Page 115 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

Another shape made its way towards me, turning to run by my side as I got closer.

A dark wolf.

I leapt in front of his path and snarled.Intruder! Attacker!

The dark wolf snapped at me.Not me. Blood takers.

The blood takers… They were here to take back our omega.

Tonight, we fight together, he said.

Alone? No pack?One wolf could help, but more would be better.

He chuffed.Alone, but enough.

59

THE WHITE WOLF

Three blood takers surrounded me, circling closer and closer, swiping at me with their weapons. One made shallow contact along my back, the wound stinging fiercely.

My pack mates were in similar predicaments. We had felled many of our enemies, but we were outnumbered. Our omega had been taken. We had failed.

But we would not go down without a fight.

I lunged for the thigh of the blood taker in front of me, aiming to rip apart his veins and arteries. The weapon of the one next to him found my shoulder, but I wouldn’t let go to yelp in pain. I would take down as many as I could while I still breathed.

Another weapon aimed for my side, but the attacker turned towards the door as my red pack mate’s howl pierced the night.

Two silhouettes appeared in the entrance, snarling and snapping.

The dark wolf had joined the fight.

He was the enemy of our pack, but tonight, we fought the enemy of our kind as one.

The red wolf jumped over the furniture and crushed his jaws around the head of a blood taker attacking my silver pack mate.

I fought with renewed vigor, taking down another enemy and moving on to the next, but stopped as the dark wolf shifted back to its human form.

Why?I barked.Humans weaker!Especially without weapons. Humans couldn’t fight without fake claws.

But then the human clasped his hands in front of him, and a ball of light grew as he spread them apart. The blood takers stopped and gasped, then moved to retreat when the ball split and shot straight towards their chests. The lights entered them, glowing from the inside.

Then the screaming started.

60

JULIAN

Ipulled out of the grocery store parking lot, glancing down at the bouquet of flowers and bottle of wine on the front seat.

Females liked flowers. At least, I thought they did.

My mom had always seemed happy when my dad had given her flowers, at least. Before they died.

But Marlowe wasn’t a typical shifter female, and so far every move I’d made felt like the wrong one.

She was an omega – the first one I’d ever met. And she’d been raised as a human. Cam had talked to me yesterday after she had left the office, and had explained that she didn’t like a lot of typical alpha behavior. She didn’t like being told what to do. She also didn’t like aggression or violence, especially towards other females, and wasn’t afraid to argue or fight back.

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