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He couldn’t die.
Her breath burned in her chest as she held it, willing Draven to fight. Seconds passed like hours before she saw fur and emerald orbs, moving within the shadows. A small sense of relief filled her, but they weren’t safe yet.
Draven kicked a wolf off his hind legs at the same moment he tore into another’s throat, pulling from it whatever organ the shadow wolves had there. He was magnificent as he fought. Not that she’d doubted his abilities, but seeing him fight first-hand almost had her reconsidering all the times she’d sassed him.
Almost.
The remaining three wolves circled him again, but Draven got a good lead on them and took out another one with a bite through his gut.
Two remained, and though she could see Draven was bleeding profusely, he was still standing.
Flora leaned forward trying to get a better view of Draven’s fight for their lives, but the wolf that stayed beside her snapped at her, inching her back.
She threw her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I won’t move. Nice doggy.”
The shadow wolf tilted his head, and she could have sworn the bastard rolled his eyes at her.
Flora tilted her head, considering the almost humanoid reaction.
The way they moved and attacked in unison. The way they seemed to know and react to their every move. These weren’t wolves in the typical sense. They understood everything she and Draven were doing.
Flora leaned forward and studied them. Making a note of their every move. When she rolled back onto her knees to get a better view as the fight moved across the clearing, a pinch in her boot caused her to wince.
The knife.
She’d forgotten about the knife Kade bought her when they visited the outfitter. She had strapped the sheath to her shin under her boot when she got dressed this morning. Thank the Goddess Kade had insisted she needed it.
Beyond the shadow wolf at her side, the battle raged on and Flora tried not to focus on the black wolf in the thick of it. She steadied her gaze on the shadow wolf beside her, noting the way his attention shifted between the tangle of fur and shadows and where she sat.
She inhaled a shaky breath as a plan formulated in her mind.I’m a badass bitch.The words didn’t hold as much strength as they once did. She was learning there were more important things than being a badass. She gripped the knife and played the movements in her head. There wouldn’t be a second chance if she missed. More importantly, badass or not, she wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.
Flora kept her eyes on the fight, but her focus was on her guard in her periphery. She shifted her weight slowly, so as not to garner his attention and slid the hunting knife from its sheath. Kade’s words from the outfitter played through her mind.Most people think you should slice with the sharp side at a ninety-degree angle with the throat, but the tried and true technique is to flip the blade so the sharp side is out, and thrust deep into the throat just below where the jaw bone starts to curve upward. When it's most of the way through the neck, slash outward, taking with it their innards.
There was no way she was strong enough, or could obtain enough leverage to slash in that manner, but from where she sat, she should be able to get a good stab in, and would have to pray it was in just the right spot to cause the shadow to bleed out.
Shit. What if they didn’t bleed?
Her eyes whipped to the shadow wolf Draven had eviscerated. She sighed with relief when she saw a thick black ooze coming from the wounds.
The guarding shadow wolf lowered to its haunches as Draven took out another one of his pack by way of disembowelment. It was readying itself to jump into the fray and defend its Alpha, which meant Flora had to act fast.
She sent a silent prayer to whatever god was listening in this godforsaken realm and tucked her knees underneath her. With the hilt of the knife gripped in her slight hands, Flora lunged forward and, swinging her arm wide, thrust the knife into the throat of the unsuspecting shadow wolf.
It turned on her with a snap of its jaws and bit into her forearm. Pain radiated from the bite as the wolf let go and stumbled backwards, shaking its head and trying to dislodge the knife.
Blood dripped from her arm, and she bit her lip trying to stifle the cry that bubbled in her throat so she didn’t distract Draven from his own fight. The wolf she’d stabbed staggered on its feet and whimpered and dropped the moonstone from its teeth. A moment of compassion flitted through her soul, and for a split second, Flora almost felt bad for the creature.
Until it lunged at her again. Then all sympathy went out the window.
She threw her arms up and closed her eyes, bracing for the sting of another bite, but it never came. When she peeked through her lashes the black fur of her protector filled her gaze. Draven stood over the body of the shadow wolf, its throat between his jaws.
Beyond where he stood, the Alpha shadow wolf and his last remaining pack member rose from the ground, their wounds healing as they stalked toward Flora and Draven.
“Draven, watch out!” she cried.
His gaze connected with hers for a split second before he turned to face the shadow predators.
Time seemed to slow, and for a fleeting moment Flora felt Draven in her heart in a way she’s never experienced. It was as if his consciousness tugged at her own, willing her to give him her strength. Which she did.
