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Davian manages to get to his feet, and I squeeze his torso between my thighs, riding piggyback style. He bows forward again, his speed making it hard to shift my arm enough to lock it around his throat. If I loosen my hold even for a second, I’ll land on my ass on the ground. I will lose him.
“Hurry, Eliana! He’s going too deep into the woods. I heard a howl.” Tristan groans from behind me, making all sorts of noises he tries to keep up.
A growl sounds from somewhere in front of us. Crossing my ankles, I lock my body to Davian’s, freeing my hands long enough that I can swing my arm across his throat. I don’t try to be gentle. I do it hard enough that he gasps and bounds forward. I fly off his back, landing with a thump on the ground before him. I’m so terrified that he will just jump over me and start running again, so I kick my leg up and strike him in the balls. Dropping to his knees, Davian curls in on himself with a yell. Tristan jumps on top of him, tackling Davian to ensure he doesn’t get up again.
Neither of us have a chance to prepare as a wolf launches from between two trees in our direction.
I cover my face with my hands protectively. It’s like they just waited for us. Waited to see that we were unarmed and separated.
The white wolf sinks his teeth into my forearm and bites hard enough to send my eyes rolling. Tristan hollers my name. Another wolf darts from the trees and collides into him, stopping him from trying to intervene. It pins Tristian down with its giant paws and snarls in his face.
Teeth sink into my ankle next, and I scream in pain.
The white wolf shakes his head, treating me like a damn chew toy. Or prey.
I dig my nails into the ground, looking for anything to hold onto. But the wolf is too strong.
It drags me away.
Chapter sixteen
Eliana
Wolf Wars
VOICESMURMURINmyears, and I blink my eyes, trying to orient myself to everything going on. Firelight casts shadows around the forest. I peek through my lashes and see four men sitting around a campfire. They look far more civilized than I expected them to, fully dressed in shirts and shorts, and eating something off plates. It looks as if they’re camping and not hunting in the wild like animals.
“I don’t see why we just can’t take her back. You know staying here leaves us vulnerable for retaliation.” One of the men leans forward and tosses another piece of wood onto their campfire.
“If you’re worried about the Twilight Cove pack, then you can run back to Sunrise Pointe with your tail between your legs to tell Sean.” The man beside him whacks him on the shoulder with the back of his hand. “It will be your neutering.”
The man growls and flares his nostrils. “Shut the fuck up. I’m not worried. I just don’t want to start shit before the full moon. We don’t even know if she’s going to make it. All of this will be pointless otherwise.”
My stomach bunches with nerves, and I try to look around the campsite for anything I can use to my advantage. I need a weapon. I need a clear path to escape. They’re so consumed with each other that they might not notice if I crawl out of here. I just need to get far enough away and to somewhere I can hide.
“She’ll survive, Miles. Her bloodline was already chosen. She was fated for this. You know about Eleanor. That’s why my pack has spent so many years looking for one of her descendants,” a third man says, leaning back and resting his palms to the ground. “She hasn’t reacted negatively already, which is a good sign.”
“Whatever you say, Lou.” Miles raises his hand, pointing in my direction. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“You don’t have the same faith because you weren’t blessed as a pure lykoswulf, ya mutt.” Lou smacks him on the back of the head. “Isn’t that right, Gerry and Tim-boy?”
“You might be right. My ass has been cursed again and again. Why do you think I’m here? I’m tired of all this bullshit.” The man, Miles, pushes to his feet. He scrubs his hands through his ratty beard and peers around the campsite. “I just hope Sean stays true to his word.”
“Our alpha has never broken his vow. Not like yours. Not like Windshore or Twilight Cove. Sean knows what he’s talking about. He knows what we want and knows what we need.” Lou follows Miles’s lead, getting to his feet. He stretches his arms over his head and turns in my direction.
I hold my breath, trying to remain utterly still. I don’t want them to know I’m awake. It’s hard enough as it is with the pain coursing through me. I want it to stop, but I don’t want to blackout again.
“We need to do another sweep of the area. They’ll know by now that we entered their territory and took one of their chosen. They’ll be on high alert, especially because of her moonborne lineage.” Lou grabs his shirt and tugs it over his head before kicking off his shorts. “Even if she wakes up, she’ll be in too much pain to try to run. The restraints will help. No one needs to stay.”
I’ve never been so thankful for someone being overly confident and cocky. I’m going to show them that they underestimate me. They probably think I’m some weak little girl who is scared out of her mind.
But I’m not scared. Not much, at least. I’m more pissed off than anything, and the second they turn their backs, I’m going to strike. I’ll kill them for what they’ve done to me. I know what it means to have been bitten by a pack I don’t belong to. Kellan said that if his bite doesn’t take for Davian that he’ll be cast out and killed. I don’t know if that will be my fate because I’m a woman, but I don’t want to find out. If that’s the case, I need to find the boat. I need to get off this island even if I have to swim my way back to the human world.
The other men follow Lou’s gesture. I relax the best I can with my eyes closed and try to keep my breathing even. I know they have super-hearing as wolves. Whichever one of them who bit me might even be able to get into my head telepathically. I just don’t know to what extent yet. I don’t think it’ll be like it was with Kellan. He swears up and down that we’re soulmates. These guys, on the other hand? No fucking way. I’d rather neuter them all and sacrifice them to their moon goddess before I ever consider bonding with them.
Something cracks beside me, and a cool nose touches the side of my cheek before a tongue slides across my skin. I nearly smack whoever does it, but I know that if I try, the wolf might bite me. I’ve already been bitten twice. The last thing I need is to have teeth marks on my face.
After a minute, one of the wolves barks. The four of them bolt away, the sound of their paws thumping on the dirt fading as they head deeper into the forest.
