She was going after Cora, and I couldn’t feel my legs.
Fuck.
Chapter Forty
DANA
My eyes were closed and all I saw was darkness. But I could hear a commotion, the distant sounds of yelling, fighting, and screaming. They were at war, but I wasn’t there. Instead, I was knocked for a loop and could barely get to my feet, but I knew when I did, I'd still be useless in this human form.
How long had I been out?
I spotted Melanie far away from me, fighting off a werewolf. I didn’t know who it was or where it came from, only that it wanted her dead. Its paws and her hands were locked, and she was seconds away from being bitten. It was too powerful for her, and her lips quivered as she screamed. I had to save her.
I pressed my hands onto the snow covered earth and tried to will myself to change. To shift.
Come on, Dana, I told myself. Don’t be weak. Don’t be fragile. You can help in your werewolf form, just…just change. Do it. Do it. Do it. They need you.
I was sweating, kneeling, growling as I tightened my face and tried to pull the form out of me like a rotten tooth. But it wouldn’t come.
Melanie’s screams continued. She was in pain. She was hurt.
I had to save her.
Do it, Dana. DO IT.
Chapter Forty-One
MELANIE
The muscles in my arms shook uncontrollably as I tried to hold the werewolf back, but it was just too strong. I couldn’t take it anymore. The werewolf pushed me to the ground and smashed its feet against my chest, doing everything it could to make sure I couldn’t move and was able to target my throat with ease.
A whistle rang out in the distance, and the werewolf’s attack settled. He lifted his head to the direction of the whistle and then slowly climbed off of me, his head bowed in submission, but his growls never quieting. It was in its nature to want to hurt me, but it was being controlled not to.
I flipped onto my stomach and saw Master standing a few feet from us. Of course he called off the attack. He wanted me for himself, and he couldn’t have anyone else ending my life, or it would interfere with his precious ritual. I hated him. I hated him so much.
“Shall we resume?” he said. In this form, his voice was deeper with a slight echo, but it was still distinctly him.
I clenched my jaw. “Fuck you.”
He said nothing and flew toward me. I tried to run, but his hands were around my waist and he was lifting me into the air. My feet swung back and forth as the ground below me grew further and further away. The moon was so full and bright, I felt like we were going to soar right into it. Cold or hot temperatures had stopped being an issue for me, but even I could feel how freezing the air was the higher we rose.
Suddenly, the plan Max and I created flashed in my mind, and I felt around the inside pocket of my coat to see if the knife was still there. Thankfully, it was.
Master was flying us to the castle, most likely so he could lock out everyone else and finish me off with no interruption. The thought of it set something off inside of me, and I no longer hesitated with the knife. I found a spot right beside my waist, where his flesh was exposed, and jammed the pointed end straight into him. He screamed, but didn’t let go of me, so I pulled the knife out of his wound and stabbed him one more time. This time his scream wasn’t from pain, but anger. Master sunk his teeth into my neck and ripped a chunk a flesh out of me. Blood shot out like a sprinkler and trailed down my chest and legs. I was soaked and dripping from the gaping hole he pulled out of me, and I wanted to cry. I kicked my legs furiously left and right and pounded my fists against his locked fingers around my waist, and eventually his grip loosened, and I fell fifty feet.
I thudded to the ground and felt a pop in my ankle. The pain wasn’t there, but I knew I had broken it. Because of accelerated healing, I’d be okay, but the healing took time and I didn’t have that. Master whistled to the werewolf, and the thing came running after me. I booked it as fast as I could, the entire time hearing the cracking of my ankle with every limp I took. My leg looked like a bent straw, and was completely useless as I drug it through the snow. The pain was so intense I could only imagine how bad it’d be if I were still human. I’d probably fall to the ground and let myself die.
I had to push through. That’s all I could do.
Something suddenly came into my vision, and I gulped. It was the other werewolf—the one that had disappeared with Veronica—and it was coming toward me at a crazy speed. There was no way I was going to fight them both off, not with them sandwiching me like this. Maybe if I weren’t bleeding and crippled, it’d be different, but even that was questionable.
The closer it came to me, the clearer it became. I didn’t recall its fur being a light brown, or the white streak down the center of its face. It didn’t look like the other two at all.
Just
