Chapter 2
Ruffles climbed up my chest and peered over my shoulder, hissing in my ear. I plucked her off of me and tossed her into Aurora’s arms. She clawed her way up Aurora’s chest, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and bared her teeth at the woods behind us.
“Then, you have to run,” I said. “No matter what you hear, don’t stop until you reach our pack. If I’m not back in ten minutes after you arrive, prepare our warriors for battle. We are not going to die this way.”
Losing all control, I shifted into my monstrous brown wolf. After digging my heels into the dirt and sliding against sharp rocks and branches, I turned around to glare into the dense white fog that sat heavily in the forest, almost making it impossible to see.
Defying everything I’d commanded her to do, Aurora grasped Ruffles and stopped beside me. I growled at her, warning her to leave. Instead of listening, she drew her silver dagger from her back pocket and crouched in a fighting stance, holding it in front of her. Ruffles jumped down between her legs, head low and ass wiggling, as if she was getting ready to attack.
“We do this together,” Aurora said.
I growled again in both wicked rage and immense pride. Our mate was a warrior, our luna was a protector, and if we somehow survived today, our pack would be stronger than every other pack in Sanguine Wilds.
Five hounds barreled through the forest with their paths headed straight for Aurora because she was the one with the stone in her back. They were attracted to that thing for some ungodly reason—a reason we needed to figure out as soon as fucking possible.
Taking the brunt of their attacks, I killed one hound at a time.
They should’ve been weak and recovering from the hound attack last week, yet their strength today far exceeded their strength a few days ago. It didn’t make sense, but it didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was protecting my mate and Ruffles.
With the dirt in my claws, I cut through each one and trusted that Aurora and Ruffles could kill off any ones that slipped past me. As I grabbed another one in my bloodied paw, I scanned the woods for others. There were at least a hundred hiding within the trees. Where were they now?
Yet while I couldn’t hear anyone, I could feel the gaze of their leader on me.
He watched me from somewhere deep in the woods, making my fucking blood boil. The ache to slaughter him grew more intense with every moment that went by. I let out a low, threatening growl through the fog.
“Keep one of them alive,” Aurora said, standing over two dead hounds. “We can use him.”
I sank my teeth into the third hound’s arm, broke his bones, and ripped his limb right from his body. Howling in pain, the hound fell to the ground.
After I was positive that nobody else was going to attack, I shifted into my human form and snatched him by the neck.
Infused with whatever kind of dark magic this was, the hounds were becoming stronger and more violent. We needed to mobilize our pack and other packs quickly if we wanted to survive because it was clear that the
hounds had already begun raising an army … An army of the dead.
The eerie feeling of Mom’s rapist scrutinizing us disappeared. Aurora snatched Ruffles in her arms and patted down her puffed-up fur, whispering to her that we were safe for now. And while we might be, one thing was certain.
I’d be back to slaughter that man even if it was with the last breath I took.