Wolf protector moon kiss.., p.16
Wolf Protector (Moon Kissed Book 3), page 16
Now, the Buson Coven has a direct route in to finish this war of theirs. They’re here to add their mettle to his and without any backup of our own, we’re basically meat.
My heart thuds painfully against my crushed chest, taking the last of my hope with it, leaving only the barest minimum level of resolve in its place.
“It’s about time,” Edmund says. His wolf grimaces.
Sure, about time. They’re his winning pass. His Hail Mary. They’re the final nail in my coffin, so of course he’s glad to see them.
The magic portal opens, and the members of the Buson Coven come pouring through to join the fight, adding their magic to the already deadly battle. And there’s Mae, the last through the portal and standing regally in my backyard, wearing the ceremonial robes I’ve seen during the ceremonial sacrifices. Her normal braid no longer hangs down her spine but loops around her head to keep her moon-colored hair in place for the fight. Not that I expect her to get her hands dirty.
She’d rather use spells to keep the blood from staining her clothing.
I snarl, my attention split between Mae and Edmund. I still have a lot of paying back to do for what Mae did to Tasha.
The whole ‘burn at dawn’ bit.
“Fucking witches.” I snarl.
Mae lifts her arms to the sky and draws her magic to the surface. It manifests in two dueling balls of purple fire that she hauls with startling accuracy in my direction.
I dodge the first with the second singing the hair at the end of my tail and sending me scurrying forward with a yelp. And of course, Edmund takes the opportunity to headbutt me in the side so hard that I hit the ground hard.
“I was right about you, I’m afraid. Aurelia always had a soft spot for you, and she made you into this vanilla dog rather than the savage wolf you were always meant to be,” he says to me mentally. “It made you sad and unwilling to do what it takes to expand our reign. The Holden name could have been synonymous with greatness instead of failure.”
The moment I take to catch my breath doesn’t do me any favors. And yet I steal that moment, closing my eyes and taking in a very deep, very agonizing breath. When I exhale, a dark chuckle joins the air escaping my lungs.
“Do you ever shut up?” I ask Edmund.
The world narrows down to the two of us while Mae and her squadron of cackling and backstabbing bitches, including a wolf of my own, Emily, wreak havoc on those left in the Redcliff Pack. Julius squares off against Edmund’s brute, and I have to trust my brother to hold his own.
A lot of trust going around lately, when I thought I had none to spare.
“What did you say to me?” Edmund asks, narrowing his eyes.
“From the moment you decided to raise yourself back from the dead, you’ve done nothing but talk. So I want to know if you’ll ever shut up, or do you just want to hear yourself speak? Is it some kind of ego boost?” I slowly push myself up to stand on all fours, shaky and a little wobbly. “Or are you so lonely for company that you’re falling back on yourself?”
He growls at me, baring his teeth and snapping at the air between us, hoping to take a nice chunk out of me for my insolence. Only this time, I’m not backing down. I stand my ground and flex my toes despite the throbbing in my wounded leg.
“How dare you,” Edmund says, jaws snapping my way.
I’ve had enough. Bleeding and burned and broken in multiple places, pushed to the very edge and then pushed a little more, I’m simply too over it to play these mindfuck games with him.
The witches arriving is the last straw for me.
Edmund squares his shoulders, making himself appear ten times larger than he had before.
One of his tricks, along with the belt. And the belt had been what he’s used when he felt generous. When he went easy on the three of us.
I take a cautious step forward, testing the weight on my bad leg and surprised when it holds me upright. “No matter how many times you tried to beat the lessons into me, I swore to myself I’d never be like you. Never rule this pack like you. Why? Because I’m better than you. I always have been. Julius, Liam, too. We’ve always been better than you, and you hated it. So you tried to turn us against each other. I can see that now.”.
“Weak!” he shouts in my head. “How could I have been cursed with such weak and pathetic sons?”
But that degrading tactic won’t work on me anymore. I won’t let it.
“You should’ve stayed dead, Edmund,” I reply. “We don’t need you.”
If he’d been in human form, he’d be red in the face right about now. Instead, he’s foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal.
I continue to circle him. I’m about two steps away from him now, and Edmund has made no move to strike me. Rather than waiting for him to spring another surprise at me, I maintain my slow and easy pace.
He steps with me to keep me in view at all times. Mae sends another fireball blast in our direction, but I notice that none of her witches are even trying to get close to us. They’re too occupied with defending herself against Bullet and my wolves.
Edmund narrows his eyes further until I lose sight of his pupils in all that black fur. “Say whatever you want. When you’re disposed of, you and your brothers, I’ll start rebuilding this pack into what it should have been.” A thread of pride runs through his tone. “I’ll make it grander and larger and more expansive than your pea brain can comprehend. You’re a failure.”
Done waiting, I hurl myself at him and catch him in the shoulder when he sidesteps out of the way. Luckily for me, or unluckily for him, another fireball meant to intimidate me lands close by and he steps right into its path.
Edmund yelps, leaping into the air and landing right in my waiting jaws.
About as close as he’ll ever get on accident.
I clamp down on whatever I can get and catch several of his toe pads between my teeth, chomping down hard and breaking bone into dust. Hot blood explodes into my mouth and instead of spitting it out, I gulp it down, the sour taste coating the inside of my throat and stomach.
There’s agony written across Father’s face as he yanks his foot from my grip, and when he speaks again, he curses me in a raspy voice. He’s clearly in need of the healing magic he’d used over the years to keep him in better fighting shape.
“I’ll make sure you know pain, son. There will be no slow and easy death for you,” he rumbles out, jerking his snout in the direction of the wolves and the witches fighting against each other. The tortured screams of the fight pierce the bubble of my awareness. “You’ll wish that you were never born.”
“Oh, good. So a walk down memory lane, then,” I growl, turning to keep him in my view and once again shutting out the horror show all around me. “Because I’ve wished that for years.”
I grind my teeth in determination as I head toward him again, fully intending to do the same bone smash maneuver to the rest of his feet and watch him try to limp away.
I only make it a few steps when the sound of a string of delightful and creative curses reaches me, and I glance over my shoulder in surprise, frowning at the two women in my direct field of vision.
Julius and his foe grapple to the left of me, and a prickle of sensation along my skin lets me know this moment is important. A moment where I swear that fate is shifting and rearranging itself although I have no idea what the outcome might be.
“Isn’t that your girl?” Edmund barks as he shoots toward me, smacking the side of my head with his claws and sending me off balance yet again.
“Tasha?” The beast inside me writhes with the need to finish this thing right now. To be rid of him once and for all.
“Your girl against the best that the Buson Coven has to offer,” Edmund replies quickly. “It’s either Tasha or Mae. Who will the victor be? I know one of them has loads of power at her disposal. And the other one is a little whore who fancies herself a contract killer.”
Dread seizes me as Tasha heads straight toward the heart of the battle, with Mae at the center. Her shoulders are tense, her steps determined, and she won’t look at me.
Carmen emerges above the fight as well and keeps herself separate from the clash of teeth and claws and magic clanging through the space.
I shift as I run toward them, my enormous wolf form sinking back beneath my skin as I lock eyes with Mae. The asshole witch shoots me a dazzlingly large smile as she sends her magic out in a direct blast to Tasha.
Putting on a burst of speed seems impossible.
No. This is not a fight she can win. She shouldn’t even be standing right now, let alone squaring off against a powerful coven leader like Mae. A roar of pure challenge escapes my throat, and I’m several feet from the two of them when Edmund slams into my side. I fly through the air as he whips me sideways, landing hard, agony erupting from the cracked ribs. Blood and fur fly as he collides with me, sending us both crashing through the snow to lie bleeding and broken.
“Try to make it to your mate now,” Edmund mutters before he grabs me by the neck and locks his jaws.
The agony in my body is nothing compared to what’s in my heart—anger like I’ve never felt before. I swear to myself, no matter the cost and no matter what happens to me, Edmund Holden will die tonight, and I’ll be the one to put him back in the grave.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Tasha
“This is the fight of the century, isn’t it?” I ask Mae because I know it’s going to irk her.
Fresh blood warms my otherwise frozen cheeks as I fight off the lingering dizziness, the witches accosting us from every side and kept at bay only by a silent word from the old woman in front of me.
Fuck, I wish she was actually old. I wish the others in the coven wouldn’t listen to her and would pile on us, just because it would make it so much easier to kick her ass. Break a hip and her osteoporosis would make sure she stays down for the count.
When she’s standing there looking at me, I’m reminded of the first time we met, when I returned to my motel room and found her there with a job request. I’d thought of her as maternal and caring at the time. Boy did I underestimate the bitch beneath her skin.
She’s just as bad as the rest of them.
“Poor little Tasha thinks her big bad wolf is going to save her once again.” Mae rounds on me with the smarmy smile I honestly hate seeing. Fire bursts from her hands in a dual blaze that promises a slow burn, and I narrowly duck out of the way as her blasts take down one of Edmund’s men.
“Oops! Wrong direction?” I quip. “Are you having a little trouble with aiming these days, Mae? I figured that was only an issue for men as they age but maybe you’ll change my mind.”
I try to draw on the power inside me, the magic in my blood. No matter how many times I beg, it refuses to come when I call it.
“What’s the matter?” Mae replies, rounding her shoulders in intimidation. “Where is your magic? Your pathetic witch magic, which hasn’t helped you so far? I’m disappointed in you, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”
I shake my head and adjust my grip on the cleaver. Fat load of good it does to shield against fireballs, but it’s the only weapon I have. “On the contrary, my powers helped me greatly.”
“I believe you mean that it’s helped me,” Mae corrects. “Thank you for taking down the boundary line, by the way. It certainly enabled us to portal in. Much easier this way than trying to rip a hole in the Redcliff defenses.”
“Oh, good. I wouldn’t have wanted you to use up more of your power trying to chisel out a back door,” I reply.
Emily steps up behind her.
I’m graced with a single toothy grin from the backstabbing bitch before her jaws widen and she drops down onto all fours. Within milliseconds, she shifts form into a large brown wolf in front of me, with Hell’s wrath burning in her eyes.
My heart flips in my chest, and I react fast and without mercy, raising the hand with the cleaver and abandoning any attempt to get to my witch magic. Hadn’t Darcy said I have none left, anyway? So there’s no point in pushing the issue. Not when I’ve got my attention locked on my target and a superbly grand vendetta against her in particular.
A scream leaves me as I dive at Emily and swing the cleaver at her head. At the last second much to my eternal surprise and gratitude, I lose sight of my feet.
Just gone.
Poof!
They disappear, even though I feel the chill of my toes and the ache in my ankles.
My invisibility kicks into high gear, and I skid around Emily as she pulls up short in surprise. Droplets of spittle hit me when she stops and whips her head from side to side trying to find me. All the better for me. Neither one of them expected my invisibility, clearly, and I have to keep myself from gasping in surprise.
Locking my knees, I round on Emily and slash the cleaver across her throat before she realizes my location.
Mae screams, her own knees buckling as she stares in horror at the dying lupine. “No! What have you done?”
Emily shifts back into human form as she dies, and I flicker into solidity a split second before the light leaves her eyes. Making sure that she sees me. That she knows exactly what happened. Her eyes meet mine as she changes from wolf to human and her chest stills—gone.
“Isn’t it great?” I flip the cleaver from one hand to the other and round on Mae next, pushing my dizziness aside. “Now that my magic is gone” —and I’ve solidified my bond with Reid— “my invisibility appears to be back at full capacity. Do you see what I did there? I said appear.”
Laughing at my own joke while Emily’s hot blood smokes in the cool evening is a particular pleasure for me. Damn. And while the attack wasn’t executed flawlessly, at least it was little effort.
I cast a short, sweet glance to the heavens with a whispered prayer of thanks for that.
Normally, I’d indulge in a little happy dance to celebrate. A strangled snarl erupts from Mae and she raises her hands, sending another blast of inferno-level magic at my chest while I dart out of the way. It’s bliss to have my invisibility back. Out of view, I easily dodge her attacks while she goes apeshit crazy, unleashing hell on wherever she thinks I am.
I finally feel… like me.
“You missed me again,” I call out from her left.
Especially since she’s made it much easier on me. The heat from her fireballs melts all the snow in her general area, hiding my tracks. Really, this is less of a fair fight than she thinks.
Her second miss brings twin dots of pink to her cheeks as she turns in a circle. “Come out!” she shouts. “Fight me face to face.”
Oh, like she did when she came at me? With her underhanded bullshit? I don’t think so. I’m going to take all the help I can get. I’m not the easy target she assumed me to be without my magic. I pause only long enough to take a breath, with my hands on my waist to get my bearings. One down, yes, but I’m not in good shape, and this isn’t going to get easier as we go along.
She sends another wave of power out in a whip of magic that scores grooves into the ground around her feet, blasting whoever is closer and sending Emily’s corpse flying.
“No!” Judging from the look on her face, seeing the body seriously disturbs Mae. “Oh, my goddess.”
“You need to work on your anger issues, Mae.”
She whirls toward the sound of my voice, but I’m no longer standing there. I creep around behind her and stab at her, nicking the back of her arm when she moves.
I’d say any sort of accuracy in the middle of this terror is a good thing.
Mae cries, a second too late to stop, and casts a shield of air to protect her. “Come out, Tasha, and let’s see what you’ve got. Right. You don’t have anything, because your powers are gone.”
“Not all of my powers,” I mutter under my breath. “As you can clearly see, I’ve still got a few tricks. Oh, wait. Your magic won’t allow you to see through my invisibility. Got it.”
I’m enjoying this and I probably shouldn’t be, but I figure a little emotional torment is in order for Mae. After her double-cross and locking me in a cell? Tying me to a stake and preparing to flambé me? Yes, this is utterly warranted.
She cranes her head to the left, catching my whisper, and sparks fly from her fingertips sparkler style. I’ve already moved around to her front and duck to stab at her thighs. At her ankles and the backs of her knees. Cutting her in a handful of places to make her dance to my tune.
Mae slows, magic dripping from her fingers now, and her gate unsteady.
“I don’t need power to get to you, Mae. That’s what you’ve always forgotten. You rely way too heavily on your magic, and what you’ve let go to ruin is your physical strength. Your stamina,” I say.
She turns in the direction of my voice, but I’m gone again, jabbing the cleaver against her side with enough force to bite through the skin as I drag the blade down.
She screams, blood flecking the metal.
Her chest heaves from the exertion of trying to track my movements, and if I’m not mistaken, I catch a glimpse of the fear in her eyes. I whip the cleaver overhead and carve a path through the air before I send it down into her chest.
Yes, almost too easy. For me, anyway.
Once again, I let my invisibility slip away so that Mae sees me as she takes her final breaths. The rumble of her death rattle is music to my ears, and I can honestly say I’ve never been happier to see a woman pay for her crimes with death. At my hands.
She wavers, dropping to her knees hard enough to break something, and she lifts her chin to face me. Still as stubborn as ever. Several pieces of silver hair have come loose from her braid, and sweat beads down her face.
“It isn’t over, Tasha,” she says, her lip trembling.
Oh, I think it is. “This is for Carmen,” I tell her, my being blazing with emotion at my sister’s name. Nodding, I step closer, digging the tip of the cleaver even deeper into her chest, letting myself dwell in this small sliver of triumph. “It’s for my family and everything you’ve tried to take from good people.”
