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Then I scented other wolves.
My nostrils flared as I teased out the scents floating on the breeze.
The sky was clear and bright, not a single cloud blocking the moon.
But it still smelled like rain.
Longroad pack.
CHAPTER43
Amelia
Fear seized my heart.I dropped to the ground on all four paws, ready to make a desperate run for it. A dozen shifters surrounded me. All men, all hard-eyed. And familiar. That was the worst part. These men knew me.
"Nathan's waiting for you," the first one said.
I melted back, cowering, my belly low to the ground as if I were going to submit. They pressed in toward me, their faces forming into ugly smirks.
I leapt at the lead man. My jaws locked around his throat,and I savaged him. He let out a scream, his arms windmilling back. He was trying to shift, but it was too late. He slammed to the ground with me on top of him, and I ripped his throat out. I spat his flesh out as I raised my face to the moon and let out a long, desperate howl.
There was no way it could reach all the way to King territory.
There was no way Brennan could surface from my dreams to save me.
And yet... I couldn't believe I was really alone.
Three of them tackled me at once. The others were falling back, shifting. As the three men tried to wrestle me to the ground, the wolves began to prowl around us, looking for their way in. Their lips pulled back from their teeth, their eyes glinting malevolently in the darkness.
But I wasn't giving up. I wasn't going to die like this. I writhed, twisting in their hands. I snapped at the one who'd been holding me. My jaws snapped around his arm. I felt the bone give, and a gush of warm blood.
And then another man drove a fist into my skull.
It broke my grip just long enough for one of them to slap his palm over my muzzle. I was already biting down, but there was something in my mouth now. My teeth crunched down on glass, on bitter herbs. Pain lanced through my mouth. Blood and drool fell from my mouth as I finally heaved them off to me, getting to my feet. The wolves circling me growled as the men ran to shelter behind the wolves.
I moved in a circle, growling, my ears flat against my head, my teeth bared. Cole's words rang in my ears. I'd keep fighting until they killed me or help came.
I lunged to the side and tried to make a break for it. I'd taken two steps when the ground heaved under my feet. I stumbled, fell to my knees.
As a human.
The wounds in my mouth healed almost instantly with the change, and I spat out blood as I frantically struggled to my feet. I felt so small when I was surrounded by all these wolves, and I almost slipped in the pool of blood coming from the one I had taken down.
They'd forced some kind of magic into my mouth. It had forced me to become human again, and it kept me from shifting now no matter how hard I tried.
They began to swarm in, blocking my escape. I fought them, but there was no way out. No matter how hard I fought, I was only one wolf, and they were too many. Panic choked my chest.
Then Lawson charged into the fray. He threw his body between me and the attackers, snarling. He was bigger than I remembered.
He barreled forward into the wolves, ignoring their bites. His teeth sunk into a wolf's shoulder, and he shook his head, ripping the arm from its socket. He turned to face a second wolf who lunged toward me.
But he was already there. He was already between them and me, his face a snarl of fury.
I felt a surge of relief that was quickly crushed by the realization that he was here in the same terrible situation I was. He was the cavalry, and he wasn’t going to be enough.
I rushed to his side, searching for a weapon. There were so many of them, though. The wolves were hemming us in on all sides.
I'd be torn apart within seconds if I tried to run.
