Mate.
She’d shifted on her own. Without me.
A pang of guilt washed through me. Shifting was held as a sacred change among a pack. When a pup reached adulthood, we all celebrated to embrace the wolf. Not to mention, it was painful as hell the first time.
But here she was, standing on all fours, looking damned elegant. She held her form like she’d done this hundreds of times. There was no shaking, no painful steps as she got used to four legs.
She was made for this.
My brothers were brought to their knees by the stifling power and lowered their heads. The enemy backed away slowly.
It was the unspoken force that empowered our members when her howl permeated the room—the sheer weight radiating so strongly, even my throat closed.
Her two front paws clacked against the surface of the concrete. She dipped her head until she reared back and let out the loudest, ear-piercing roar that silenced the room.
Beretta walked to my mate’s side. Her body was tiny compared to my mate. The heavy breathing coming from Journey blasted streams of hot breath against the darkness trying to stifle the light.
She was fucking magnificent.
Journey stood regally, in all her glory as her gaze filtrated over the vast room, until it landed on Leif and me. An instant purr came from her chest, and her padded feet pounded the floor, charging straight toward me.
Locke’s decision was made for him in an instant. We were going to fight, and we would not let Locke make the wrong choice.
Backup arrived behind Beretta, as she fired her gun into the chaos. The whole warehouse was turned upside down. The enemy was dwindling, and our numbers were increasing.
How did they get here in time? How did they know without the cameras and the comm?
Journey charged toward me. I waited for her to nuzzle beside me, but she burst through the small group surrounding Idris.
“No!” Leif yelled to her wolf, but it was already too late. Journey and her wolf broke through Idris’s barrier, and she sank her teeth into his shoulder, ravaging it.
They fell to the ground. Journey wrestled on top of the dark fae while Locke and I stood astonished.
Gargles of blood ripped through Idris’s throat.
“Don’t just stand there,” Locke said, motioning me to go forward. “Help her finish him off!”
Locke pulled out an assortment of baggies, pulling the string and throwing the sand-like substance in the air until it caught fire once it reached the ground.
The fire circled around Journey and Idris, and I backed up and took a roaring leap through the blaze. I landed next to Journey who was still latched onto Idris.
Idris’s screams pierced my ears, his fae voice trying to rupture our eardrums.
“I can’t control my wolf! What do I do!?”Journey’s panicked voice wailed.
I growled, looking for submission from her wolf, but she continued to shake Idris like a rag doll. His hair came untucked from his sleek ponytail, his dark eyes glowing red. He was going to expel some sort of magic if I didn’t get her off of him soon.
Leif grabbed Idris’ foot, pulling him away from my mate. She growled frustratedly, prowling forward to take another shot. We needed to kill or subdue him before it was too late.
“You won’t be able to control her, but explain to her she needs to sto–”
A blast of darkness came from Idris. The shadows curled around the both of us like long tentacles wrapped around our necks. It shook us both as we whimpered and grunted to fight against them, but it proved far too strong. Seconds later, we were both slammed to the floor.
Journey whimpered, and I bolted as soon as the tendrils left my body. I hovered over her to protect her. That was my purpose. To make sure she was safe, especially when her wolf had just surfaced.
She looked up at me with those caramel-colored eyes in thanks, her moon shining brightly until it faded. I cocked my head in curiosity and another boom came from the middle of the room.
The red velvet chair laid backwards, the scotch spilled across the floor, the fire consuming the masses.
