A Cursed Embrace

“Come on, Emme.” I started to run, but Emme didn’t follow. She froze, staring blankly ahead. Something held her attention. At first, I didn’t care enough to see what it was. I grabbed her arm and shook her. “Emme, we have to move now!”

I yanked her along only to stop short when I spotted Aric down the long corridor. His huge gray wolf form advanced deliberately toward me, viciously mutilating everything in his path. Tribesmen attempted to scramble away, only to be ripped into bloody chunks by the wolves directly behind him.

Aric bolted the last few feet and changed. His expression darkened as his gaze swept over my beaten form. Never had he been so fierce.

My initial reaction was to comfort Aric, to assure him I was all right. But my relief at seeing him brought the horrors I’d endured to the forefront of my mind, forcing my words back down and rendering me speechless.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered with barely controlled rage.

I collapsed against Aric’s chest. Except I couldn’t find the peace I sought in his strong embrace. Emme’s loud sobs drew my attention. No matter how much I needed him to comfort me, my sisters needed me more.

Liam held her a few feet away. Taran had descended to the floor. She stroked Emme’s hair, crying hard enough to make her shoulders tremble. Danny and our other wolves, now in human form, gathered around and formed a defensive ring as the bloodshed moved to the rear of the prison.

Taran screamed when she saw me. My battered appearance must have been shocking; even the males jumped back in alarm. Koda gawked at me before kicking the door to death row off its hinges and racing in. He scrambled out seconds later, thunderstruck with dread. “Where’s Shayna?”

“We don’t know.” I took a shaky breath. “Matar, the demon lord, took her to feed to his children.”

The color drained from Koda’s face. Aric squeezed me tighter. “Koda, Gemini, Liam, I’m releasing you from your duties. Find Shayna. Find her now!”

The Warriors changed and took off, Koda leading the way.

Aric kissed my forehead and stepped away. “Stay with the others,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll come back to you when I’m done.”

He stalked toward the large opening in the wall. I didn’t want him to leave. “Aric, where are you going?”

Every muscle and bone on Aric’s broad back stiffened. His voice deepened to a growl. “To kill Matar.” He changed, not bothering to glance back, and disappeared into the darkness.

I peeled the remains of my shirt away from my sports bra and faced the others. “We have to find Shayna. You four finish searching here.” No one moved. “Go! I’ll check the other buildings.”

Bren pointed his finger in my face. “You’ve had the unholy shit beaten out of you. No way am I leaving you alone!”

“They need your nose to pick up Shayna’s scent. If we split up, the search will go faster.” Bren didn’t budge. “Damn it, Bren, there’s no time to waste!”

Bren reluctantly changed back to wolf, roaring as I sped off without them. I barreled through the exit, leaping over the remains of the dead.

Outside, Alliance members and Tribesmen continued to battle. Dark clouds churned overhead and thunder shook the ground as witches cast their deadly curses. Flesh and ash saturated the earth where weres and vampires fought the enemy with fangs, claws, and all the viciousness of preternatural beings. I shoved my way through the maze of bodies, killing when I needed to, but mostly trying to move forward. It wasn’t until I came upon an opening that I stopped.

The Elders’ power and that of Misha’s master, Uri, hit me like a rush of wind, forcing me to stagger back. They, along with Aric and Misha, attacked Matar and the bloodlust vampires protecting him. Yet I feared their combined magic wouldn’t be enough.

Matar stood another three feet taller, his muscles resembling small boulders. His tail whipped viciously, filleting half of Uri’s face while crushing Anara’s back into powder. Uri was a Grandmaster, Anara a pack Elder; Matar shouldn’t have crippled them with such ease.

Martin and Makawee fought two infected vampires. To my astonishment, Aric and Misha worked together to take down the third. Misha’s head snapped toward me. He must have caught my scent. His eyes widened when he saw my condition, but then he flashed me one of his wicked smiles. He nodded toward the vamp and grinned, pulling an arm while Aric clamped onto the other. No further explanation needed. I changed and sprinted toward them, slicing through the bloodluster’s neck with my fangs.

Aric leapt into the fray the moment the vamp fell limp. Misha forced his hand through the decapitated vamp’s chest and ripped out his heart. “I knew you would survive, kitten.”

That made one of us.

Bits of cinder block exploded like shrapnel as Matar embedded Uri and Anara into the retaining wall. His daggerlike claws pierced through Martin’s and Makawee’s larynxes, and out the base of their skulls. Aric’s chest rumbled in challenge, attacking his serpent tail and distracting Matar from completing his decapitation of the Elders.

I charged Matar, knowing they needed help. Misha sped close behind me. We hit him at once, me slamming him with the full impact of my body and Misha jumping on his shoulders, trying to sever his head. Matar didn’t budge, despite our powerful strikes. I attempted to shift him into the earth. It was like trying to force a brick through steel. He was too big and I remained too weak. So I clawed and bit through his thick hide, desperate to bring him down.

Revulsion swept through my body. Matar tasted evil. I ignored my instincts to stop biting him, thinking of Shayna and every bit of suffering this bastard had caused.

Matar flung the listless bodies of the Elders and turned his freed claws on us. One went into Misha’s chest and the other rammed into my left side. We let out unearthly roars of agony as he suspended us in the air. When his claws penetrated deeper, the torture became unbearable. I lost my focus and changed back. I thought I was going to die, only to have Matar howl in pain and drop us.

Aric held Matar’s severed tail between his deadly fangs. It jerked violently like a separate entity despite the necrosis setting in. Matar bellowed with fury and kicked Aric in the chest, breaking his ribs in a heart-clenching crunch and launching him into the prison’s outer wall. Aric yelped upon impact, then collapsed, unmoving.

I struggled to stand, barely able to move. Misha lunged to his feet and hurtled his body against Matar. To my horror Matar grabbed Misha’s arms and ripped them off his body. Misha dropped to the ground, bleeding and screaming.

Aric woke with a start and catapulted into Matar’s chest, knocking him over. His potent jaws crushed Matar’s sternum, breaking through the bone and opening the cavity. Aric was going to kill him. There was no doubt in my mind, until Matar nailed Aric across the muzzle, snapping it in half.

Matar stabbed his claws through Aric’s underbelly. Aric thrashed violently, trying to break Matar’s grip. Matar’s body jerked from Aric’s rough motions, and his hard breaths filled the night. He stumbled to a kneeling position, lifting Aric’s huge wolf form over his head.

A long silver spike jetted out from Matar’s knee. My eyes widened, knowing he meant it for Aric’s heart. Matar smiled at my terror. “Aric, be sure to tell Shayna that Celia says hello.”

I shifted underground faster than ever before, resurfacing in a high leap behind Matar. With all I had left, I punched through the back of his skull and grabbed his brain. Out it came, along with most of his spinal column.

My feet hit the ground in sync with Matar’s lifeless form. “Get up from that, asshole! ”

The thunder stopped and the clouds dissipated, revealing a clear night sky full of shimmering stars. All was quiet except for the sound of labored breathing from those struggling to rise to their feet. I rushed to Aric, panting on the ground. He met my gaze and changed, holding me against him while the broken bones of his face realigned and healed.

Weres, vampires, and witches from the Alliance encircled us. So did the Elders, resuming their human forms. To my relief, Misha also rose to his feet. His arms remained scattered somewhere in the yard, but he had stopped bleeding, thanks in part to the charitable tongues of the Catholic schoolgirls.