Chapter 7

The Wolf

The smell hits me in a second. Blood. Shaw's blood. It slams into me like a wave that chills me to my core. He's bleeding. Far more than he should be. I go to the still-open window.

His voice carries in the distance.

Pixie. He's calling after her with angry desperation despite the weakness of his voice.

Panic grips my insides, crushing my heart and lungs as if trapped in a vice of iron. Has she been attacked? Is she hurt, too? I inhale deeply but can't smell her.

Gripping the axe, I leap through the open window and sprint towards the scent of his blood, only to find him on the ground, smothered in thick roots which keep him pinned down. His eyes stare into the distance, and I can't tell if terror or rage fills his gaze.

A massive chunk of flesh has been torn from his neck. Blood soaks his skin and clothes. But still, he tries to break free of the roots, desperate to escape the unrelenting earth magic keeping him stuck. For every one he snaps, another takes its place, strapping him to the earth and pulling him down. Pix's black robe lies abandoned at his side.

She did this. There's no question. She attacked him and ran. I grip the thick roots. Others start to entangle around me, determined to pin me down, too. I pull away, snapping them before they get firm enough of a grip.

‘Go!' Shaw commands, gesturing to the woods. ‘She's torn my throat out, knocked Leo out cold and fucking ran. Get her back before she reaches the boundary! GO!'

I hand him the axe so he can cut himself free, turn, and shift into my wolf form. She'll never outrun me like this.

My paws pound into the earth. My claws rip at the soil with satisfying ease, throwing it up in clods behind me as I sprint after her. As a wolf, I see clearly in the dark. I can't see her yet, but I smell her.

Her sweat. The lingering scent of her arousal. It carries beautifully on the wind.

Her knocking Leo out would have weakened, if not ended, the spell he was holding around our boundaries. Not only can she get out, but others can get in.

Shit.

It's only a few minutes until I see her in the distance, running blindly through the dark trees, her hands outstretched as she tries to spare her face being ripped to shreds by the branches. She whimpers and falls, clutching her cheek. I smell a fresh cut. The smell of her blood makes my mouth water. The pounding of her heart as she tries to run from us makes me want to pounce on her and prove how utterly pointless it is even to try.

She catches sight of me approaching and leaps to her feet. She barely flicks her wrist, and I get slammed by a wall of dirt that is three times higher than I am. And considering I'm in my wolf form, that's pretty damn high!

Grit, soil and stone pelt into me and blur my vision. It even goes up my fucking nose. By the time it's cleared, the little bitch has sprinted off again.

I growl and sink my paws deep into the earth before giving chase, relishing in every damn second because when I catch her, I'll make sure she knows better than ever to try and escape us again. I'll remind her of what she's trying to leave behind. I fucked her once beneath the waterfall. I'll fuck her again in the mud and filth.

She screams when I leap from the treeline, and I dodge the roots she sends my way before they can entangle themselves around my legs. She diverts right, glancing back at me over her shoulder. I let loose a roar, baring my teeth and making sure it sounds as terrifying as possible. She releases a scared little sob before continuing her pointless running. Deeper and deeper she goes. Faster than she was ever capable of when she was a simple little mud witch.

A chill travels through me. A faint taste of air magic that resists as I wade through it.

We've passed through the barrier. Shaw was right. It's gone down.

Panic sets in, overriding the thrill of the chase.

Pix is in danger.

I begin to hear the sound of a stream. The water moves quickly, and I know we're getting close to Goliath Falls. That's not good. The water is ferocious, with dozens of drops as it carves its way down to that pool of water I took her virginity.

I put in more effort. I've fucked about with the chase long enough. Time to catch my prize. I dig in deep and use all my strength, closing the gap between us.

She's out of sight when I hear her scream, followed swiftly by a splash.

ASHE!

I scream her name in my mind and sniff the air for her.

By the time I reach the water's edge, she's already been carried further downstream. Her arms flail as she attempts to grab at the moss-covered boulders and keep her head above the water, but the current is too fierce.

Can she swim?

When I try to call her name, all that comes out is a howl, and before I can leap in, she tumbles over the first drop. Silence rings out as she goes beneath the water. My ears prick up, and my breath catches. I realise I'm fucking praying that I hear her gasp in a breath.

Come on, Pix. Let me hear you.

She gasps, and I run along the uneven edge of the stream, desperate to get her back.

Her screams fill me with terror as she heads towards the second drop. The water's getting faster, and I can't reach her in time.

She goes over again, and when she hits the water, she doesn't come up for air. I land with a heavy thud at the stream's edge, seeing her face down and drifting with the current. Wasting no time, I leap down, watching her bump into boulders and old logs. Fuck. The water's freezing! I swim towards her and shift back to my male form so I can grab her. She's out cold when I pull her face out of the water. The current pushes us to the next drop. The water's deep. I can't reach the bottom, so I swim as hard as I can to the edge, hauling her limp body with me.

A sharp pain strikes my ankle, and I yell as I get pulled under. Beneath the water's surface, sickly green creatures with tentacles and pincers twist around my leg, scratching and clawing at me as they pull me under.

I shift and rip at them with my teeth before taking Pixie's arm in my mouth and resurfacing with her. I have to be careful not to take her damn arm off as I paddle to the edge. I'm out and hauling her to the banks of the water.

I shift back and quickly kneel beside her.

‘Pix, can you hear me?' I tap her cheek.

Nothing.

‘Oh no, you don't. Not again.' I cup my hands together and slam them into her chest. She coughs and splutters, expelling the water from her lungs and groaning as she vomits water.

‘That's it, Pix. Get it all out.' I roll her over and hold her tight as she wretches and groans.

Lifting my head, I see a water pixie standing on a rock. It tilts its head to one side and fucking smiles.

‘Crap. You fucking spy, piece of shit.'

It flies off before I can grab it. We're beyond the boundary, and that little critter has no doubt let Neve or her unseelie know where we are.

‘Up you get,' I urge, lifting Pix as she stumbles and staggers.

There's a nasty gash on her forehead, and blood is seeping from the wound. It's knocked her into next week. I grip her tightly, holding her weight close and scanning the area for any sign of the enemy.

A smell of air magic tinges the air. I'm guessing Leo is back on his feet and has returned the barrier.

But we're not on the right side of it.

We're in fucking trouble.

‘We need to get back beyond the protection barrier. Hold onto me. I'll carry you.'

I start running when the first unseelie monstrosity lands just ahead of us. Its grey wings stretch out as it sneers its crooked sneer. Another lands to its left, and a third to its right.

They don't go to attack. They look at me and then at her.

Pix is still regaining her senses from the blow to her head and the chestful of water she inhaled. I pull her in closer. Her body shakes from the cold, and I really wish we weren't so unprotected. Never mind my weapons. I would dearly love a pair of fucking trousers.

‘Give us the girl,' the prick in the middle snarls. ‘Our queen demands her daughter. Give her over, and she swears to let you and your blood-drinking brothers live in peace.'

‘If Neve wants her, tell her she can come and get her herself.' I gently place Pix on the ground and get to my feet to face them. Dick out and the only thing I care about naked and concussed at my feet. It's not a great position to be in, but I've had worse. ‘You're not touching her.'

His eyes narrow, and his sneer deepens.

‘We shall see.'

He lunges, and I shift into my wolf. The one in the centre comes at me talons first, slashing and clawing like a rabid beast. The other two attempt to get to Pix.

I drag my claw down one of the little shits, gutting it sternum to pelvis as I snap my jaws at another. Neither go down. One is always attacking as the two others attempt to take to the skies to fly over me. I don't allow them to leave the ground. They will not get past me.

They will not get to her.

I look back at her. She's trying to sit herself up and shake off the haze. Her hand reaches out, and her snake shoots out from the grass, slithering around her arm. It must have been following her this whole way.

She looks back at me as I snap my jaws at one of Neve's unseelie. The ground around Pix shakes and the smell of earth magic taints the air. But when she looks down at the vibrating pebbles, I know she's not the one doing it.

She screams as the ground begins to swallow her, dragging her down as she claws at the dirt, desperate to stay above ground.

‘ARCHIE! HELP ME!'

The way she screams my name is worse than a fist around my heart. I toss aside the unseelies who have now changed tactics from trying to get to her, to keeping me away, as the ground attempts to swallow her whole.

Focus! Use your earth magic and fight back, Pix!

I yell at her in my mind, even though I know she can't hear me.

Her shouts turn from terrified to determined as she fights the magic pulling her down. Her fingernails rip as she clings to the soil and pulls herself up. Her hand stretches out, and a tree root violently rises from the dirt and slams down in front of her. She grips it, and it starts to pull her out.

That's my girl.

‘I'm not your girl!' she snarls, channelling more power into her defence.

My breath catches, and I stop stone still.

You… you can hear me?

She looks at me with an annoyed frown.

‘You never stop bloody talking!'

Her eyes widen, and she suddenly screams a pain-filled screech. She looks at her still-submerged lower half. Then, she looks at the snake, which slithers down her body. As the root pulls her up higher, I see a hand gripping her thigh. Their fingernails rip her skin as they pull her down again, and before her familiar can bite, she's dragged further down the dirt, and the hand disappears in the soil. She hollers in pain, and a stomach-turning snap rings out as her shoulder pops out of its socket. Her grip on the root falters, but the root's grip on her only increases.

The roots refuse to let her go. They pull, and they pull, determined to keep their earth witch above ground and away from whoever is beneath her.

Cole's head emerges, and he looks utterly deranged. The smile he wears is twisted and his eyes are almost black with exhaustion.

‘Let's see how they like you now!' he yells.

He grunts and starts to laugh before being pulled back down by his magic and taking her with him.

She looks down again, and her eyes widen before they settle on me. Pleading with me to help her.

Her mouth opens, and the sound she produces makes me feral. Blood-curdling doesn't even come close. The root pulls harder. Her shoulder is already dislocated, but she uses her powers to make it get her out of there. I rip the head off one of the unseelie, and the third gets slammed by my claws.

I reach her and start digging into the earth.

She's still wailing in agony, with such a horrified look on her face that my chest feels unbearably tight.

I bite the hand holding her.

Cole releases his grip as I clamp my teeth down on him, and when I rip it off, Pixie is pulled free by the root. The last unseelie rushes her. A force of dark shadows slams into it, swirling around it fiercely. Tearing flesh and breaking bones is all I hear before the shadows return to the treeline and back to Dorian.

I spit out Cole's severed hand and quickly shift back to my male form as I rush to Pix's side. The tree root has untangled itself, leaving her left arm covered in welts and cuts as it lies limp above her head.

‘Pix!' I gasp, falling to my knees beside her. I try to roll her over, but that only makes her scream more.

‘STOP!' she cries, pushing me away. ‘Don't!'

Dorian kneels by her head.

‘Let me fix your arm,' he says.

‘Get it out!' she cries. ‘GET IT OUT OF ME!'

‘What?' he asks, looking at her body. ‘Get what out?'

He looks at me for an answer. I have no idea.

She slowly rolls onto her back, wailing in agony as she does. Her legs open, and it takes all I have not to vomit.

‘What the fuck…' Dorian whispers, looking between her legs.

Where the hilt of a dagger protrudes. The blade of which has been buried inside her.

Blood gushes from her, and any bit of movement she makes cuts her deeper and makes her sob.

Cole has penetrated her with a fucking dagger. Raped her with it!

‘GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!' she sobs.

I look at Dorian and swallow dryly as I wrap my fingers around the hilt. He nods and bites his wrist before thrusting it in her mouth and pinning her down.

‘Do it, Arch,' he agrees. ‘Make it quick.'

With her uninjured arm, she grabs Dorian and clings to him, knowing that this is going to hurt like a motherfucker.

‘On three,' I tell her.

She nods, tears spilling down her cheeks as she aggressively drinks from Dorian.

‘One.' I pull it free.

She lets go of Dorian and screams, her body arching as blood spills from between her legs. I drop the knife and hold her down as Dorian returns his wrist to her mouth. As she wails and rolls in agony, I snap her shoulder back into place. It's better to get all the pain out of the way now rather than to prolong it.

Letting out one hell of a breath, I settle beside her, stroking her hair from her face as she sobs around Dorian's cut.

‘It will heal, Pix,' I assure her. ‘A couple of minutes, and it won't hurt anymore. I promise.'

But Dorian and I share a look. The pain may pass, but that experience will never leave her.

I just keep stroking the hair from her face and hold her hand. Her fingers grip me painfully tight, but I don't pull away. I don't even flinch. She can break every bone in my body if it will help her through this.

‘We have to get her back inside the boundary before they return,' Dorian says quietly, scanning the area for any sign of a further threat.

‘Is Shaw okay?' I ask.

He nods, still scanning the area for the next threat. I look below at the ground. We're wide open for attack.

She lets Dorian go and lies back, her thighs pressed together as she pants.

We ease her up, and she winces as if the dagger's still there. Dorian takes off his coat and wraps it around her shaking body. She's soaked through, in shock, and it's freezing cold. Her arms slide through it, and she gets to her feet, facing away as she wipes her tears away and stands over the disturbed earth Cole hid beneath.

We give her a moment to gather herself. To get her breathing and tears back in her control.

She picks up the dagger, still slick with her blood.

Neither one of us says anything as she looks down at it in her trembling hands.

‘The Moon dagger,' she says in a shaky whisper. ‘It's Cole's father's. The same one used on me at the blood rite.' She looks out at the treeline. ‘Guess he wanted to finish what his father started.'

Her fingers grip its handle so tightly that her fingers whiten.

The ground begins to tremble again, and she breathes in and out furiously before releasing a scream so full of hatred and anger it makes Dorian and me fall back. The ground splinters from her feet, and cracks spread out in all directions. Her roar carries on. It's a damn war cry. Trees fall, and boulders shatter in its wake.

She finally runs out of steam and slumps, her head hanging and her arms limp at her side.

I side-eye Dorian and see him looking between her and me with profound focus.

Neither of us know what to say or do.

What do you say to a girl who just had that happen to her? I was angry she ran. Then, I was scared when she was almost taken.

Now, I'm afraid Cole's just broken her even more than she already was.

She walks forward and picks up Cole's severed hand. I'm disappointed I didn't kill the fucker, but thrilled that I took something from him. Something he will miss. And I'm even more content that she has it. She stashes it in Dorian's coat pocket.

‘That will go nicely with the one the Dream Walker took from Neve,' she says, her voice low and tired.

She walks slowly. Her feet drag a little as she sniffs and swallows the urge to cry, and she stops before me. I look down at her. She looks so broken. So lost. Her hand reaches out, and her fingers run through my hair.

‘Thank you for saving me,' she says.

I take her hand and kiss it.

‘Always,' I reply. ‘I will always be there to save you, Pix. You're my life.'

Her lip trembles at those words. And I think she knows I meant every single one of them. Her snake wraps around her wrist and looks up at her.

‘Take me home?' she says, defeated. ‘Before they come back. I want to go home.'

Home. She actually said home.

I nod and shift, needing the warmth of my fur and the protection of my jaws in case anyone else tries to attack us. As I turn to start walking, I feel a pull on my fur.

Pix climbs onto my back. Her arms gently rest around my neck as she lets out a long exhale with her face buried in my neck.

Does she want to ride me?

No one has ever ridden me before.

Her fingers play with the fur around my neck, and the indignity of being ridden like a pet disappears instantly.

I look back and lick her bare leg. Her arms give me a little squeeze in response.

‘You're letting her ride you?' Dorian says quietly, his brow raised. ‘I've never seen you allow anyone to ride you.'

I huff out a breath. Like he can talk. He linked with her. I've never seen him do that with anyone else, either.

Besides. She heard me. That's also something that I've never experienced before.

We start to move, running back up along the stream at speed before we're attacked again.