Page 32 of Shaped By Darkness

“Pike?!” Serena’s voice cuts through my thoughts, and I let out a groan.

Damn it, his name was on the tip of my tongue; I can almost imagine Garrett hissing it. He did not like this guy.

Oh! That explains the sneaking around.

I might not have remembered his name, but I figured something out, and that’s enough for me. With a yip of excitement, I run up to Serena, and even though she braces herself, she’s no match for my wolf. She goes down, and the second she’s on her back, I’m licking her face, tail wagging. She tries to push me off, but it’s useless, and after a second she’s laughing, which is music to my ears.

“Pike,” Blair scolds me, and I whimper at the sound. I hate when he goes all dark and serious.

Hanging my head, I take a step back, allowing Serena to get up.

She doesn’t even make it to her feet before she’s looking back at…damn it, what is his name!?

Her eyes are wide, breathing labored, and why does she look… scared?

Finally, she whips back around to look at me, and I swear she should have just broken her neck with the way she moved. Before I can think about it much more, she's scrambling to her feet and in front of me, as I shift so that I can actually talk to her.

“What are you doing here?” she demands in a rush of words, her voice a few octaves higher than normal, eyes still wide with worry.

“Woah, Buns, calm down. Where’s the fire?” I joke, but it doesn’t land, and when she takes a step closer, I step back.

Serena’s scary like this.

“What did I do?” I ask, my hands up in surrender as I look over Serena’s shoulder to Blair for some help.

“Little Rabbit,” Blair calls to her, and she frowns, whipping back around to look at Blair, and I sigh in relief. “You’re wasting time.”

He looks up at the sky that’s still pitch black, the only light from the sliver of the moon and the millions of stars that decorate the sky. So many more than we were ever able to see back home.

So much is different here. It was strange at first, not having tech and things like the bathhouse and being able to control all four elements, but now, I think I might prefer it.

It’s kind of beautiful here, and not just the land.

It’s too bad the bad guy is terrorizing everyone and trying to kill Serena.

Hey, wait…

“Isn’t he the bad guy's son?” I point across the clearing at the guy whose name I still can’t remember.

It’s right there, something with an S or maybe an R?

Rain, Ryan, Ralph…

“Ryker isn’t like his father.”

“Ryker!” I shout, smacking a hand to my head.

Damn it, I was close. I knew it was an R; that has to count for something, right?

“Pike, why are you here?” Serena’s question and tone let me know she’s not playing, and she doesn’t think this is funny.

It also lets me know she’s less than happy to see me.

Ouch.

“I…” I look from Serena to Blair and then to Ryker. Blair appears indifferent the way he usually does. His eyes focused on Serena, even as she looks at me. Ryker seems confused by me; he watches me with his brows knitted together, a small frown on his lips. I can’t help but wonder what I could have done for him to look at me like that. I’ve only ever seen this guy the night we faced off against his father. If anything, I think I should be the one worried about his presence.

But it’s Serena’s reaction to my appearance that hurts the most.

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