CHAPTER 40

ZANDER

The blonde British Knight and I followed the target that Amelia pointed out to a spot outside the commotion of the festival. A quiet area at the edge of the woods where the shifter girl who'd been undercover with Amelia had led him out to, under the guise of what I guessed was a make-out sesh.

It was exactly what I'd do if I was an evil, human-killing type of shifter. Credit where credit was due.

I pretended to stumble across them, and Carter followed my lead, casually lighting a ciggie.

She had the human pushed against a tree, throwing herself all over him. Which the dude clearly did not have a problem with.

What he did however have a problem with was us interrupting them.

Their heads shot up in our direction and the looks they gave us were what I could only describe as fucked off. I didn't blame the guy; I'd be pissed too if someone ruined my chances of scoring. But we were saving bro's life.

"Ah, fuck." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry man. Didn't mean to cock block," I called out to him.

The dark-haired female in his company glared at us and her nostrils flared, scenting us straight away. She'd immediately be able to tell we were a wolf and a Knight—assuming she'd had prior exposure to the unusual, slightly magical scent of the warriors in her time as a shifter.

"Uh … all good man," he shot back, clearly confused, then went back to kissing her neck.

I took the opportunity to sniff her out too, getting a good whiff of her distinct scent. Definitely shifter. It was enticing; floral with a bit of spice—maybe pink pepper—and a hint of woodsy cedar. Something about it smelt slightly familiar, but maybe she was one of the wolves we'd come across before.

"Sorry, bud. I am going to have to cut in though," I interrupted again.

"Excuse me?"

He looked downright irritated now. Carter watched me work with a glint in his eye, clearly enjoying the show. He didn't even bother to hide it.

"Yeah, see, she's a wolf who's planning on biting the shit out of you and essentially ending your mortal life."

"Zander," Carter drawled but then chuckled. "Not very covert my friend. Now I have to use the fucking Omitters."

I gave him my best apologetic look and a shrug but couldn't help the grin that split my face. I had to make this fun somehow.

"What the fuck?" The male target exclaimed, clearly sick of my shit.

"Yeah, hate to break it to you, man. Probably ain't someone you want to take home to your mum, ya know?" I gave him a lopsided smile. "But hey, let me take her off your hands," I offered, stepping closer."I think I'm more her type anyway."

Sure enough, the female wolf bared elongated fangs at the dude as she growled, proving my point and causing him to stumble away from her. When he found his footing, he ran back towards the tents and Carter ambled after him, taking his sweet time.

The Knight grumbled as he took another drag before butting out the cherry on the grass. "Thanks a lot, Zan. That was a good dart that's now gone to absolute waste."

"Probably make you live a little longer. Kit can thank me later," I countered.

He responded with an amused laugh but continued in the direction of the runaway target.

I turned my attention back to the wolf before me, only feet away.

The yummy-smelling leggy shifter female with midnight black hair and piercing dark green eyes was hot. In an evil, Shego, baddie type way. And the incredulous look on her face at the whole encounter was sexy. Just my type.

I let it distract me for a moment too long and before I realised what was happening, she ran at me.

I shifted and made to leap over her, stupidly leaving my abdomen an open target for the knife that she pulled out of nowhere and stabbed into me.

With no control of my own, I immediately shifted back into my human form, rolling to my back where she hovered over me, hand still pushing the knife firmly into my side.

"At least take me to dinner before you break my heart," I managed to choke out with a pained laugh.

Her eyes narrowed in what seemed like a cross between irritation and confusion at my attempt at flirting before she let go of the blade, walking back a few steps and then shifting into her sleek black wolf without a word.She was gone before I even had the chance to pull the knife out.

The knife that was covered in a sticky substance. One that smelt oddly recognisable to my senses …

The Deviator formula?

The rogues had deviators.

What the actual fuck?

And also … how the fuck was I always the one getting hurt?

Picking my head off the ground, I lifted it enough to observe the wound slowly begin to close itself up. I tried to call on my wolf but nothing happened. I could feel him, but it was like a thick barrier stood between us and I felt him whine in pain and frustration.

"For fuck sakes," I exclaimed and then let my head drop back to the ground as I held my side, trying to make the wound stitch back together faster.

"We're going to need more hand-to-hand combat training," I breathed out into the night air.

Once again, I was talking to myself. But clearly if the rogues somehow got a hand on the formula that the Knights used to momentarily stop our ability to shift, then we needed to be better physical fighters to stand a chance in our human forms.Griff, the bastard, had been right about needing the extra practice. I hoped we didn't have to tell him.

With a sigh, I heaved myself up to my feet and limped back to the carnival, gripping my freshly healed yet still painful,wound. Hopefully nobody would notice the blood on my t-shirt.

I reached out to my wolf again but felt nothing at all.

What the actual fuck?