feral. She did it. My heart pounds with pride. My mate is victorious.
I lower my head, muscles bunching, and tear through the forest like a storm. Nothing will stop me from reaching her.
She’s mine.
Chapter 48
EMBER
The forest is a blur of shadow and silver light as I dart through the underbrush, my paws kicking up sprays of dirt. Behind me, I hear the thunder of footfalls closing in. I’m no longer bleeding, but the old virginal blood still lingers on my coat. They grow closer. My heart leaps, but not in fear, in recognition.
A sharp nip at my back foot makes me yelp, stumbling a pace before driving forward harder. I glance over my shoulder, and there he is, white fur gleaming like a ghost in the moonlight. Muzzle stained red like mine. We’ve both fought to make it here, beside each other. His eyes are fixed only on me.
I swerve to the left. He follows. I cut back right. He mirrors me perfectly, like we’ve been running in tandem our whole lives, like a pack. I slow enough for him to catch my flank, his shoulder brushing mine in a fleeting electric touch. My breath stutters. He growls low in his chest, the sound vibrating through me. Another nip at my ankle. This one lingers, fangs grazing me.
I whirl mid-stride and he slams into me with all the force of his massive body. The momentum drives me back until myspine collides with the rough bark of a tree. His forepaws bracket my shoulders as his muzzle hovers inches from mine.
“You let me catch you,” he rumbles, shifting and now towering over me in human form, his chest heaving, eyes blazing an impossible blue.
I shift, too, breathless, my human back against the tree. “Maybe.”
His eyes narrow, glacial fire boring into me. “Why?”
The truth claws its way up my throat. “I wanted you last year, but I couldn’t. My brother is all I have, Thorn. I couldn’t leave him.” He remains silent, listening as I continue, “With our parents gone, it’s been me and him. I couldn’t leave him all by himself.” My throat tightens. “Maybe I wasn’t ready to leave him either…”
His jaw flexes, but he remains silent.
“You just left last time. You didn’t let me explain,” I continue after a pause. “After the Challenge, you were hurt and there was a whole line of wolves behind you in the shadows. I had to step back, I had to win the Chase. But I didn’t choose you because I…I wasn’t ready to be a mate.” I shrug. “Let alone an Alpha’s mate.”
“And now?”