The Bastard Alpha

't come wi

me wit

nto dust. Trees splintered as I burst into the forest, my arms locked around t

me, ho

howl of

wl of h

uld already be shifting, scenting the air, preparing for the kill. I could feel it

ordial

what they'

narled at

hem fe

odging ravines, instincts guiding me through paths I'd never walked yet somehow kne

coinc

ogni

e my blood was n

was

n my arms, a weak g

just enough to keep her fro

r collarbone, disappearing beneath torn fabric. Every throb of her he

ated

eede

ction nearly

hundered

lo

o c

ine just as claws slashed through the space where my head had b

e up s

avine's edge, eyes glowing wit

claw

irst h

ifting partially human as he dropped

ntly against a tree, st

rd?" I asked cold

ghed. "Council pays

olf s

dn't

n't ne

hey lunged, t

mpaling one hunter through th

ight crushed his throat, slamming him into

third

ced arrogan

t a wolf,"

pped c

ever

e

let

ads faster

whimpered

just as her eye

il

radiant

ath, panic flooding her fa

ntly, surprising myself wit

locked o

nition

bond

ted me," sh

me harder than any

kn

orest

hun

thing

O

in. "They're coming," she said, voice steady d

ed. "How

hem," she said

t wa

wasn't jus

as ev

ck into my arms.

n to slope dow

roaching the

laimed tha

othing sur

ted-red bleedi

lood

swo

t possibl

ator would

ludi

ng what

as the first arrows str

er-ti

cil w

A shield of moonlight flared briefly, deflectin

asped. "You

you," I s

wned. "I

ow," I cut in. "Wheth

aw tig

ve me behind," s

oar shook

e wasn't

opped

ly, bending outward as something

ca

ed silve

ke burni

oonb

tin

pose

adn't just dec

shed everythi

d its horned head

ke the old blo

stiffened

smells lik

lf ros

down slowly

I tell yo

head. "I'm no

eth. "That was

onbeast

it he

ct shatte

lver fire pouring from the wound instead of red. I grabbed its horn, d

round

apping around the beast's limbs,

scre

in

ecogn

returns,"

oed across the

unter he

ry e

n thing that ha

hed violently, b

tagg

stepped

closed a

d-clean, powerf

ed outward, sealing

nbeast f

est went

at her,

y gaze, ey

n," she said quietly. "Because wh

pted in th

ndr

toward t

asn't ju

was

had finally rem