Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
He slowed, his breath fogging in front of him, and let his awareness stretch out when something felt off.
Ravencall wolves.
The scent was there, clean and sharp. Male and female, at least three, maybe more. Light enough that they were already gone. Then another scent. One he knew as well as his own.
Nadia.
The hit of her scent nearly stopped him cold. Fear. Pain. Adrenaline. All of it layered thick and fresh enough that it felt like it was happening right now, not minutes ago. Underneath it was something sharp and metallic that made his stomach drop hard.
Silver.
The lodge lights cut through the trees ahead, too bright against the dark sky. He burst into the clearing and took it all in at once, and panic tore the breath from his lungs.
Enforcers were down.
Four of them were sprawled across the snow. For a split second his heart slammed into his throat, and then his senses caught up. They were alive. Breathing. No blood pooling. No fatal wounds. Knocked out. Cleanly.
His gaze snapped past them.
Nadia stood near the SUV, silver cuffs locked around her wrists. Her face was pale, eyes bright and furious and shaken all at once. Her hands were trembling, and the sight of that landed somewhere deep in his chest.
Bulwark had his hand on her arm.
Luca charged him, already bleeding from his neck. Nadia spun away, smashing into the side of the SUV. Blood flashed from the corner of her mouth.
The smell hit Caidrik, and he went primal.
He crossed the distance fast and drove his fist into Bulwark’s jaw. Pain burst up his arm and across his ribs as Bulwark hit back, catching him hard where he was already bruised. Caidrik staggered half a step, clenched his teeth, and came back swinging.
Luca lunged, trying to take advantage. Caidrik pivoted and slammed his elbow into Luca’s throat. Luca choked and stumbled back, coughing, fury flashing across his face.
“This is so fucking weak,” Caidrik said, and his voice shook with the effort of holding himself back, “take the silver off her.”
Bulwark wiped blood from his mouth and smiled, his canines already elongating. “She’s not yours, brother.” He shifted easily into wolf form, sending out a wave of energy.
That was it.
Caidrik felt his wolf roar into being wide awake, hard enough to steal his breath. He stopped fighting it and shifted into the animal at his core. The one he kept trying to tame. Bones snapped and reformed, pain flaring and then burning away as strength flooded his body. He went for Bulwark without hesitation, teeth snapping for the arm that had been on Nadia.
Luca shifted too, the air filling with snarls and the sound of bones reforming. Snow churned beneath them as the three collided, bodies slamming together in a mess of fur and muscle and violence.
Power thrummed through Caidrik, and the scent of Nadia, standing there caught in silver, drove all humanity to the abyss. He struck to kill.
Bulwark was strong. Stronger than most. He took hits that would have dropped another wolf and kept coming, driving his weight into Caidrik again and again. Caidrik tore into him anyway, teeth sinking into shoulder and flank, refusing to give ground even when pain blew bright and sharp along his side.
Luca darted in and out, snapping and retreating, looking for openings. Cowardly. Calculated. Caidrik caught him by the muzzle and crushed down until Luca yelped and tore free, blood spraying across the snow. The silver cuffs had to have been his. While Bulwark had no conscience, he didn’t need to use silver.
He was strong enough to kidnap anybody.
So Luca had been making a move? The Ravencall wolves had been with him.
Bulwark raked claws across Caidrik’s ribs, and white-hot pain tore through him. He barely felt it past the fury.
They broke apart for half a second, circling, breath steaming. Nadia had scrambled back against the SUV, cuffs glowing faintly, her scent sharp with fear and anger. Caidrik clocked it all even as he lunged again.
Bulwark drove him back, slamming him into the SUV hard enough to rattle it. Nadia flinched. Caidrik shoved off, fury burning through the ache in his body, and hit Bulwark with everything he had left.
Luca seized the opening and darted toward Nadia.
Something in Caidrik snapped.
He broke from Bulwark and slammed into Luca mid-lunge, taking him down hard. They rolled in the snow, snapping and tearing. Caidrik drove his weight down, teeth closing around Luca’s throat just enough to feel the pulse hammering there.
“Caidrik!” Nadia screamed, lunging for Bulwark before he could strike from behind.
Bulwark pivoted, in wolf form, and shoved her to the ground.
She couldn’t shift with the silver on her wrists, damn it.
Caidrik released Luca and turned, snarling, dripping blood onto the snow. Luca jumped on him from behind, his sharp teeth slashing into Caidrik’s neck. Caidrik lowered his head and jumped up, flipping them both over and landing on top of the Ravencall wolf. It was time to end this.