Go for it, asshole.
He makes his call, and it’s just as I hoped.
Mad scrambles desperately for the weapon.
My wolf takes off.
We crash into him before he takes another step. Adrenaline races through my veins. Sharp teeth bite into his neck, my wolf savagely shaking him, and she rips free with a chunk of him dangling from her mouth… my mouth. It’s hard to tell when I feel and taste everything, like it’s me moving.
There’s no stopping her now. She goes back and rips him to shreds. Breaks bones, tears flesh. His terrifying gurgling sounds I decide are too fast a death for him. Yet he doesn’t deserve another moment to be alive. He’s a pitiful excuse for a life.
After he took my Dušan, he needs to suffer.
My grip on my wolf hardens suddenly as blind fury burns me. And before I know it, it’s me there with my wolf, greedily stealing Mad’s last breaths away, stealing everything from him, as he’s done to me and so many others.
Coppery blood fills my senses, and warm blood drips down my face.
Anger burns me. I’m screaming in my head for what I lost, for how hard I fought to finally have a fair life. Now it’s gone.
I glance down at Mad. His eyes are wide and frozen with shock, staring into the sky. Gone from this world but not soon enough.
Stars dance in my vision, and I blink them away. Instead, my wolf presses forward once more and tilts her head up. She unleashes an ear-shattering howl.
Darkness comes at me, curling around me.
My wolf darts back toward Dušan, who hasn’t moved. Then she recoils within me. I feel her pulling back until it’s only me left.
The ache in my heart deepens to the point where it hurts like hell each time I stare down at him gasping for each breath. I need to get him help. It may not be too late.
I turn to fetch someone, when the agony, the exhaustion, the grief swallows me. My legs buckle out from under me, and I’m falling into a darkness that sweeps in and carries me away abruptly.
Chapter 25
Dušan
I startle awake, sitting upright so damn fast that the room spins. An excruciating ache burrows through my chest. I cry out with the pain and clutch my chest as I fall onto my back. Eyes shut, I inhale each deep breath, wading through the pain that comes and goes, but slowly, it eases.
Wait… Room?
I peel open one eye and then the other to see a white ceiling with a single lightbulb. Turning my head, I take in the door and wardrobe in my bedroom.
Memories rush at me.
The zombies in the settlement.
Mad shooting me, and well, I’d have expected him to throw me into a prison if I’d survived.
And Meira’s sweet face was the last thing I remember before I must have passed out.
Except I got shot, and Mad sure as hell wouldn’t take the time to try and fix me. I finger the bandages wrapped around my chest, confused as to how I survived that. When I really look at myself, I notice most of my bruises and bites from the fight have healed. But a bullet wound is something else.
Soft snoring sounds come from the end of my bed, and I wrinkle my brow, leaning forward, which only sends a shot of pain up my chest.
I clench my teeth, riding the wave of slashing pain, then I push my legs out of the bed. They touch the cold floorboards, and I get up, groaning. I don’t remember the last time I ached so much.
With slow steps, I come around the end of the bed to find a tawny red wolf fast asleep on the plush rug.
My heart twists with the sight of her in wolf form, curling in on herself, sleeping by my bed. And things are starting to make sense. She must have saved me by transforming and letting her wolf take care of Mad… but at what cost? To be forever locked in her wolf?
A pang of guilt seizes me. Because of me, she sacrificed everything. A desperate, ugly feeling grabs me, and my knees wobble.
What have I done?
Inch by inch, the cold, hard truth hits me over and over.
This was never the future I wanted for her. I’d give up mine instantly for her to have everything.
Never this.
I crumble and fall to my knees, the thumping sound rousing her awake. Her head jerks up, and she looks over at me with sleepy eyes, her fur all flat on the side she slept on.
My eyes prick as I stare into those beautiful pale bronze irises. I reach over and hug her as my throat thickens with an overwhelming emotion that chokes me. “Oh, Meira, what did you do? I’m not worth it.”
I hold her tight, close my eyes, and pretend she’s with me like before, where she laughs in a way that brightens my darkest days. To feel her lips against mine. I try not to overthink everything I’ll miss because it will destroy me. She is still with me, but the sting in my heart hurts more than the bullet wound.
A sudden charge of electricity runs up my arms. I snap open my eyes just as Meira begins to tremble violently in my arms. Her body stretches, and she’s literally morphing into her human form.
I have no words because one moment my heart ia ripping out, and now I’m bursting with an unfathomable joy.
It isn’t long before I’m holding a gorgeous, naked Meira, who’s grinning at me. “Are you really crying because you thought I’d be a wolf all my life? Lucien said you would, but Bardhyl bet you’d love me still the same.”
I laugh that she’s already making a joke. “Well, they’d be right on both fronts.” I have so many questions, but the important thing is that we’re still alive.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, glancing down at my bandage. “Someone was looking out for you.” She leans in and kisses my lips, my cheeks, my chin. “The bullet went right through your torso, missing all organs and arteries completely. Can you believe that? I think you have an angel caring for you.”
The news floats in my mind that somehow I managed to survive such a shot.
“And what about you and your wolf?” I ask. “Seems we all have surprises.”
She smiles widely and snuggles against my side, avoiding the injury. “I did what you told me to and gave my wolf full control, and it seems she rewarded me by submitting. I don’t know why I was so afraid for so long to just give her control.”
“After everything you went through, it’s understandable. The important thing is that you are here and mine.”
She pulls up and finds my lips again. We kiss softly, full of love. Everything I feared I would lose.
When she pulls back, her lips curl upward, and while I want to just drown in her gaze, my question escapes past my mouth.
“What happened to Mad?” It’s not him I want to talk about while I hold my soulmate in my arms, but I need make sure this is over.
“We never have to worry about him again.” She winks at me so adorably, unable to hide her huge grin.
“Did you—”
“Yes,” she interrupts. “My wolf and I finished him. I just wish I could have done that long before everything fell into chaos.”
“Sometimes things happen for a reason, and really, it should have been me who stopped him a long time ago. But it’s done, and I adore everything about you. Thank you for saving me out there.”
She shrugs, almost bashful, which has me pulling her closer to me. “You would have done the same for me.”