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Malix
A familiar screamof rage barrels through my dreams.
I wake up in the space of a split second and rocket out of bed, still half asleep even as adrenaline surges through me. I’m on my feet before I’m even fully awake, because I know that scream. I’d know it anywhere, even in my fucking sleep, apparently.
A second scream draws me into instant alertness. The sound is faint, but it pierces through me like a knife.
Amora.
I break into a sprint, slamming through my bedroom door and into the living room.
I’m coming.
Kian and Frost emerge from their rooms right on my heels. I know, somehow, that they heard her too—even though it shouldn’t be possible for any of us to hear her this far on the outskirts of the village and far away from the jail. I can guess maybe it’s a remnant of connection left over from the broken mate bond, or maybe our hearing has just gotten more sensitive as time has gone on. But the truth is, it doesn’t make any sense.
None of us say a word, nor do we bother stopping to discuss what the hell is happening. I throw open the front door and shift into my shadow wolf form before I even hit the snow.
Getting up the mountain feels like an insurmountable obstacle. My legs pump as I scale the steep incline, ignoring the other cabins, my gaze focused on the small jail behind the main street. Snow kicks up behind me, and even with my claws giving me traction, I hit icy patches that slow me down. Places where I slip and trip and lose precious time righting myself. Every moment is a lifetime. Whatever is hurting Amora could kill her in the span of a single breath.
Nothing matters more to me than reaching her.
And that’s the last fucking thing I need—to have to explain that to Kian.
I slam into the wooden door at full speed, shattering it into thick splinters that rain down on the concrete floor. It’s dark inside, since nobody bothered to light her a fire, but my shadow vision misses nothing.
Amora is on her belly inside her cell, gasping uselessly for breath.
A shadow has its dark form wrapped around her, squeezing the life from her.
Panic sets in, twisting my stomach sharply. She’s losing, and there are half-inch thick bars between her and us. I don’t have a key, but I don’t fucking need one, not in this form.
An average wolf might never be able to get through metal bars, but we aren’t average.
I throw myself at her cell door, and the bars rattle and clang. The first hit accomplishes nothing, so I do it again, then again, using my massive shoulder to bend the bars and break the hinges. Kian and Frost join me, the three of us slamming into the cage with every intention of ripping it right out of the fucking floor.
Kian finally falls through as the door gives way, and Frost and I tumble in after him. The cell is definitely not large enough for all three of us plus Amora and the shadow. Not that it matters, since the small area means the shadow can’t get away.
Kian’s teeth latch onto the shadow being, and he yanks, attempting to tear it away from Amora. The shadow hisses, wriggling in his grasp and squeezing tighter. A small, feeble squeak comes from Amora’s throat—the only sound she can make. Fury sends a wave of shadow smoke coming off my pitch black fur, and I lunge for the tendrils around her body.
Snarls fill the air as Frost and Kian attack the shadow’s undulating form. I tear through the tendril wrapped around Amora’s neck, nicking her skin in the process, but the shadow being releases her with a startled, eerie scream.
Amora gasps for air and rolls away, wedging herself into the small space beneath the cot.
With her safe, I leap into the fight with my brothers.
The shadow is quick. It darts out the broken cell door, trailing a ragged wisp of darkness where I tore off one of its hands. The three of us follow.
It careens through the small building toward the busted front door, but Kian heads it off with an impressive leap. The shadow darts away from his snapping teeth and veers back in the direction it came from. My nails skitter on the concrete as I attempt to change direction on a dime, and Frost and I smash into each other before we manage to right ourselves and hurry after Kian.
Our brother takes down the shadow in the middle of the cramped open space in front of the three cells that make up the jail. The floor shakes beneath his bulk as he lands on top of the beast. As we reach them, Kian snaps at the shadow’s form, only for it to flow like liquid around him, evading his attack. Kian’s body is too big for quick movements or easy maneuvering in such a small space, so the shadow darts away before he can catch it.
I fall back and let Frost sprint forward. He’s the smallest of us in his shadow wolf form, and crazy fast, too. He launches over Kian and pounces into the shadows, racing after the creature. He’s nothing but a blur of blackness and smoke as he dashes back toward Amora’s cell, swinging his head this way and that.
Light, Frost snarls. I need light. I can’t see it.
Kian and I exchange looks. I’m closest to the wood stove, and he’s closest to Frost, so we break apart, dashing in opposite directions.
I shift to human form as I near the stove and drop to a knee quickly, throwing open the grate.
“Amora?” I call out.
Her voice drifts back to me, muffled and strained. “I’m okay.”
She’s still under the cot, which is exactly where she should be. Since my brothers and I are made of shadow stuff, we can beat the fuck out of these shadow beings. Amora, unfortunately, doesn’t have that option.
“Just stay down,” I order.
“Oh, really? I thought I’d go for a walk,” she snarls back hoarsely.
I grin. Kitty’s got bite.
Then she coughs, retching a little from the force of it, and worry tightens my stomach. Shit. We need to take care of this shadow fucker so I can make sure she’s okay.
There’s already a stack of firewood inside the stove, so I start shoving starters around the pile and grab the matches. Grunts and snarls fill the corners of the small cabin as my brothers continue clashing with the shadow. Within moments, I manage to have the fire roaring enough to illuminate the interior of the jail building. Leaving the grate open to maximize light, I shift back to shadow wolf form and hurtle toward the battle.
The fight is raging several feet from the open door to Amora’s cell. Frost rolls along the narrow aisle with the shadow, while Kian dances around them, slamming into the cell bars and trying to find a good opening to attack.
I lope toward them, my gaze riveted to the shadow undulating beneath Frost’s bulk. His fur and smoky magic blend in with the shadow being, even with the orange glow of the wood stove lighting up the room. It’s a harsh reminder of who we are. What we’re made of.
Then, in a flash, the shadow finds an opening and flows away from Frost’s grappling claws.
Right into Amora’s cell.
I growl and launch myself through the broken door, sliding to a halt next to the cot where I snap at the shadow being. It avoids my first bite, but it isn’t quick enough to avoid a swipe of my front paw. My claws catch it in its midsection, and I rip a hunk of dark, formless substance away from it.
The creature screeches but barely even slows. Whatever bit of the damn thing I just eviscerated, it obviously wasn’t a vital part.
Lunging around me, the shadow vanishes beneath the cot where Amora is hiding. She gasps, then grunts, and then the sound of a scuffle fills the air. I drop down and belly-crawl into the darkness, growling. Beneath the small, shitty bed, Amora is nothing but a silhouette flailing beneath a heavy shadow. I barely manage to get my upper body beneath the cot before she takes a hit. The force sends her rolling toward me.
