AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a nod to Bron, I take off at a steady jog until the lights of the camp disappear. Here, I strip and stow my clothes at the base of a tree. My beast assures me he will find them on our return.
As I stand under the shroud of darkness, a little moonlight dapples through the trees. I relax, roll up my shoulders, and picture the world as though I’m looking through the eyes of my beast.
The shift is instantaneous. The world feels like it explodes before my eyes.
The angles are all different. I’m bigger, yet a little lower in the line of sight. Two great curved tusks thrust from my jaw. Lower, I see the paws tipped by lethal claws and the shaggy white fur.
Lifting my snout, I sniff, then take off at a run.
I wonder what my beastly face looks like. A strange tusked wolf, maybe? Although I do not feel like a wolf, but a larger, sturdy beast—broad-pawed with thick legs and a substantial body. And heavy. I have battled a bear shifter and won.
However, bears are lone fighters, unlike wolves, who attack as a pack, communicating through their minds and working seamlessly. I remind myself that I am seeking to warn the wolf pack, not fight with them, but I cannot know what reception I might get and must be prepared.
As I run, I hear the sound of creatures in the undergrowth. They are swift to dart out of my way, recognizing me as a monster, deadly to all who stand in my way.
I relish in the feel of the soft, loamy earth under my paws. Finally, my beast is free and alert in ways even an orc is not. I run on, a steady gait that leads further east and south. At a stream, I pick up scents—instinctively, I know that it is the scent of wolves.
I stop, feeling the prickling awareness at the back of my neck.
Wolfshifters.
We are close.
ChapterSeven
Jacob
Doug is missing.
I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but it is too late to back out now. We are close to the shifters’ lands; retreat is not an option. I will hold my promise to him to get his mate to safety, along with Winter, and the fairy child, even if it costs me my life. Bron should be with them, at least, as the orc on duty to guard them. It is fucking hard to trust any of the green bastards—Bron and Doug are the only ones among them that I do.
However, when I reach the clearing, the bondservant men are all present… but not the wooden swords.
I frown. Where the fuck are the wooden swords? I see my fellow bondservants shuffling, eyes shifty. I shoot them a fucking glare. Whatever the fuck happens or doesn’t happen, we will need to adapt. They are all twitchy. If they keep that up, even that hapless bald bastard, Rig, will realize that something is up.
I should be taking Rig by the throat by now. We should be implementing our plan, but it will be a whole lot harder without even a wooden sword.
“Where the fuck are the practice swords?” Rig snarls at the nearest orc.
The orc’s nostrils flare as he swings his head our way.
“Do not yap at me, human,” he rumbles, black eyes narrowing on the bondservant.
“I will get the fucking swords,” I say.
“You will not get the fucking swords,” Rig says, stabbing a finger at the orc. “What happened to Reggie?”
The orc smirks. “The hunting was poor last evening.”
Rig blanches. I have no love for Reggie, who was ever ready with his club, but even I feel a little queasy.
“I expect it to be poor again tonight,” the orc continues, broad face splitting into a grin.
I brace myself as the orc lifts his ax and slams it straight into the top of the Rig’s head. It cracks like a ripe melon, and blood splatters out.
“Now!” I yell, snatching up Rig’s sword as he slips to the forest floor.
The orc’s ax is wedged, and he cannot quickly get it out. Rounding him, I hamstring him while he still fights to free his ax.
