Max? No, that wasn’t him. This werewolf was smaller. It felt feminine, even.
The werewolf with the white streak down its face was winning the fight. There was a level of viciousness and aggression inside of it that the other werewolf just couldn’t match, and once the light werewolf clamped its teeth around the other’s throat, I knew it was over. It chewed and chewed until the werewolf’s head popped off its neck like the tip of a daisy.
I was thankful to be alive, but I was scared shitless.
The werewolf jerked its head toward me, the white streak now painted red from the corpse of its victim beneath them, and its mouth hung open in a snarl like it was ready to fight me. I cautiously put my hand out and shushed it. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” I said. Truth was, I was hoping it wouldn’t hurt me.
Its amber eyes locked onto mine, and all of a sudden, I felt peace. Not just inside myself, but from the werewolf as well. Its mouth slowly closed, and then it sat down on its butt in the snow as a tiny whimper vibrated from their throat. For whatever reason, I approached the werewolf, taking short, careful steps toward it with my hand out in front of me. I reached out and touched the end of its snout and drug my fingers across the short hairs of its long face, and up to the white stripe between its eyes. The werewolf relaxed, closing both eyes. It was enjoying my touch.
I trembled. “Dana?”
The werewolf opened its eyes and gazed lovingly at me, and that’s when I knew. It was her.
She saved me.
Molly appeared behind her with a large brick in her hands and bashed it against the side of Dana’s head, so hard it knocked her to the ground. Dana went completely limp.
“No!” I screamed as I flew at Molly, pushing my hands into her shoulders and shoving her into the snow. I landed on top of her with my knees bent right against her chest, as I punched and clawed at her over and over again, so fast and so crazy, I wasn’t sure if any of it was even connecting. Her skin and blood built up beneath my fingernails, so I knew I was doing some damage. Molly hurt Dana, and for that, I was going to fucking kill her.
When I went for another punch, Molly caught my hand and then sank her teeth into my wrist. The sound of my skin breaking was so loud it was as if she were biting into an apple. The heel of her shoe nailed me in the back of the head, and once I was momentarily ruffled by it, she grabbed the front of my coat and pulled me into a headbutt. I fell off of her, and she quickly got to her feet and prepared to finish me off.
But panic set in her eyes, and in a flash she was gone. I turned around and saw Max, who was completely out of his werewolf form…and completely naked. I tried not to look down south, but my curiosity, even in the worst of times, got the best of me.
I cocked my head as I inspected. Hmm, good for Cora.
“Where’d she go?!” Max yelled as he limped his way to me. His bare chest glistened with sweat.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “She went somewhere that way,” I added as I pointed to the distance. Molly used her vampire speed, so she could be anywhere.
“After Cora,” he finished. “I have to go after Molly. Are you guys gonna be okay without me?”
I looked up to the sky and realized Master was no longer there. It was eerie, because I couldn’t find him anywhere.
“I can still hear Dana’s heart,” I replied. “We’ll be okay. I’ll stay with her. Just stop that crazy bitch before she kills my cousin.”
“You know I will,” he replied and then ran toward the hedge maze.
When I looked back down at Dana, she was no longer a werewolf. Her tiny, pale frame shivered in the snow, and I immediately pulled my coat off and draped it over her. “Dana?” I brushed her brown hair away from her face and trailed my knuckles across her cheeks. My touch was cold and I didn’t want to make her feel worse, but I had to feel that she was alive.
Dana’s eyes peeled open slowly, and she moaned. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
I let out a laugh. “Am I okay?” It was an absurd thing to ask when she was the one on the ground in pain. “Are you okay?”
“I am if you are.” Dana’s eyes suddenly widened. “Your neck,” she said as she pressed her fingers near where Master had bitten me. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’ll heal.”
“I should have gotten here sooner.”
“You’re here now,” I said. I smiled and cupped the sides of her face with my hands. She was so tiny and frail I could kiss her. “Come on, let’s warm you up.”
Chapter Forty-Two
DAGGETT
“Son of a bitch,” I groaned as I got to my feet. My jeans were soaking wet from being dragged through the snow, and I had to wipe away the debris of dirt and twigs from the fabric. I was chilled to the bone, but I was alive, and a few minutes ago I didn’t think that would be the case. Why that werewolf snatched me up and dropped me off, I couldn’t figure out, but anything that results in me still breathing is good in my book. I wouldn’t question it.
It was quiet.
