AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Elara’s body hits with a sickening thud. With enough force to shake the branches above.
With enough strength to wrench a groan out of her as she shifts back to human.
Kade rushes to her side, fear making it hard to breathe. He crouches down, unsure whether his heart will beat again.
"I'm fine, Kade,” Elara says weakly, although she makes no move to get up. “Just watch your back."
A body bumps his and he spins around, finding Denzel and several wolves moving in. Denzel looks at him pointedly as they take defensive positions around Elara. The roar of rage behind them tells Kade what he’s trying to communicate.
Kade spins, finding Chad barreling toward him. He’s shifted into his weapon of choice.
A black wolf that mirrors Kade in size and power.
They leap simultaneously. Crash. And become a frenzy of teeth and claws and intent to kill.
Kade knows he’s strong. He’s the first evolved werewolf. Even stronger than a shifter.
But Chad is something else. Every snap is a vice. Every shove is a battering ram. Every swipe is a slash of razor-sharp blades.
Within seconds, Kade’s on the defensive. He spends more time deflecting and blocking than attacking. Any bite or slash that lands seems to only inflame Chad’s thirst for more. The sight of his own crimson blood only fuels his desire to spill Kade’s.
Chad leaps with a roar, slamming into Kade with the force of a truck. Kade’s sent sprawling backward. He tumbles once and then rights himself, his claws gouging through the grass.
The distance affords him the chance to see two things. To the right, Elara, wearing an oversized shirt, and Kira have freed Laith and are helping him hobble away.
And to the left, Dinah slips into the trees and disappears.
The sight of the witch running away sends unease coursing through Kade. Especially when he registers the Excalibur replica is still wedged into the ground where Elara left it. What’s Dinah running from?
Or running to…
The distraction is all Chad needs. He leaps, opening his jaws wide, revealing teeth already tinged with pink. Ella cries out, but Kade doesn’t look over. He can’t.
He’s watching his own doom descend on him.
The irony that it’s his own image isn’t lost on him.
He was always his worst enemy.
Chad lands on top of him, his jaws unerringly clamping around Kade’s throat. He winces as teeth break skin. He feels warm blood trickle down his fur.
He lets the fight drain from his body.
He died protecting Elara. Even Laith. He’s played his part in the prophecy.
23
Elara
“No!” Elara whispers the words, her heart a painful throb in her chest. Kade can’t die. She was never supposed to fulfill this prophecy without him.
Stepping away from Kira and Laith, she says it again. With force.
With promise.
“No.”
Her hands form claws as they rise, bringing the power of the earth beneath her feet with it. Vines shoot from the ground, thickening and sprouting lush leaves. They whip around Chad’s back legs, coiling impossibly fast up and around his torso. They reach his neck and squeeze.
