AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So far, I hadn’t lost any strength. If the Sempiternal Scepter had been the only thing keeping me alive, not having it in my possession could have disastrous consequences. But I’d soaked in its benefits for centuries. I wouldn’t lose those advantages overnight.
“Never been better.” Hannah gave a breathy chuckle. Her hands were on her hips. “Guess using the incline on the treadmill isn’t a replacement for the real deal.”
“I’ll pretend I know what that means.” Truth be told, I wanted her to keep talking. Because Hannah was pure sunshine. She made me feel better about being human when it was a disadvantage in every circumstance.
“Lars?” In that moment, her voice was anything but hopeful. “I’m scared of what we’re gonna find up there. That it will change everything.”
This time, I took her into my arms, my lips crashing against hers in a kiss that I needed just as badly as she did. Now I wanted to carry her off for a completely different reason, and find a private cove where I could strip away her fears, her clothes…and make all this bullshit go away.
“You’re right. Nothing will be the same after today. Except for the way that I feel about you.”
She lowered her gaze, and I tipped her chin up to kiss her again. “What else is bothering you?”
“I’m scared for you, too. You’re human, going up against these ruthless beasts. You’re the kindest, fairest man I’ve ever met. You’re not fighting by the same rules.”
“I can assure you I’m anything but human.” I’d give anything to shift to prove that fact.
She gave me a wobbly smile. “I do like it when you growl like that.”
“What do you like about it?”
“The way it makes my body vibrate.” She scraped her teeth against her bottom lip. “In certain places.”
“After this is done, I’ll make you vibrate all over.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah.”
“I sense something,” Bibi said. She was wearing what she called her purple safari outfit with purple hiking books. The rest of the crew was with us too—Marissa, Tina, and Bjorn, but they didn’t have any equipment with them. Nothing about what happened next would be suitable for reality TV. All of them were shifters, and all were willing to fight. For me.
Hugo and a good chunk of the security team were here too. They were staying deep, keeping an eye on the big picture.
“Lars, does this area have any significance for your pack?” Marissa asked.
I scanned the rocks, the trees, the dirt. To the modern human eye, it wouldn’t look like much. But ithadbeen a significant area to my pack. “This land looked very different back then. It was lush and green and a river ran through here. This was the very edge of our village. We used this area for hunting, gathering, and things that needed to be settled without all the eyes of the village.”
“I understand why they came back here,” Hannah said. “Makes a statement.”
“It does,” I said. Hannah was the only human with us. She could have been considered a liability. But she would see things in ways we wouldn’t. And we needed her to help with any humans that we could rescue.
If we weren’t too late for them.
I stopped, giving myself a chance to sense the situation. Feel the vibrations of what was happening. “They’re here.”
“Where?” Hannah whispered.
“Around the bend.” I took hold of her arm. “If things get out of control, you stick with the wolf Hugo assigned to you. Bring him with you to find the humans. Do whatever you can to bring them together. Tell them as little as possible until we know exactly what has happened.”
She nodded, her body stiff under my touch. I was asking her to do the unthinkable, but it was the only way we could save as many lives as possible.
A wolf ran around the corner and skidded to a stop when it saw us. I’d hoped it was one of Hugo’s guys who’d miraculously made it to the mountain on Bibi’s command. But his body was low to the ground, big, ancient. In case I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, he bared his teeth and growled.
His eyes were all wrong. The color was off—a strange, dull yellow. Completely lifeless.
“Holy shit,” Hannah said under her breath.
I stalked toward him. “Do you know who I am?”
