Page 5 of Never Tamed
The world blurs. Wolves whip around at the sound, some mid-fight, some retreating, some still overflowing with bloodlust. None of them matter.
Only her. Only Ren.
Only the mate I never wanted to recognize. My ex-fiancée stands over the body with blood dripping from her hands and I lurch into action.
There’s no room for thought, no plan, no careful strategy. No more control.
Vengeance obliterateseverything.
I tear through the first body that steps in my way like it’s made of tissue paper. Fur, blood, teeth, screaming—all blurs of violence and motion. A black wolf with a jagged scar across its face lunges at me from the side. I grab him mid-air, half shifting my face so my jaws clamp down on his throat. His yelp cuts off in a wet gurgle and I hurl him into the nearest pew.
Another wolf charges me, this one bigger, bulkier.Doesn’t matter. I plow through him and leave his ribs cracked, his legs twitching when he falls on his side. My claws rake through a third enemy before he can even turn to defend himself.
They thought they could overwhelm us. Ambush us. Touch her.
She’smine. No one is allowed to touch what’s mine.
The word echoes like a thunderclap through my head. Every wolf here feels the force of the newly established bond. I don’t give a fuck.
I search my mind for some whisper of her, wincing when I feel Noble there, and Mathis, both of them connected to me now through her. But Ren’s voice is gone and her presence dimming by the second.
I have to get to her, have to do something—
More wolves step into my path and I’m on them like fire through dry grass, tearing through enemy after enemy. Starvingfor destruction and shifting as I go. The man falls away and gives rise to the beast.
I shift mid-run. Fur to flesh, snapping pain through my limbs, breath wheezing as the change robs me of air, but I don’t care.
I land on all fours and shake off the last bits of humanity. My wolf is bigger than I remembered. Stronger. Faster. Enhanced by the mate bond, by the rage, by the unbearable, all-consuming need to get to Ren.
A snarl comes from the right but rather than raise my hackles, my wolf pricks its ears, the sound recognizable.
Dax. The Grey Valley’s feral beta is painted in blood and panting, one of his arms hanging limp. He takes down a wolf trying to go for Mathis before the creature has a chance to touch my rival alpha. Still in human form, Mathis turns to me, his eyes narrowed and black.
Torin—His thoughts buzz in my head because he sees Ren too.
He goes still, like someone’s electrocuted him. A rival no more, but my brother in misery.
Ren’s unmoving, her face pale, a pool of blood flowering around her like a broken halo. Dark hair obscures her features and I search desperately for a pulse and only hear my own.
The growl that rips from Mathis’s chest mirrors my own. He claws through the mob to get closer with the two of us tossing bodies out of our way like leaves.
I fall to my knees beside her and force the change back to man. I brush my fingers against her neck searching for a sign of life.
“Ren,” I whisper, my voice hoarse and wrong in my throat. “Ren.”
“Speak to us, sweetheart, please.” I’ve never heard Mathis sound so broken.
She’s cold, too cold, and her blood is still flowing. My hand hovers uselessly over her, fingers trembling. Is that—I can’t tell if it’s her heartbeat I feel or mine.
I press my palm flat on the worst of the wounds, the one Catarina carved through her back like the woman was claiming her territory. My vision blurs.
No. No, no, no.I won’t lose Ren. Ijustfound her. I just accepted what she’s been trying to tell me this entire time but I’ve been a stubborn fucking bastard.
Behind me, Mathis drops into a crouch, breathing hard. “Is she—?”
“She’s alive,” I snap. “But she won’t be if we don’t get her out of here.”
Our eyes meet and I see my own helplessness mirrored in his. This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this.
