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As she moved to take up the position, however, she kept thinking about whether or not any of the wraith-pairs could be saved. Mastyr Ethan and Samantha had the ability to break the wraith-pair bond and a lot of realm-folk, bound unwillingly to Invictus wraiths, were now in recovery.
Yet, thinking this way didn’t feel right to her. She realized that if she remained in her Rosamunde form, she would have difficulty doing battle the way her wolf could. “I’ve changed my mind. You were right. I need to be Aralynn to do this, otherwise I’ll jeopardize both our lives.”
He glanced at her, his eyes narrowing. She knew he wanted to watch. Without giving it too much thought, she transformed. At least her vest wasn’t so snug when she was in Aralynn’s skin.
He dipped his chin. “Good call.”
“Just made sense. Aralynn has stronger battling instincts. She’s more like my shifter father than my fae mother.”
The wraith-pairs moved in suddenly and the wraiths shrieked until even the trees swayed as if in pain.
“Sweet Goddess that hurts my ears.” Rosamunde side-stepped in a stealthy circle, matching Stone’s stride and movements.
He pathed. That wraith low, take out her heel with your wolf teeth and I’ve got her vampire mate.
Rosamunde didn’t hesitate. She shifted swiftly into her wolf form, leaping at the same time. She caught the wraith’s bare foot in her maw, pulled her through the air and struck her against a tree. She hadn’t killed her, but she fe
ll to the forest floor unconscious.
She heard the sound of Stone’s battle energy, then the smell of burning flesh. One pair down. Three to go.
Rosamunde pivoted and saw that the vampire had taken a hit to his chest. He was dead. His wraith-mate would soon follow as often happened with wraith-pairs. The bond made it almost impossible for the mate to survive.
She waited in the shadows for Stone’s next orders. The wraiths had set up a terrible racket, flying in circles with their mates, well above the clearing. It was like listening to the frightened screech of monkeys, only dozens of them instead of just what was now three wraiths.
Still in her wolf form, Rosamunde remained very still. As was true of all predators, motion caught the eye. Wraith-pairs, being already in a more animal-like state, were particularly tuned-in to the smallest movement.
Stone whipped to his left, which was the western edge of the clearing. She understood why. He’d pegged the troll and his mate as the weakest link.
His strong voice hit her mind as he pathed, Get the female wraith-mate.
I’m on it.
Rosamunde shifted from wolf to her Aralynn form and with dagger in hand flew like a shot through the pine trees, singling out the wraith flying erratically around the canopy above her troll-mate. The troll levitated with a battle axe and now flew in a fast descent toward Stone. The other pairs remained in the air, but Rosamunde sensed they were winding up their battle power.
She darted behind the wraith and sliced at the backs of her legs, then slipped back among the pine trees, shifted into her wolf and held herself motionless once more.
The wraith screamed then fell into the tree-tops and became tangled up in the branches of the upper canopy. Her pained shrieks continued.
When she saw that the other pairs were focused on Stone, she transformed back into Aralynn. She moved closer to the clearing and could see the red Invictus flashes of battle power striking into the pine needles. Stone moved in quick darts to avoid getting hit while at the same time maneuvering closer to the troll.
He was short, but with the Invictus power, kept rising swiftly into the air, then finally threw his axe. Stone almost got nicked, though he kept firing his hand-based energy at his adversary. The troll was very fast and as the pairs above shot battle energy at Stone, he flew into the clearing to retrieve his weapon.
Again, Rosamunde remained very still and with her wolf coloring blended into the pines. From even a short distance, she doubted she looked like little more than a shrub. She waited for Stone’s orders.
In a sudden blur of motion, while sidestepping twice to avoid battle energy strikes, Stone levitated and kicked the troll in the chest. He flew against a pine tree and fell hard to the ground.
Stone slid into the forest to avoid a final barrage of red battle strikes.
The shrieking of the wraiths had dimmed considerably, then stopped.
Stone’s voice hit Rosamunde’s mind. We’ve only got four Invictus left, but they’ve descended into the forest. Both male vampires are coming for me. Take the southernmost one out at the back of the thigh.
They’d worked out the best system since ‘Aralynn’ had never seen battle before the past few weeks. Stone always made sure she was in the least vulnerable attack position.
Rosamunde began to move, weaving among the trees once more and heading southeast. She could smell the vampires in the forest. She also had a sense of movement above her, which meant she had to pick up speed since one of the wraiths was tracking her.
She felt a brush of something against her tail. Crap, the wraith was right on her.
