Page 86 of Wolf's Providence

I froze. She stood in the distance, her gaze locked on me, Eamon just a step behind her already ready to fight. The wiry shifter from her house—the one who shouldn’t still be standing—broke away, advancing toward her.

A snarl ripped from my throat, deeper and more feral than I’d heard before. “Touch her, and I’ll rip you apart.”

But he only smirked, ignoring the threat. He moved closer to her, testing my patience,daringme. My control frayed, my wolf tearing at the edges, ready to end him.

Willow’s eyes widened, but she stood firm, her hand clenching around a broken tree branch she’d picked up along the way. I saw her grip tighten, her gaze flicking to me, refusing to back down. But fear laced her expression, and it drove a knife of rage deeper into me.

The beast ripped free of my control.

I moved forward, intending to put myself between them, but one of the others had shifted too and barreled into my side.

Eamon had shifted, his red-brown wolf circling the other attacker, and I didn’t care which one it was. As long as I got to Willow.

The shifter growled low at me and pounced. Spinning, my jaws snapping, I ripped into their side with fangs and claws. With a surge of fury, I tossed their broken body away from me, turning and seeing how close the other shifter was to Willow, his gaze fixed on her like prey.

She swung her branch and my heart stopped when I saw the wiry shifter grab hold of it easily and pull it out of her hands, tossing it to the side as he leapt at her. Too soon, his hand was around her throat, her body pulled into his, as he held her in front of him like a shield.

My paws froze as I took in her wide-eyed, terrified stare.

“So,Alpha,” he spoke with triumph lacing his words. Behind me, I heard the fight between Eamon and the other rogue stop.“None of us really wanted to challenge you for this land, none of us need an alpha. But if you’re dead, the land is ours to claim.” He pulled Willow closer to him, his hand tightening around her throat. “One squeeze and she’s dead,” he told me. “One squeeze, the bitch dies.” He smiled savagely. “Or you die…and then she dies anyway.”

My wolf took a step back in shock.

“Shifters talk,” he said with disgust. “A human, ripped apart by a shifter, thenlives?” He laughed, the sound hollow. “You did something that tied her to you, didn’t you?”

I shifted into human form. “Take your hands off her,” I said as I advanced. “And I will kill you quickly, mercifully.”

“The only one dying here tonight,alpha, is you.” His grip tightened and Willow wriggled against him futilely, her lips turning blue as she struggled to breathe. His lips dropped to her ear. “You keep squirming against me like that, bitch, I may have some fun with you before you die.”

I saw her eyes widen as her body froze, her fear-filled eyes trained on mine.

I didn’t think, I only reacted.

Launching forward with a snarl, I shifted mid-air, knocking Willow aside when the shifter threw her at me as his only means of defense. I heard her cry out as she fell, but my sights were on him.

And he was no match for me.

The beast inside me roared for blood as I tackled the shifter to the ground, and my jaws clamped around his neck. Holding him there. Feeling the pulse of his blood against my fangs as I held his life in my jaws.

I felt his fists pummeling into my body as my Will ordered him to stay in his human form. I felt his body shaking with fear and heard his screams as my teeth sank slowly into his throat. His strikes became harder and fiercer, but my wolf felt nothing.

Stop.

The command of my Will stilled his movements.

You will not fight me.

Blood pooled in my mouth, and the sharp metallic taste made my blood sing. Lifting my paw, I sank my claws into his side, puncturing a lung, ripping his insides like he would have done to her.

A part of me knew he was no longer fighting, no longer screaming, his body held immobile by my Will as his blood stained the snow.

“Caleb!” Willow’s voice cut through the haze, her hands in my fur, attempting to pull me back.

The need to protect her had been taken over by the instinct to eliminate the threat to her.

“Caleb…” She was still holding on. Still here. Her hands stroked through my fur, soothing me. “Finish it, this is enough.”

My jaw snapped closed, severing his head almost from his body.

---