Page 63 of Cursed Magic

The Blackwoods weren’t the target. They were nevergoing to be. They’d just bought time to get their fighters set up, and we’d fallen for it.

I spun around and saw a shadow at Ryker’s back.

“Ryker, behind you!” I shouted just as the shadow lunged with its arms extended.

He ducked, and the arm caught only air.

Briar’s panic coursed through me like it had a life of its own. I turned to find three shadows converging on her.

I had to help her. Hell, I had to help everyone!

The Blackwood pack wasn’t being harmed, but several screamed and ran from the clearing. Shadows broke away, chasing them, possibly intending for them to never make it home.

Chaos ensued, and I could only watch as the slaughter commenced.

The shadows ripped through the clearing like a storm, relentless and merciless. They played with us, injuring and drawing out each attack with cruel precision. A dark mass ripped through the red-haired man’s side, his yell echoing in my mind before he collapsed.

Panic spread as quickly as the blood on the ground. I wasn’t sure what to do, and I couldn’t help but notice that none of them were attacking me.

Briar’s scream cut through the chaos, high and wild. I spun around to find a shadow wrapped around her small frame, its claws sinking deep into her sides.

Another one pounced on Ryker, clawing his leg. Ryker fought, trying to grab the shadow, and managed to hold him off, but not for long. All the others were in the same predicament.

If I wanted as many people as possible to live, I had to make the shadows focus on me.

I glanced around and saw a gun in a dying Shae pack member’s waistband.

I ran over and yanked it from the holster, its weight awkward and foreign as I gripped it. My grandfather had taught me to shoot in case we ever got dragged into violence, but it had been more than a decade since I’d held a gun. As soon as my father became alpha, shooting lessons were one of the first things he told me I didn’t need.

If only Dad were alive to see that Grandfather had been right to teach me….

Tightening my chest against that pain, I tried to recall what I’d been shown and aimed at the shadow crushing Briar. My hands shook, and with a deep breath, I pulled the trigger, praying to Fate that I hit my mark and not her.

The bang split through the chaos like lightning, and the shot didn’t hit center mass as I’d aimed for, but the lower part of the shadow’s body. It loosened its grip on Briar with a yelp, giving her a moment to gasp for air and wriggle free.

The shadows halted mid-attack, all of them turning toward me. Though they had no eyes, I felt their gazes prickling over my skin like icy needles.

I fired again, wanting them to attack me. The bullet hit a shadow closing in on Ryker. Its grip faltered, giving him the chance to push free with a savage kick.

My wolf came to the fore, ready to shift.

“Get your guns and fire as they attack you!” I bellowed, half animal and human. “That’s the only way we’re going to live through this.”

Almost in tandem, the shadows charged at me. I spun around, yanking my clothes off as my wolf broke free. My bones cracked, but I kept moving, knowing I needed to gain distance from them, or I was as good as dead.

My back broke, and I was running on my hands and feet until they turned into paws underneath me.

A shadow swiped my side, and I whimpered as I took off toward Blackwood territory. We’d come here to find the witch, and I would try like hell to reach her.

I didn’t pause when Ryker yelled my name. The wound ached, but I pushed through and kept going.

The shadows managed to keep up with me as I raced through the trees. My breath came in ragged bursts, and they closed in, swift and unrelenting. One lunged from my right, tearing into my shoulder and sending a searing pain across my upper body.

I stumbled but forced myself onward, knowing I had to keep moving or it would be over. Another shadow swiped at my hind leg. My muscles screamed with every step, frantic and despairing, but I kept running.

Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed that a huge number were chasing me. At least that would give the others a better chance to survive.

Blackwood territory wasn’t far—if I could make it there, maybe I could find and kill the witch behind all this and end the terror.

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