Chapter 55
John
Backed into a corner, John fought beside his alpha, with Nico on Bass’s other side. He was coated in gore. It was impossible to tell which blood belonged to him or the enemy he’d laid to waste. His energy wavered, his hold on his human mind becoming increasingly harder to maintain, and as another wave of Castor’s mindless beasts hit them, John gave in to the wolf at his core.
He’d known from a young age that he was different from those in his pack. Wilder, less human, more beast, and he’d danced a fine line ever since. Over the years, he’d learned when to let his wolf out and when the beast needed to be tamed, but today, as death breathed down his neck, John let go of all his control and bounded toward the gnashing teeth of his enemy.
Blood ran hot through his mouth as he tore open necks and spilled guts from his opponents’ bellies. His humanity became but a faint whisper until he was all but lost, as savage as Castor’s wolves. He bit and swiped with a relentless force, his only thought to kill. He knew he should pull back, knew he’d fallen too far, but the enemy was everywhere, leaving no room to think.
Bass called his name, warned him to pull back. “John!” Bass slammed him to the ground, gripped his jaw. “Shift back.”
But it wasn’t his alpha’s order that freed him from the prison of his own mind; it was the scream of the woman he loved reaching out for a bond that would connect them for life. Eva filled his senses, rushed through his blood, sweet and warm, but as the mating bond snapped into place, so did the knowledge of his mate’s injuries.
Eyes snapping open, John gripped his alpha. “Bass, our home.” The connection between Eva and himself flickered and faded, and John forced his own lifeforce into his mate as his eyes grew heavy.
“Evaline!”
“John, talk to me,” Bass demanded, the strength of his alpha’s command shaking off his drowsiness.
“Eva’s hurt,” John whispered. “Our home is under attack.”
But even the all-consuming need to get to his mate couldn’t keep John conscious, and as Eva’s life gave out, John fed her his own. He’d hold her to the living for as long as he could, and if death claimed her, then it would take him too.
Chapter 56
Katalina
Raven was good, but she was no match for Katalina drunk on power. It zapped through her veins like lightning as Katalina lunged for Raven. The woman couldn’t avoid her grasp.
Claw’s digging into Raven’s skin, blood bloomed as Katalina squeezed the life from her, crushing her throat. Raven thrashed and kicked, her fingers gripping uselessly as she tried to dislodge Katalina’s hold.
“If only your father would have listened, all of this could have been avoided. So much bloodshed for nothing, and now you will be added to that list.”
Fear filled Raven’s gaze, and just before Katalina took her life, she got a glimpse of the Raven below the mask. Of a wolf as fragile and human as she was.
Letting Raven slump to the ground, Katalina turned toward Castor’s screams as he realized his daughter was dead. Their gazes met across the mass of chaos, time seeming to pause as they took each other in.
“I told you I’d never bend,” she called, her tone vibrating with power. A smile pulled at her lips, almost as wicked as Castor’s daughter’s had been. “Well, what are you waiting for, Castor? I think it’s time we finished this.”
Charging for her, the sea of wolves and humans parted, and as Castor unchained the lock to her prison, Katalina met Bass’s dark eyes. There was no need to speak aloud. Bass was inside of her—his energy, his gift of strength—and he knew as much as she did that this was her fate to face alone.
She’d been the spark that set the tides of change, and she’d be the blade that ended it for good. She’d never wanted to be feared or to hold this amount of power, yet it had happened. And the only way to protect the packs was to make sure no one ever dared touch her family again. She’d become a myth, a tale of legend, the shield of fear protecting all she loved.
Castor shifted on a snarl, flying across the cage he’d created as Katalina’s stage. Dancing to her right, Katalina twisted with grace, her body nimble and quick as her leg curled up and struck, sending Castor flying into the steel bars of her prison.
Recovering, Castor eyed her with bloody intent, and with one final smile, Katalina gave in to the wolf at her core. Snow-white fur and ice-blue eyes, Katalina howled her rage as she tackled Castor to the floor. They toppled over a clash of claws and teeth, hitting each other with the fury of their primal natures. Their fight was nothing graceful. It was violent and primitive—a dance of their darkest, most inhuman natures. And as Castor’s blood filled her mouth, his flesh tearing between her teeth, Katalina savored the taste of death on her tongue, drew so much power into her body she became glutted with it, until it was all she was, and leaping from the cage, Katalina carried on her rampage, killing anyone in her path.
Castor’s army of wolves scattered as she knocked them down like toys and when the silence of death settled heavily in the air, those who were left standing gazed
