Page 4 of Cursed Magic

But when we weren’t even a hundred feet into the woods, footsteps padded behind us…more than one set.

They’d come back to finish us.

CHAPTER TWO

My heart pounded, and a sour taste filled my throat. My gaze landed on Ryker, who was now being carried by Xander and Kendric, still in their wolf forms. Even from this angle, I could see that his eyes were closed like he’d passed out, and blood was pouring down his side into Kendric’s fur. I wanted to remove the knife, though I understood why he hadn’t. It would cause worse bleeding, and we needed to control the injury as best we could.

But he was fading.

My throat constricted, and I pushed the odd sentiment away and focused on Briar. She’d stayed right behind them, in front of Gage and me. Her gait was slower than normal, but at least she was upright and moving.

Gage limped beside me, still impacted from being choked nearly to death.

Faint footsteps sounded like they were following us.

When I stopped, it took Gage a second to notice. He let out a huff, and the others stopped and looked back at me.

He tilted his head, and somehow, I understood the question without being able to pack link with him.

“Keep moving. Get to the vehicles before they catch up to us again.” They were wasting precious time right now. With two of them having to carry Ryker, we’d been moving a whole lot slower than we should have been. Every second we delayed made it less likely that we’d make it out of here.

Briar’s brows furrowed. “Why did you stop?”

“Do you not hear that?” Footsteps were shuffling around the same location like they were trying to catch our scent to hunt us down. I didn’t understand why none of them could hear it.

I swallowed and tipped my head back. Was I hallucinating again, like the time I’d thought we were being watched in the national park when Ryker, Xander, and Kendric had been searching for Simon, the vampire we’d found outside the nest that had just been slaughtered?

“Hear what?” Briar blinked a few times and gazed around.

“The footsteps,” I gritted out, needing everyone to start moving again. “Everyone needs to get to the vehicles as quickly as they can.” I waved my hand forward.

“We only stopped because you did. Let’s go then.” She took a step forward, but when I remained in place, she didn’t continue.

I saw she was going to make this difficult, so I locked eyes with Gage and said, “I’m going to stay back and hold them off. Can you guard my sister and lead the way back to the cars? You two can move quicker than those two can with Ryker, and Briar has no idea where we parked.”

There was no point in the five of them staying when they couldn’t even see the attackers. I just needed to distract the shadows long enough for them to get to the car…which wasn’t very likely, but I refused to hand all of us over for easy slaughter.

“Absolutely not.” Briar shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Yes, you are.” I’d resented Dad for making Briar and me run when our pack got annihilated. He’d used his alpha will on us, and I’d had so much anger and resentment over it. Now all of that dissipated because, in this moment, I understood exactly why he’d done what he did—he’d had to make sure the two of us had a chance at being safe and making sure our story was heard.

I didn’t want Briar to hold that same resentment toward me. “Move. Now,” I ordered, my wolf inching out, ready to lace my words with power if needed.

Briar’s jaw twitched.

Normally, Briar was complacent and didn’t challenge authority. I wasn’t sure if her newfound stubbornness was due to me being her sister or because we’d lost our pack, but it didn’t matter. I was her alpha, and this was one thing she’d be forced to obey.

My wolf surged forward, and Briar’s eyes widened.

Guilt weighed on my chest, but I pushed it away. Keeping her safe and giving her a chance to live was more important than her potentially hating me for the rest of her life.

Power like I’d never felt before radiated through me, and my words echoed as I spoke. “Run to the car as quickly as you can. And leave.”

The footsteps began moving in our direction and in a more consistent pattern. The pressure around my body began to build once again. I didn’t understand why none of them seemed to hear anything.

Briar’s face twisted in agony, but her wolf forced her to obey my command.I’ll never forgive you for this,she linked, the sting of betrayal coursing through our bond.

Not able to handle sensing any more of her emotions or hearing the insults she might toss my way, I closed the link between us.

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