Chapter Nine

Kalin

Party guests streamed onto the terrace, waving weapons, screaming battle cries. Terror grounded me on the spot as people came at us. Half a dozen rough hands ripped at my fur, tail, and ears. I whimpered.

The strange wolf’s mouth loosed from around my neck. I scrambled up and threw myself into the mob, my gaze settled on the wall Lenuţa had been thrown over, terrified of what I’d find. But I had to know if she’d survived. Commotion exploded in every direction. Bodies bumped and crushed me. Growls and snapping teeth filled the air.

A silver-haired man thrust the flat end of a broom in my face. I snarled, biting at the air between us, backing into the shadows.

The broom jammed in my face again, the prickly threads like dozens of needles poking my skin. I growled, realizing that as long as we stayed in our wolf forms, the humans would attack what they feared. And they stood in my way of finding Lenuţa.

Despite the raw instinct to rip the attacker’s windpipe out, I heaved my wolf back inside me, fur vanishing, bones contorting, the pain familiar and comforting. My human side pushed forward.

When I lifted myself on two feet, naked and now a woman, the man gasped and dropped his broom. Retreating, he called out incomprehensible words and bolted out of there.

I lunged out of the shadows, pushing against the bodies crowding the terrace, the wall in sight. Lenuţa, please be okay. To my right, the brown brindled wulfkin who had attacked me was in a tug-of-war with two people over a walking stick.

Someone hollered in my ear, and I ducked as they brushed past, targeting the wulfkin. The man swung a sword high above his head as he charged for the wulfkin.

“Watch out!” I chased after the man.

The metal gleamed in the moonlight. In a sudden move, the guy brought his blade down on the back of the wolf’s neck.

I shuddered and cringed.

Blood sprayed upward as the head came right off, his body crashing to the ground with a thump, his legs still twitching.

Fucking hell! I choked on my next inhale as reality sank through me.

I shoved the murderer aside. He stumbled into a wall but whirled, swinging the blade, inches short of slicing me across the stomach.

“Are you insane?” I cried.

His eyes glazed over as he laughed. Did he think this was a joke? He cast his gaze to Axe, who was in a corner, snarling, getting whacked with sticks by three people.

The man with the sword now lurched toward Axe, the blade once again lifted over his head.

Urgency pushed against me like an invisible storm, and I no longer felt my body. Yet I managed to run after the man and jump onto his back, biting into the fleshy meat between his neck and shoulder with my human teeth. Blood soaked my tongue. Fresh and warm. My wolf was at the back of my throat, tasting, demanding more.

The man screamed and released his weapon. I leaped off just as someone slammed a shovel into my face. A sudden gush of pain matted my head. My vision blurred.

An explosion thundered through my skull, and I rocked on the spot. I wiped the blood from my nose. “Get the hell out of my way!” I closed the distance between me and Axe, who stumbled on his paws. I shouldered past two men and sent a quick kick to the third guy’s groin. He bowled over.

I stood between Axe and half a dozen approaching men, several eying my nakedness. Good. Keep them distracted while I kick their butts.

“Come on, Axe. Shift already.” I picked up a stick and faced the mob.

Before long, Axe pressed to my side in his human form, his weight heavy against me. Red trickled down one of his arms and a leg. Battered and bruised, he stumbled to stay upright.

“Fuck off, the lot of you!” I yelled at the humans. Not that the idiots listened. They were lost puppies, looking at each other, some laughing, others pretending to fight with swords. And that was when I spotted the second Russian wulfkin in the opposite corner with a broom handle sticking out of his rib cage, his wolf body shifting.

“Oh, shit.”

Axe lurched ahead of me and slid to his knees, his posture curled forward next to his friend. Nothing prepared one for the pain of such a farewell. I still cried some nights over losing my sister.

Two of Axe’s team had been killed; enemy or no, this was wrong.

Lenuţa!

I dashed to the wall and peered over the edge. There was no sign of her on the ground below. “Where are you?” If she’d moved, she must have survived. I released a strangled cry. I’d failed to keep her safe.

A howl shattered the night, and I spun to find Axe, still bent over his friend. “He was only twenty,” Axe mumbled. “I insisted he remain home, but no one listened.”

A human raised a stick above his head and approached Axe, and I yelled, “Get the fuck out of here before we rip you apart! Scram, or you’ll die here!”

The man froze in place, his cheeks white. His friend pulled him back by a shoulder, and the group retreated into the castle, leaving us completely alone on the terrace.

Choked up, I sidled up next to Axe, our sides touching, letting him know I was there for him. His skin was cold, and he’d lost so much blood.

“I never wanted either of them to die,” he whispered.

In the distance, the music of the violins began again, along with cheers and laughter. The party should not have been continuing, not when two wulfkin had lost their lives because of a stupid spell and ridiculous game.

Fuzziness streamed through my mind, blurring my thoughts, and dissipated once again. The earlier bang to the head had left me with a constant buzz in my ears. “What will you do?”

“Titus was the alpha’s nephew.” He climbed to his feet and lifted Titus into his arms, stumbling on the spot.

I hurried to his side and helped support the dead weight, well aware what the death of an alpha’s relative meant: death to anyone who hadn’t prevented it.

“Sunrise is coming, and Natalya’s enchantment will wear off,” Axe continued in a flat tone. “The humans will be confused and frightened. We don’t need police finding out about us. I’ll bury Leo and Titus in the woods.”

Together, we carried Titus to the wall overlooking the woods. Axe pushed the wulfkin over, and his body dropped outside the castle with a loud thud.

Despite his breaths coming heavy and raspy, Axe staggered toward Leo. He heaved the wulfkin into his arms, and I helped toss Leo over the wall, too.

“So you’re not taking them back to Russia?”

Axe turned and stared at me. Devastation painted his expression, and his eyes darkened. “I no longer have a home. The Varlac Tsar doesn’t forgive or allow second chances. He’ll send wulfkin after wulfkin to find me. I need to collect Natalya. She will return to prevent her daughter being killed, and I want to make sure she lies to the alpha to buy me time while I escape.” His voice deepened. “We should all leave now, before dawn. I’ll help you get out of the castle and find your friend.”

I moved closer and laid my hand on his forearm, dried blood cracking beneath my touch. “Axe, I’m sorry about your loss. I lost my sister when I was young, and I was alone in the world. But a good leader accepted me into his pack. I’m sure my alpha will welcome you if you plead your case.”

Axe’s nose scrunched, and he scoffed, sliding his arm out from under my hand. “Yeah, right. I’m sure he’ll accept the army commander of the Russian pack about to invade his territory.”

“Then I’m coming with you wherever you go.”

Axe’s gaze fell. “I’ve never connected with anyone as I have with you, but what if it’s just that damn witch’s spell? Once we leave the castle, reality will sink in, and you’ll run from me. Besides, my alpha will hunt me down, and I won’t endanger you.”

The agony of losing Axe strangled my lungs, and tears prickled my eyes. Bullshit. Even during those wavering moments of clarity, my wolf had claimed him. I adored Axe, and my pulse was a tsunami. He couldn’t leave without me.

“Axe, you said earlier that you’re claiming me as yours. You made a promise.”

He pulled away from me, and emptiness enveloped me in its chill. “I’m going to collect Natalya. Wait here.” With a last longing glance, he hurried into a hallway, and I was alone. Just as I’d been when my sister was butchered, when my parents died. Maybe that was my destiny, to never hold on to love.

The wind picked up, and goose bumps coated my skin. I hugged myself, unable to keep warm. The whole night I’d fought my attraction to Axe, telling myself it seemed strange. So, what if Axe was right? What if he’d look at me with disgust once we left the castle? Had I been fooling myself, believing something between Axe and me was even possible?

Living another second without knowing the truth killed me. Daybreak was in an hour—too long to wait. If Axe was my soul mate, I’d fight to keep him; if not, leaving and never seeing him again was the answer. The latter option was a knife to my gut.

I took a deep breath and approached the edge of the battlement overlooking the Transylvanian woods. Directly below lay the two wulfkin. Three stories wasn’t too terribly high, not with help from Axe, yet my insides still trembled at how many bones I might break. Using the bodies as cushioning might help; plus, I’d seen several tiny arched windows on this side of the castle when we’d first arrived. Maybe I could use those to get halfway down the wall, then I’d jump from a lower height.

I took one last glance at the spot where I’d first met Axe, where we’d experienced our first kiss, where I’d fallen madly for him. I needed to believe those emotions weren’t a result of the spell but our soulful connection, before I lost him forever. And finding out the truth terrified me more than leaping out of the castle.