Page 111 of Never Tamed
Andras grins, teeth flashing. His eyes shine with triumph. “She’s mine now. My Catarina.”
Then, with his claws buried into my flesh, he pulls back and rips me wide open.
My scream dies in my throat, choked by blood, and as my world goes dark around me, the lullaby floats from the void, beautiful and haunting, drawing me in.
Calling me home.
Chapter 29
Torin
It’s strange to watch the Blood Moons separate from snow and shadows. Andras’s wolves keep coming, wave after wave of them, as though they’re formed from the elements themselves.
He’s sent every fucking one of his living goons after us.
Exactly as we expect.
I can’t think about Dax and the others. If he dies, then so be it. He’ll go out doing what he loves.
Ren, though, has to be protected. She has to have her shot at Andras because as much as it kills me to admit it, she’s the only one who can do it.
Chosen. Special.
Pride flickers inside me as I lift my forearms to block the attack of the nearest Blood Moon.
They’re vile, more creature than wolf, twisted by their master’s hatred. Like a cockroach to stomp, I slam my palm against the man’s chest and send him flying back. The hit is strong enough to stop his heart but instead of watching him falter, I turn and face another one. Another.
Noble is a muted flash of copper several feet away. It might as well be miles. And the only way I see Ren is the distinctive bright red of her hoodie. It’s a landmark in a snowstorm.
Whatever happens, she has to reach Andras. Getting her to him safely was supposed to be our duty, but Dax’s lust for revenge took over.
The snow makes it difficult to maneuver and the slick ground sends me off balance. I swing for the dude’s head and miss, clipping him in the ear.
He’s saying something, screaming at me, and instead of chancing another missed aim, I headbutt him.
That, at least, is guaranteed to connect. And my skull is thick. I’ve been told it too many times to discount the claims now.
I’m rewarded when the guy’s nose breaks and he screeches, cupping his face.
My beta is here but not to protect me. My rival alpha is here as well. The three of us should be able to cause our fair share of damage, and form a chink in Andras’s defense.
Or so I hope.
It has to be this way.
Andras is somewhere in the storm, watching us, marking our movements. He hasn’t joined in the fight. But I feel him like a mist creeping through the tree trunks. He’ll strike when we’re weakest. The way he always does. And there’s no way to prepare for him.
Underhanded tactics are his bread and butter.
I lash out and land a punch on my opponent’s jaw, following it with a kick to the gut. The soft parts of him mold around my knee and I grab him by the shoulders, tossing him out of my way.
One after another, they fall, and I fight. Getting my hands dirty.
Ren is a whip of crimson against the blinding white. Under these conditions, it’s nearly impossible to make out the others.They are blurs against the snow. They are shadows in the dying light.
And our future depends on what we do here today.
I try to push it out of my mind but the realization is a constant and heavy companion. A burden to bear.
