Chapter Sixteen
Greyson stops me by placing a hand on my shoulder. “Did you hear that?”
“No, what do you hear?” I ask and tilt my head to the side.
“It’s a low rumbling growl.” His eyes widen. “I think the dires are surrounding us.”
“How many?” I ask and pull my sword.
“At least six, maybe more. This isn’t good, Beth. They see me as a threat to their territory.” His gaze scans the forest around us.
“Raven, you got your swords ready?” I glance at her from the corner of my eye.
“Of course,” she says. “I’m always prepared.”
“Okay, guys, formation and weapons out. I don’t want to hurt the giant rabid puppies because we’re in their territory, but we need to be prepared.”
“Puppies?” Greyson asks me, incredulous.
“Sorry, this another disassociation thing that I do.” I shrug.
“If you make them seem harmless in your mind, they can’t hurt you in real life.” Raven nods. “I totally understand that and puppies are cute.”
“Should I shift?” Greyson asks.
“I think that would be a good idea,” I say and turn away from him as he rips his shirt over his head.
Seconds later, Greyson is the biggest wolf I have ever seen. He’s definitely grown in power and size since the last time he shifted. Greyson growls low in his throat and advances in front of our group to face off against the leader of this pack.
“Are we sure this is the best way to deal with this?” I ask Raven.
“He’s the strongest and biggest wolf I have ever seen. I think he can get them to back down if he shows the leader who the alpha wolf actually is in this situation.” Raven shrugs.
“Okay then, let’s hope so.” I shrug.
Greyson snarls and leaps forward. Another wolf with a white coat slightly smaller than him jumps from the bushes and snarls at Greyson as it crouches low to the ground, ready to attack and fight for dominance. I seriously hope Greyson knows what he’s doing because from where I’m sitting, this is completely fucked.
I call my whip to me from the lightning bolt charm and it crackles with electricity, drawing the attention of the other wolves surrounding us. Shit. Maybe that was a bad idea. Should we just let the alpha wolves fight it out?
“What do we do? The others look like they want to attack us,” I say, pointing my blade into the brush.
“They’re probably loyal, similar to Greyson’s wolves, and want to protect their alpha from people who would interfere with what they think is a fair fight,” Adrian says.
“How do you know this?” I ask.
“Since Greyson became a part of the academy, I have been talking to him about shifters and finding all the things we could possibly need to know while saving the world.” He nicks an arrow on his bow, threatening the other wolves at our backs.
“How do we show them we don’t intend to intervene?” I ask.
“The most obvious would be for us to lower our weapons, but we all know that’s not happening.” Adrian lines up a shot.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” I say.
The snarling grows louder as Greyson and the alpha dire circle each other, snapping and testing defenses. I’ve never seen Greyson fight another wolf before and there’s something beautiful in its brutality and cunning.
The fire lunges at Greyson and I flinch but he dodged the wolf easily, swiping at its side with long claws. Golden blood sprays on Greyson and I scream, turning to Raven, my eyes wide with horror.
“He just got a second dose, dammit. Everyone tighten formation. They have ichor for blood too.” I take a huge step back.
