Page 71 of His Claim
There, the skin wasn’t thick enough to stop me. The blade sank. He clamped one hand on my shoulder and the other on my hip and tried to lift me, to break me in half. I put everything into the thrust. Steel met cartilage and then the spine. I twisted.
The roar filled every inch of the tunnel, vibrating through my ribs and skull. The lantern light jumped, throwing shadows against the stone that made the creature look even larger.
It moved faster than something that size should have been able to. One second it was crouched, the next it slammed into me. My back hit the wall with enough force to rattle my bones. I felt my ribs give under the impact and pain crashed like lightning across my chest.
“Gareth,” I rasped. “Stop. You can stop this.”
The creature answered with a roar that rattled the support beams. Its breath was hot and foul against my face. I saw the flash of its teeth as it opened its mouth, aiming for my throat. I shoved upward, clawing at its neck, but it caught my arm, wrenched it back, and drove me into the rock again.
The ceiling cracked above us. Dust sifted down, coating my tongue with grit. My head snapped against the wall, stars bursting across my vision. My knees buckled.
I tried to shift, but my wolf faltered under the pressure of his weight. He was stronger, faster. He bent down, jaws wide, saliva spilling over my neck.
I looked into his eyes then.
Through the rage and the smoke and the monster, I saw it. Just for an instant. Through the bloody mess I’d made of his eyes, the bright shade of blue I remembered. The soldier who had once stood beside me, not this abomination the Council had made him into.
His expression flickered between human and monster, the serum and the man warring for control.
“Gareth,” I whispered. “Don’t let them win.”
He froze. Just long enough.
I twisted, grabbed a rock, and slammed it into the side of his head. The blow staggered him. His grip loosened. I tore free, lunged for my fallen knife, and rolled to my feet. My breath came in ragged gasps, setting my lungs on fire. The creature roared again, louder, making me wince.
We collided in a blur of claws and teeth. I slashed deep across his side, but he didn’t stop. His hand came at me like a hammer, catching me across the face. My vision went white.
I stumbled back, barely conscious, the world spinning. My legs gave out, and I hit the ground hard. The knife slipped from my fingers. My head thudded against stone, the sound echoing inside my skull.
Through the haze, I saw him rear up to strike the final blow. His claws gleamed, black and wet. The roar coming from his chest was no longer rage—it was grief.
And then, at the very edge of my sight, he hesitated. His claws hovered, trembling, as if the weight of what he was about to do burned through what remained of his mind.
He turned his head toward the cracked ceiling, nostrils flaring, and even though he couldn’t see, it was as though he could sense the boulder wedged high above us, at the top of the rock fall where Mariah had squeezed through and escaped.
Before I could move, he lunged blindly.
The sound was deafening. He tore the boulder free from the ceiling, ripping down beams and stone. The monster, muscles bulging, threw it toward the collapsed rock. It hit with an impact that split the mountain. A gap opened in the rock, light spilling through from the surface.
He’d given me a way out.
The effort drove him to his knees. He turned, swaying, chest heaving. The veins beneath his skin pulsed black. I pushed up to my knees, barely breathing, watching as the shadow of his humanity flickered like a dying flame.
Then came the sound of boots and snarls echoing down the tunnel. Wolves. Reinforcements.
Fuck.
They rounded the corner and stopped when they saw him, frozen by the horror that filled the passage.
“Gareth,” one whispered.
The creature raised its head, turning blindly toward the sound. And for one moment, his face softened.
He growled once. Then he reached for the ceiling again.
I barely had time to shout before the mountain came down.
Stone screamed as beams splintered. The tunnel shuddered, the walls bowing inward. Wolves shouted, some trying to flee, others firing their rifles. It didn’t matter. Gareth drove his hands into the walls and pulled once again.
