The biker leader’s head swung back to me while I was still mouthing a confused lizard to myself. His look had my mouth snapping shut so fast my teeth clicked together.
“And we’re going to show those weak, pathetic dogs why you don’t mate with human trash.”
I didn’t even have a chance to get angry about any of that, because a second later, the biker guy fell forward with a bunch of ugly, cracking pops. The bones of his face shifted around, and ratty, gross hair grew over his arms, and the snarl he gave me had about a hundred too many teeth, all of them long and way, way too sharp.
Oh.
Okay.
So this was what a psychotic break felt like. Cool.
Cool. Cool.
BASH
Iwas moving before I even fully understood what was going on. All I knew was that Stacia, my mate, was terrified, and I wasn’t there beside her, and that was enough to have my wolf throwing itself against the cage of my body.
Stone had burst into a run when I did, keeping pace. “What is it? What’s going on?”
I didn’t know. I didn’t know where she was, but I had togo, I had to find her. I tried to tell him that, but all that came out was a guttural snarl.
Stone’s head cocked to the side as we ran. “Hear that?” he asked, grim. “Motorcycles on campus.”
Most students didn’t ride on the campus, which meant that there was a good chance it was the one-bloods kicking up trouble again. It was a chance for me to finally catch at least one of them, who could hopefully lead me back to whoever was behind their group.
But Stacia was in trouble. I’d burn the bloody world for her. It wasn’t even a choice.
Of course, there was a chance that they were the trouble she was in. Not knowing was going to drive me mad.
As we raced past the gym, a crowd of our fellow Dire Wolves came pelting out, with Eli in the lead and Ty close on his heels. Nik was with them, and Kirill, and a few others whose names I couldn’t remember past the driving beat of Stacia’s fear.
“What’s going on?” Stone called to the others.
“One-bloods, at the library,” Eli said, shortly. “Charlie’s there, and I’m not letting one of those pricks lay a finger on her.”
“Is Stacia with her?” I almost didn’t recognize my own voice. The question came out as more of a growl than words.
Eli nodded, his face grim. “Yeah. Hunter too. And a bunch of humans.”
That was all I needed to hear. My Stacia, my gorgeous American girl, was in the same vicinity as a bunch of one-bloods.
I leapt forward and let the wolf out.
Clothing tore, and wasn’t that going to be a bugger later. But I didn’t care. Just like I didn’t care about the voices calling behind me. There was nothing but the grass moving beneath me as I raced to close the distance.
I heard the soft thudding of feet coming up beside me and risked glancing back just enough to see an enormous white wolf keeping pace. Stone.
A wolf’s body isn’t really meant for nodding or anything human like that, but I flicked my ears toward him, glad for the backup.
The wolf was far faster than the man, and just a few seconds later, we tore across the green to the library’s secluded courtyard. There was a whole pack of one-bloods there, and one of them had even started to shift, his skin splitting and his bones cracking, before we’d gotten there. He was a big hulking brute, snarling at the small woman standing on the front steps, her eyes wide and her skin soft, pale, and glowing in the moonlight.
Glowing for me.
Stacia.
Something in me soared at the sight of her but crashed back to earth a second later to realize that my mate was alone, undefended except for… strangely a dragon, masquerading as a professor standing beside her as she faced down an enormous werewolf, her book bag clutched in her hands like a sword.
The one-blood lunged forward, and I put on another burst of speed, knowing I wasn’t going to get there in time.
