86

I crawl backwards, trembling in instant fear, because I know this is a matter of fight or die and I need to be stronger than I was ten minutes ago. He almost ended me so easily with one swipe that it’s pathetic. Call myself Luna? I’m a complete failure.

I need to get my head together and outsmart him while my body tries to heal, give myself time to power up. I steady my breathing, willing all the energy I can muster up to save me from him, and homing in on the part of me I rarely have to use. It just means he has to get really close for me to absorb what he has when I’m this low, to draw from his strength instead of my own and it may be more useful than energy balls which seem to be failing me.

Colton’s fast, even by Lychan standards, and I get up in a dash, to backwards run an in attempt to coax him to me and almost get decapitated in the process as a new clawed paw tries to take my head off.

I don’t think so, bitch!!

Carmen’s sassy voice in the link rings through my head, that superior tone that I used to hate, but now I sort of love, as she comes down over the top of me, seemingly from thin air and drags it with her in a tumbling roll sideways. Taking the male down with a swoop and aggressive snatch at his head. I catch sight of Colton flashing towards me, visually targeting his prey and that look of determined malice makes my blood run cold. I just need a second of his touch, brief contact, enough to feel his gifts surging and then I’ll be able to deflect them. He pushes through the battling bodies between us, seemingly slowing and taking his time to savor the fact I’m no longer running and instead intent on letting him get to me. Heart pounding behind my ribcage like a war drum, and body trembling with both lack of blood and the icy swell of terror.

I turn my body so that if he catches me again with his claw the injury will be less devastating and in a place that won’t make me bleed out in seconds. I tense and brace myself for the impact I know will come and close my eyes for a second to will up the internal energy to somehow do this. Sierra was right, the blood loss isn’t rectified, and I can barely pull myself around with efficiency, let alone take on a wolf like him.

I fall backwards with a strangled cry of surprise as the expected full weight of my mate tears down on me like a savage. Taking me from behind in a rugby tackle and throwing us both out of the arc of the ditch where I was shielding. He seemed to have meant to plough through me so I would end up splattered to the floor under him, but his sheer size ends up being a softer cushion and dampener for me as a human and his arms under my back take the full brunt of our fall. We sort of tuck and tumble as we scramble together, molded into one body as I hold on to protect myself.

I end up curled against his chest, clinging on for a moment with sheer desperation as we roll through the dirt and somehow collide with a huge rock sitting proud from forest floor which thuds us to a halt. His spine meets cold grey matter with a sickening thwack, and it’s enough to crumble the entire side away, rendering him momentarily stunned as he grunts in pain from sheer impact. His arms splay out, releasing me from his cloying hold and it’s all the time I need to feed from his strength, his speed. His fierce being drawn into me as I absorb everything I can with our physical meshing together. I can feel it, like the inhaling of smoke from the air, into my lungs and through my veins, only it’s Colton’s essence I seem to be drawing out.

I panic as my wolf self almost rips control from me with the intensity of his powers, riling her into action and eager to be free to protect me. I have to grapple to stay human with all I have inside, but with his matching strength I soar suddenly with new life and find the power to jump to my feet as he does. I grab his wrist as he goes for me, twist it back and deflect every swipe and punch and thrust that reigns towards me with blink speed reaction, thwarting every move. Colton roars in anger at my newfound skill, somehow manages to leg swipe my with one of his huge paws as we both crash to the ground once more. I tuck myself inwards to protect my abdomen, twisting away from him to avoid his weight on me again, but he catches my around the leg, his claws curling around my narrow limb rather than piercing me. I yank and pull, attempting to keep lashing at him, while avoiding his razor-sharp weapons as we roll around in the dirt and collect debris and gravel as we maneuver into wrestle hold rather than blows.

I’m faster this way and he gets angry as hell as I block the blows, hold off the attempts to bite and maim, and seem to successfully hold my own for as long as I can. It would be easier as a wolf, so much easier, but I’m aware the whole time of the two life forces I’m protecting in my body and I’m careful with every duck, hit and lurch to keep that part of me shielded, beneath the metal panel and free from impact. Thanking god the armor saves me from bumps and scrapes more than I thought it would. It may not withstand Lychan impaling, but the natural world is a little less able to penetrate it.

I hear the faint howls and the ongoing noises of battles around us, catch sight of Carmen still throwing around the brown wolf she saved me from, but Sierra is out of sight. Probably fighting her own little war as we all aim to get through this alive. Even with our numbers, we’re barely keeping even with the strongest of our pack and many are failing. They have more skill and speed; more battle experience and I already know so many of ours have passed at their hands.

A blood curling howl tears me from my focus, stunning my brain as a throbbing pain rips through my body and renders me completely useless. Clutching my head and ears and crying out in despair at the cruel invasion, while it feels like my entire brain wants to self-implode. It’s Carmen, it has to be, and she’s using her own weapon to fight back where I guess she too is struggling to stay in control. Giving the pack an instant head bashing and a few minutes of disorientation and bleeding eardrums.

I’m momentarily disabled from the shock attack and crumble to the ground with a gasp and shudder, hitting the floor like a sack of rubble. Only, so does Colton, also unable to defend himself against her unique power and we fall apart, groaning as ache from a wound we didn’t inflict on one another make us crumble and moan. There’s a new wave of warmth and pain spearing through my central body as the sound ebbs away and my ears start ringing, but it’s nowhere near the intensity of this instant stabbing.