“You cannot fight this, Sable,” the voice hisses.
Then it’s on me.
I recognize the dark cloud as it settles over me, squeezing me, and I growl and lunge into it, determined to rip it to pieces. Instead, the cloud overtakes me, and I can no longer move. I sink to the floor, adrenaline surging through me as I stretch my paws out to try to crawl through the darkness. They’re like beacons in the pitch black—pale blotches against the dark ground.
But when I look down at my paws again, my heart lurches in my chest.
Black magic is rippling across my fur just like it does in my human form.
The witch is trying to overtake the wolf.
I jolt awake, scrambling against the bedsheets with four paws. I’m no longer in the cave, but in bed, where I’ve been asleep with my four mates. I realize with dawning horror that I’m in my shifter form, and that threads of black shimmer through my fur, just like I saw in the nightmare.
What I dreamed of, what seemed so nightmarish and impossible, was truly happening in real life even as I slept.
All four men have been woken by my thrashing, backing away from my claws as I struggle to get purchase and stand.
“Sable! Sable, calm down!” Ridge calls, his voice strained by fear and rough with sleep.
I can’t hide the black marks in my fur, and I see them notice it, one by one. Ridge’s eyes widen, and Dare backs away, his eyes going dark with horror. It’s like I can see his whole pack being murdered in the reflection in his eyes. Trystan’s gaze is on my side, his mouth hanging open, dumbfounded.
Archer reaches for me, and there’s worry in his voice as he says, “Sable, it’s okay.”
Liar. It’s not okay. Nothing is okay. I’m numb all over, like the night I woke up and didn’t recognize my mates lying beside me.
I refuse to hurt them. I will not give in to that insidious voice or this horrible numb feeling.
I back away, the blankets slick beneath my paws, and tumble off the bed inelegantly in my haste to get away from the men. Then I find purchase on the slick hardwood floors and bolt toward the front of the house.
Bursting through Ridge’s front door, I race into the night. The air is cool, and the moon is hidden behind thick clouds, but I have no problem seeing with my wolf sight. I leave the village behind and plunge into the woods on the edge of town—the same woods I attempted to escape through when I first arrived here.
Back then, I was running from the unknown, from the strange men who’d saved me and claimed me as their mate. Now, I’m running to protect those same men.
I can hear all four of my mates chasing after me. Their paws thunder on the ground as they crash through the undergrowth after me. I wish they’d just let me go. I’m not fast enough to outrun them, but I try. I leap over a narrow creek and put on an extra burst of speed, dodging trees as I head deeper into the forest.
But it’s not enough. They draw closer. So close I can feel the heavy panting from their snouts, can feel the ground rumbling beneath the pads of my feet from their combined footfalls. And then a heavy weight collides with my body.
I fall to the ground as teeth latch on to my neck with aching gentleness.
No! I scream in mind speak as I try to struggle away from the large body pinning me down. Let me leave. Please!
You know we can’t, sweetheart. Trystan’s voice in my head is deliberately cool, as if he’s trying to tamp down his own emotions so they won’t fan the flames of mine. Let us help you. Come on, calm down.
Breathe, Sable, Archer adds gently as he sinks to the ground near my head, his face close to mine. His vividly green gaze meets mine, but I look away, unable and unwilling to be comforted this time.
Ridge places a heavy paw on my shoulders, a low whine spilling from his lips. We want to help, little wolf. Let us help you.
When Dare comes and rests on my other side, completely enclosing me between the four of them, the fight starts to drain out of me. Their closeness, their palpable worry for me, and the support I can feel flowing through the bond—it all finally starts to break through the tidal wave of blind panic that rose up inside me earlier.
Shift back, Archer tells me, his voice still soft. It will be easier to fight the magic in human form.
Lacking any other option since I can’t move at all, I obey.
I’m not the only one who shifts. Trystan releases his hold on me, and his body morphs on top of mine, while Ridge and Dare step away and shift as well. Tears spill over my cheeks the moment the wolf is gone, joining the dozens of black marks currently painting my body.
Trystan slides over to get his weight off me, then pulls me into his arms, tucking me against his broad, warm chest. I bury my face in his skin and realize I’m shaking uncontrollably. Then Dare and Ridge are behind me, lending me their strength.
Archer’s soft hands slide over my hair, smoothing the tangled locks. “Breathe with me, Sable.”
I keep my eyes closed and my face pressed against Trystan, but I follow Archer’s instructions as he speaks. Trystan does too, his chest rising and falling beneath my face as he guides me alongside his friend. Their voices are beacons for me, like lighthouses illuminating the rocky coast so that I can safely find my way home.
“Push down the magic,” Archer tells me gently. “You’ve told me you feel it in your torso, rolling
