Page 21 of Starting a New Life

Tonight, I was the one protecting. Those fucking predators didn’t know what was coming.

The breach was close to me, on the north-eastern side of the barrier. A little over two miles away.

I pushed myself as I ran, lacing my steps with magic to spur me on. My body was screaming in protest, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm me, but the barrier was screaming louder. One of the enemies had stepped foot over it but retreated a second later. I doubted it’d stay that way, and I didn’t know how long it’d take the pack to get there.

They were fast, but the packhouse was close to the centre of the territory. If there was no patrol close to this part of the border, it’d take them a while.

But I could be there in minutes.

The well of magic inside my chest was running dangerously low, but I still pushed myself to run faster, used the scraps to propel me forward. I flew past trees, my cloak getting caught on branches, but I kept going. Closer and closer, my steps a loud crunching in the dead of the night.

Whimpers were carried by the wind, soft, pained cries followed by loud shouts and cruel laughter.

Finally, the scene unfolded in front of me. Two shifters, both in human form, hiding behind a thick tree trunk. One of them was lying on the ground, the snow beneath him painted red. The other one kept peeking around the trunk but kept pulling his head back after a few seconds.

“Come out, you cowards!” A voice taunted, sending chills down my spine as I came to a skidding halt, crouching low behind the roots of a cedar. The speaker was a wolf too, standing buck-ass naked in the snow as if he’d never heard the word cold before. Next to him, two wolves were snarling, their sandy-brown fur raised, fangs gleaming in the moonlight.

“Come back, and no one has to get hurt.”

I almost laughed.

No one had to get hurt? One of them was already hurt, the coppery scent strong enough that even I could smell it, his aura growing weaker by the second.

He needed help.

Now.

I took a deep breath and drew a bit of magic out of the well inside me. I’d prefer not to use it because I would need it for the injured wolf, but I was only one person, and I wasn’t operating at full strength. If the attackers felt threatened, they might escalate before the pack could get here. And if that happened, those injured wolves and I would die.

Weaving a shield tightly around my cloak, I forced it to project what was behind me, rendering me invisible.

I slowly crept closer, desperately trying to be quiet so as not to give myself away, but the injured wolf’s soft cries and pants covered the snow crunching beneath my feet.

My chest constricted as I got a good look at him, my heart stopping for a moment. Big, haunted eyes in a young face. A fucking kid. A teenager. His features soft in a way that told me maturity had not yet hit.

“Come on and get out before you make it worse by getting another pack involved,” the other wolf said, voice cold and cruel. He was fully grown. “Let’s keep it in the pack.”

Fury chilled me to the bone, more than the cold ever could. A grown wolf was hunting literal kids.

“We’re not pack anymore,” the injured wolf shouted, his voice laboured. “We left. Why can’t you just let us go?”

The wolf outside the barrier laughed, and the others snarled.

“Because you’re the Alpha’s kid brother. Did you really think he’d let you abandon him?”

“He doesn’t want me.”

Just a few feet to go…

The young wolf next to the injured one froze, his head whipping around, staring straight at me, hands balling into fists at his side.

Fuck.

I lowered the shield, my eyes darting to the wolves outside the barrier, but they hadn’t noticed me yet. Good. I didn’t want them to escalate. Slowly, I raised a finger to my lips, signalling the young wolves to stay quiet.

Fear spiked, the aura of the uninjured, or rather less injured wolf pulsing, eyes widening. He took a step in my direction, attempting to shield his friend from me.

“I’m here to help,” I whispered as low as I could.