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Two identical men stood beside the hunter. Their scents made it clear they were werewolves, but they weren’t affected by whatever had brought on my shift. They crossed their arms in unison, and the one on the right said, “This will be over soon.”
They had to be the witch blood wolves, Sienna’s sons. One of them must’ve cast the sleep spell on Wyatt.
The wolf swung his head toward the circle of women in robes. The witches chanted over and over, “The blood of fate. The call of destiny.” The sound swelled with the scent I now recognized as magic. I encouraged the wolf to stay focused on the human hunter. He was the weakest here.
Whenever I shifted, the wolf took the lead and the man became background noise for the animal. I could influence and encourage his behavior, but I didn’t have full control. The wolf trusted his instincts more than he obeyed my suggestions.
And his hackles rose as the scent of out mate neared.
They had Ruby. Fuck. The vision was coming true, and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. I had to shift back. It was possible. I’d forced a shift to my human form the night my brother had drowned in the pond. But when I tried it now, there was some kind of barrier I couldn’t breach. Magic. Dammit.
Ruby stumbled into the circle. She was still in her robe, but her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was gagged. We struggled against the bonds, growling and snapping at the humans until we panted with the effort.
The witch behind Ruby had long, wavy, auburn hair, and her silver eyes shone in the dim firelight of the torches her followers held. She placed Ruby in front of the table and looked at the werewolves standing beside the hunter. “Shawn, Samuel, come hold her. That gag stays in her mouth.”
The two men approached, and Ruby’s eyes widened as one of the men grinned. “Remember me? Told you I’d find you again little witch.”
This was the asshole who had chased her around Boston. I was going to fucking kill him. I just had to live through this night.
The witch plucked a dagger from the table and came over to stand before us. My wolf bared his teeth, and a growl rumbled low in his throat. Ruby screamed behind the gag in her mouth. The woman smiled and held the knife up as she circled me. “My beautiful Coven of Shadows, the time has come for the culmination of our magic. Even death itself will have no power over us. With the blood of the Alpha and the Elemental blood of the new high priestess from the Coven of Light, our spell will be complete.”
The volume of their whispered chants rose, the words coming faster now. It dizzied the wolf. We felt…sleepy, almost tranquilized.
“That’s it, my loves. Tame the animal.”
She came closer, her dagger pointed at my throat. Fuck. I couldn’t wake the wolf. I braced myself for the cut, but it didn’t come.
The witch shrieked as her body was snatched from the ground and yanked into the air…by the trees. The wolf shook his head, shaking off the magic. The earth trembled under our feet, silencing the coven’s chants. Screams filled the air.
We looked over at Ruby, but her eyes were rolled back in her head, the muscles of her neck straining. We sniffed the air, searching for the leader. Above us, she struggled, tangled in tree limbs. Her arms were pinned, and her mouth was full of pine needles as if the tree itself were holding her and covering her mouth.
The werewolves who were flanking Ruby released her, racing to the witch in the tree. We wrestled against the chains, fighting to get to our mate.
Ruby’s chest expanded with a deep breath as her eyes finally met mine. She wiggled her hands around her hip until she caught the handle of the jeweled dagger on her hip. After she cut the binding on her wrists, she plucked the gag from her mouth and walked straight to the wolf. No fear, only trust. So fucking fierce. She stopped in front of us and opened her hand. A rock levitated from the ground. Then she turned her hand, dropping it down to her side. The rock followed her motion, hitting the hook keeping the wolf chained, bending it. She did it again, and the metal snapped.
We were free.
We nuzzled her hand as she whispered, “Find the hunter. I’ll handle the others.”
The wolf chuffed and raced into the darkness, chasing the human who also carried the scent of a wolf. I wanted to stay with Ruby, to defend her, but the wolf was eager to please his mate. The sooner we ended this bastard, the sooner we could get back to her. We sprinted through the underbrush, tracking him along a stream. His tracks were easy to see in the snow, and we were faster.
And then his scent stopped.
The wolf scented the ground, flattening his ears. I encouraged him to look up, and when he did, we found our quarry. He’d climbed a gray birch tree. Wolves weren’t usually climbers, and werewolves were bigger than an average wolf, but we had the weight and the strength to shake the hell out of the one this guy was trying to hide in.
The wolf jumped on his hind legs, placing his large front paws on the trunk. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he opened his jaws and bounced against the tree.
“Get out of here!” the man shrieked, kicking at the wolf’s head.
We snarled, and on the second kick, the wolf’s jaws snapped tight around the man’s foot. He screamed as we jerked him loose from the tree. He hit the ground with a solid thump. We nudged his foot, but there was no noise or movement. He had probably died from the fall, but we couldn’t take any chances that this bitten man might live. I encouraged the animal to finish him.
The wolf tore out the man’s throat, ending the threat of a lone wolf shifting during the full moon. This was one of the men who had killed my fallen packmates, but there was no time to revel in avenging them. Ruby needed us.
The wolf turned, sniffing the air. Our mate was still close by. We left the mauled body behind and ran.
CHAPTER 23
Ruby
