Page 36 of Outcast
The pressure around our neck disappeared and distantly I noted that Milo and Seth were running to us. My wolf had all but disappeared from my mind, and I started to panic at her absence.
Had I broken our connection? What was going on?
Our eyes fluttered shut, darkness threatening to overtake our consciousness.
Suddenly, I didn't feel so brave with my wolf gone, and I felt my feelings of inadequacy seeping back in. I had failed my wolf. I wasn't strong enough to understand how our powers worked, and I’d pushed us too far too fast.
What if I had lost her forever?
Voices tried to infiltrate our mind, but they felt too far away to distinguish the words or even understand who spoke. It was like a layer of water surrounded my head, seeping into my ears and flowing around inside my brain.
I was alone and scared. A position I hadn’t thought I’d ever be in again.
Chapter Sixteen
Milo
She had fought beautifullyand with honor while facing off with Sofia, despite her lack of training. My heart swelled with pride watching her out there, while my wolf cheered his mate on in my head, in awe of her strength.
I knew that this was so much more than a fight to establish her ranking. This was a fight to show she was done taking everyone's shit—that she wouldn't tolerate it anymore.
Everything I had ever wanted for her. To me, she had always been more than just the mere human in our pack. Despite continual harassment by Sofia and her gang of bitches, Kira had always managed to carry herself with grace and the air of a natural born leader.
However, I wanted to beat her ass with my palm until it was cherry red for trying to face off with the alpha. What the hell was she thinking?
She wasn't thinking. That had to be the answer.
Without a doubt, Seth and I would throw ourselves out in that ring with her and defy the alpha to save her if it came to that, but damn, I really hoped it didn't.
As he prepared to lunge at her, the flames we had briefly seen during our first shift appeared in a roaring wall of magic to protect her. She was astonishingly radiant.
Until she stumbled, and her flames sputtered out.
Seth cursed beside me, "Fuck. I'm going in."
He ducked under the wooden post, and I hurried behind him. We weren't going to be fast enough though. The alpha’s jaws closed in on her throat just as she turned her head to see him.
Simultaneously, Seth and I snarled at the sight of our mate in trouble, and surprisingly, Jameson sprinted into the yard from the opposite side.
If Kira wasn't in trouble, I would have ripped his throat out for acting like he had any right to come to her defense. Piece of shit.
Just as my wolf pushed at my mental barriers, asking me to release him to face off with the alpha, the large wolf dropped Kira's neck and stepped back, swiftly changing back to his human form. Naked as the day he was born.
Kira's eyes closed, and I screamed for her, "Kira! Stay with me," as Seth reached her and scooped her wolf's head into his lap.
Throwing myself onto my knees at her other side, I ran my fingers through her coarse white fur to find the large vein in her neck and pressed down firmly, as close to her skin as I could get. Giving it a few moments, I felt the vein pulsating steadily beneath my fingers, and my shoulders sagged in relief.
She was just unconscious.
Looking up, I saw Jameson hovering behind Seth, staring down at Kira in horror, like he was trapped in a bad memory. His eyes were wide, his mouth parted just slightly, and his hands trembled.
Odd reaction for someone who’d just openly denied his bond with her in front of the pack not even an hour ago.
Shaking my head in disbelief at him, I looked at Seth who was stroking her head and murmuring to her softly, "Come back to me, Kitten."
"Her pulse is steady, but we should take her somewhere to rest."
Before he could respond, the alpha interrupted, "She's not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell that was. She is not a normal shifter. Tell me right now, or she goes to the dungeon until she wakes for an interrogation."
