“Don’t ever fucking touch her,” I snarled.
Gunner spat blood onto the stone floor and slowly rose.
His eyes shifted immediately.
Lupine.
Predatory.
Hatred flared between us instantly, old and instinctive and ancient in ways the stupid animal likely didn’t even understand.
Our bloodlines had despised each other for centuries.
He simply lacked the intelligence to know why.
“Oh, it’s on, Blue Boy,” he growled as his face partially shifted into a horror-flick worthy, gory facsimile of a Wolfman hybrid.
“Sten!” Amrin screamed.
I tilted my head slightly so she’d know I heard her, but I never took my eyes off Gunner.
Never opened myself to attack.
Amrin grabbed my shirt from behind, panic radiating off her in waves.
My tail wrapped instinctively around her waist, lifting her backward gently out of danger before setting her safely behind me.
I would protect her first.
Always.
“You know,” Gunner snarled, circling, “ever since I got here there’s been something about you that makes my Wolf salivate.”
“Maybe invest in a bib,” I growled.
He lunged.
I ducked his strike and drove my fist into his gut hard enough to crack ribs.
The corridor erupted into chaos.
Students screamed.
Magic flashed.
Gunner’s claws tore across my arm and pain blossomed instantly.
Good.
Pain sharpened focus.
I grinned.
The Wolf snarled harder.
We crashed through an art installation floating above the hallway, shattering enchanted glass everywhere.
“Stop this violence immediately!”
