Chapter Eight

Axe

I kept pacing the room, unable to get my thoughts straight or figure out how to save Kalin and convince her I wanted to be with her. She was my priority. Maybe it was just the spell tearing me apart, and I needed to do deal with this like my alpha would expect—by eliminating the enemy. But I couldn’t . . . wouldn’t. I felt Kalin deep in my soul, and I didn’t want to believe the witch’s hex led to such deep need. Losing my inhibitions was one thing, but this . . . craving a person as if my life depended on it, with my wolf insisting we belonged together? How could I ignore that?

But what were my next steps? I whacked a palm into the side of my head. “Think!”

The electric charge of a wulfkin transforming snaked across my skin. One of the wulfkin must have lost control, and I pictured Leo or Titus snacking on humans. Exactly what I’d warned them not to do.

I left the room and ran down a hallway flanked by various coat-of-arm shields on the walls. I found the courtyard empty of people, including the band. Yet screams echoed around me. Were the humans under siege?

“What’s going on?” My wolf rumbled, eager to come out and hunt down the attackers.

A howl ricocheted from deeper within the castle.

I darted into a corridor, my feet pounding the wooden floorboards. Voices came from every direction.

Another shriek sounded, so I sprinted up a narrow stairwell. At the top, I discovered a room filled with glass display cabinets showing medieval armor and clothing. I crossed the space, leaped over a rope barrier, and caught movement vanishing around a corner. Two women ran and squealed, while a man wearing a werewolf mask chased them.

“Wait a sec . . . What the hell is going on?” Had everyone gone mad?

Still, the woodsy and wet dog scents grew heavier. I headed in the opposite direction of the fake werewolf.

A growl reached me from straight ahead. The smell of freshly dug soil smothered me the moment I entered a room twenty feet long and twenty feet wide. A white-stone fireplace sat to my right adorned with golden tiles along the mantel. Rich leather chairs circled a table against the far wall.

At first, I couldn’t process the scene.

Five people huddled in a corner, laughing. In front of them prowled Leo in his brown brindled wolf form. Near the door lay Natalya, sprawled and unconscious, her face scratched and bloody. Had Leo attacked her? Why?

“Leo, back down, now!” I thundered.

He unleashed an ungodly half howl, half grumble. His dark eyes glazed over. The spell had confused him as much as it deluded the humans into thinking their plight was some kind of prank. Why else would they be laughing?

But when Leo lunged at them, my stomach plummeted. I called for my inner animal as I sprung after him, crashing into Leo’s ribs mid-transformation.

Leo lurched sideways but held on to a man’s ankle with his teeth. Blood dribbled from the corners of his muzzle, the metallic smell calling to my wolf’s hunger. But this wasn’t a meal.

The young man wailed in terror, arms flying about.

“Get out,” I growled at the other humans as my jaw stretched out, bones cracking.

Their faces paled as if reality had hit, and they scrambled out, leaving their friend behind.

As my limbs elongated, I stumbled about, tearing off my clothes and kicking off my pants. I was on all fours, black fur bristling across my flesh. Within moments, I stood as a wolf, and the surrounding colors sharpened.

Eat. Kill.

The man’s cry pierced my ears.

I shook my head, clearing the confusion, and thrust myself forward, biting Leo’s side just below his shoulder.

The man kept kicking Leo in the face with his free foot, finally dislodging himself. He scrambled from the room.

Leo pulled away from my grasp, leaving a chunk of his fur in my mouth. I spat it out, staring at the idiot who never should have come on this mission. The idiot who’d been allowed to join us as a favor to the second-in-command. How would the leader react if he discovered I’d hurt Leo? Then again, who gave a shit?

Leo swung around and came at me. His jaws caught my front paw and crunched down.

I released a strangled howl from the explosion of pain slicing through me. Blood welled around the gash. But no retreating. Now or ever. Nothing else mattered. There was no time for rational thinking, just the fight. To win.

Fast as a snake, I darted around Leo, keeping my injured foot off the ground, and grabbed him by the back of his neck, shaking him, biting down without pause.

When he finally collapsed, hunkering low, and whimpered, I drew away.

Dizziness still held me prisoner, but I wasn’t backing down.

Leo remained on his side, tongue hanging out, his fur matted and bloodied. He trembled and began to shift. Within seconds, Leo curled in on himself, naked, blood tainting his pale skin. I should have pitied him, but the anger burning through me made me numb, as it always had in war.

I pushed aside my wolf and transformed, my forearm bleeding from the open lesion. Changing with a wound tore the flesh farther, deepening the injury. I didn’t care at that moment. Instead, I yanked Leo to his feet with my good arm and pinned him to the wall.

“Attacking humans is punishable by death. Why shouldn’t I kill you?”

He choked and spat blood across my forearm. “I-I couldn’t control myself. The guests went into a frenzy. We’re wolves, not fucking lambs.”

“Son of a bitch.” I glanced over at Natalya on the floor. “What happened to her?”

“She got in my way.” He smirked.

If she died, the Varlac Tsar would be furious at losing his magical weapon, and he’d turn his attention to her teenager. And as much I shouldn’t care, my stomach churned at the idea of Natalya’s daughter losing a parent. “Hell. Stay here; don’t leave. Understand? And keep Natalya safe.” I released Leo and checked the witch’s pulse. She was alive. I left the room, slammed the door shut, and changed back into a wolf. The sensation came with an exhilaration of freedom. In my human form, my skin felt as if I wore clothes two sizes too small. I hurried as fast as I could on three paws. The injured leg remained bent and off the ground.

Around the next corner, I found Titus as a wolf. He was dragging another wolf by the scruff. The poor wolf was whining, kicking for leverage. It had to be Kalin or her friend, and my heart throbbed in fear that he was going to kill her.

A rumble roared through my chest.

Titus’s head turned in my direction. He recoiled, still holding on to his victim, who had a white pelt except for a single stripe of brown on top of her head. Then I met Kalin’s eyes.

Titus was a big bastard, almost double Kalin’s size.

A chill crept over me, freezing my brain, and my jaw locked. No one touched my Kalin.

I charged in a strange half run, half stumble, every inch of me burning. Titus dropped her and spun, hightailing it out of sight around a corner. I halted in front of Kalin and sniffed her, inhaling her sweet scent. She whimpered but stayed upright on shaky legs. The smell of her terror and blood filled my senses. Titus would pay.

I lay my chin on the back of her neck in a show of protection and love.

She shook herself away and bolted after Titus. Yes. We would hunt now, and I would pray my feelings weren’t just a product of the spell. The buzz of our connection had been there all along, and I wanted to believe we were soul mates. But I pushed those thoughts away, refusing to deal with them now.

Both of us ran, side by side, our breaths in rhythm. Together was how it should be, now and forever.

Humans scattered everywhere, rushing about, squealing. I staggered around a group crouching near the wall, crying. Such babies. They’d wanted a Halloween experience. Here it was. Fuck, we never should have come on this ridiculous mission. But then I wouldn’t have met Kalin. I’d go to hell and back to claim her. I cut her a glance; the determination in her eyes, the gracefulness of her movement, left me in admiration. I bet her white pelt glistened beneath the moonlight.

In the distance, someone screamed.

When we reached the top floor, we emerged onto the open terrace where I had first encountered Kalin. The flames of torches flicked in the wind, and the Transylvanian woods rustled on our left.

Across from us stood a brown-and-white wolf, ears flat against her head, eyes locked on Titus and Leo. It must have been Kalin’s friend, Lenuţa. And the bastard Leo had left the room where Natalya was. A storm of adrenaline ruled my urge to teach him a lesson for disobeying me. With both of them out of control, everyone was in danger.

My attention jerked back to Lenuţa, who stood beside a human with the strangest mustache studying her. She didn’t stand a chance against two wulfkin. Not to mention the human, who shoved her aside, raising his fists as if to strike her, his eyes wild with terror. She whined and backed away.

I snarled, and all four looked my way. The man’s face blanched, and his mouth hung open. He spun and darted in the opposite direction, entering another doorway. Lucky he left, or I would have ripped his arm off for hurting Lenuţa.

Sure, Titus and Leo were fighters, but so was I. Without waiting, I bared my fangs in a show of dominance and leaped toward Leo, crashing and bringing us both down. I tore at fur and flesh, not caring if I hurt him in that moment, only making him pay. He hadn’t listened to my command to stay in the room with Natalya, and now his actions threatened Kalin. I ought to finish him now, along with Titus.

Someone slammed into my back, and teeth pierced my neck.

I arched from the agony and shuddered.

Titus’s teeth ripped into my shoulder. I writhed beneath him, bucking him off. The moment he recoiled, I lurched after him and snapped my jaws, catching him on the cheek.

A shadow loomed over us, and Kalin rushed toward Titus, head-butting him and driving him away. But Leo tackled her, forcing her across the terrace. Her cries were blades to my ears.

Leaping to my feet, I teetered after her, but Titus chomped down on my back leg, holding me in place. Sharp pain curled up my thigh, and stars flashed in front of my eyes. For those few seconds, it felt as if my entire body was battered, and my muscles tensed so hard, I couldn’t move.

Despite Lenuţa’s terrified gaze, she attacked Titus’s rump, yanking him off me. I staggered off the ground, my head dancing and body throbbing in pain.

Titus charged toward Lenuţa.

He rammed into her side with such speed she flew backward, hit the wall overlooking the forest, and flipped over it. Her cries bled into the night. A strangled yelp sounded with a final thump.

Kalin’s howl was deafening, blocking out Titus’s yelps. She spun and struck Leo with renewed vigor, ripping the fur and flesh off his body in a frenzy.

Relentless, Leo dragged her farther across the terrace.

I didn’t remember moving, but I collided with Titus, who stood in my way to Kalin. I chomped down on his thigh, bones breaking. Blood smeared my tongue. The wulfkin slumped beneath me, unmoving, playing dead. But I sensed his pulse.

Several feet way, Leo crouched behind Kalin, his mouth latched around her neck. One move, and he’d kill her. Her eyes widened in panic.

I froze, every inch of me trembling. In my mind’s eye, I pictured my parents’ bodies by the river, torn, bloody, and covered in bites. They’d stood no chance against the alpha’s henchmen. I’d buried them alone, deep in the Siberian forest, drowning in fury and the inability to gain them justice, and the memory would remain with me for eternity. Now, Kalin’s life teetered on a knife’s edge at the hands of the alpha’s wulfkin. I shook as an inferno burned me from the inside out.

I have to save Kalin. At any cost.

Just then, a thundering wave of footfalls boomed from the stairwell leading to the terrace. Half a dozen humans emerged, brandishing sticks and brooms. One person gripped an antique sword. They ran toward us, bellowing, swinging their weapons.

Oh, fuck!