Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
Leigh had politely abstained from the paltry food options, citing airsickness and taking a motion sickness tablet Brielle gave her instead.
I pretended not to notice when Gael handed her a lemon-lime soda as soon as we got off the van. Whatever there was between those two, I hoped her false heat passed quickly and my bestie got back to her usual self soon.
The pilots had preflight checks to do, so I stood near the edge of the woods so Dirge could run before the flight. He wouldn’t go far, even though we were well protected by the other males in the pack and in the middle of nowhere.
Leigh jogged over, grinning despite the early hour. “This airstrip is perfect for a run. Wanna go?”
I looked around, assessing the terrain. She was right; it was basically a flat field, with little dots of wildflowers clustered here and there making it idyllic. But I didn’t share Leigh’s obsession with fitness, so I declined with a shake of my head.
“Fine, but you’re missing out. Runner’s high, man. There’s nothing like it.”
“I’ll stick to pack runs on the full moon, thanks.” Shifters had such high metabolisms that we didn’t really need to run or exercise to stay fit. She just liked it. Back in Texas, she’d worked as a personal trainer, and all her human clients had wondered at the fact that she had such strength “for a woman.” Even that was less than half power, so she didn’t give herself away as other.
Brielle wandered over a few minutes later, a cup of pale, steaming coffee in hand that she was sipping slowly. I could smell the hazelnut creamer from here. “Did Leigh try to get you to run too?”
“Yep.” I rocked back on my heels, hands under my arms for warmth. If we were going to be moving here, I’d have to get used to the constant chill, even in warmer months.
“She’s something else.” She shook her head and took another sip.
We stood there in contented silence for a while, until a strange ripple of magic in the air brushed over my skin, instantly sending the hairs on my arms standing on end.
“Did you feel that?” I turned a worried gaze on Bri, but she shook her head.
“Feel what?”
“Strange magic. We should call-” I spun on my heel, but before I could wave the guys over, I saw him.
An unfamiliar man armed to the teeth bolted out of the woods, arrowing straight toward Brielle. He was unnaturally fast, even for a shifter. I didn’t think, I didn’t hesitate as he pulled a forearm-length dagger from the scabbard on his side.
“Brielle!” I screamed as I lunged, shoving her aside.
I saw it all peripherally, out of the corner of my eye. The men surging forward. Dirge’s form swerving out of the woods, teeth bared in a horrible snarl.
But none of them made it; none of them intercepted. And as the attacker swung, a hot stab of pain tearing through my chest, everything narrowed down to that moment. Shock and searing agony, white-hot and drowning in its intensity. I looked up, meeting the man’s crystalline gaze for a split second before he fell away, Dirge’s teeth tearing out his throat.
But I couldn’t turn my head, couldn’t turn my gaze as my body grew cold.
Brielle was there, then, trying to stanch the flow of blood. My unflappable doctor bestie… She was crying.
Saying something I couldn’t hear through the ringing in my ears.
Her hands scrabbled at me for a second before a man was there, dragging her away. Shock poured through me, pricking the bubble of pain I was in.
He was the man from my dream.
Dirge had finally shifted.
THIRTY
Dirge
Ifelt the explosion of power first. It was that same fleeting signature I’d felt the night before, but a hundred times stronger. I was already turning, my claws cutting through the soft loam of the forest floor to get back to my mate’s side when I heard her scream.
I pushed myself harder, my wolf straining at his limits as I broke through the tree line. There she was, but I was too late.
Sorrow bombarded me as the scene clicked in my head. The airfield was a meadow, untamed and lovely from this angle. The sky overhead, which had been sunny when I’d left for a quick hunt, was overcast, heavy black clouds threatening to deposit their load over the airfield any second.
But all that was secondary. Shay, my beautiful Shay, had put herself between an assassin and her best friend. I watched as the wickedly curved dagger entered her flesh to the hilt, right over her heart.
I didn’t stop to mourn, though. Lament what I knew marrow-deep was happening.
No, there was no hesitation as I leapt, taking out the throat of the fucker who would dare harm her. I ripped and tore, the spray of blood from his carotid bathing me in hot spurts as I clawed until I hit spine. When he was dead and glassy-eyed seconds later, I turned to her.
Brielle was there on the ground, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. Shay’s whole body was pale, shaking from shock and the overwhelming damage.
Between one heartbeat and the next, I was human. I didn’t know how. The change slipped over me as easy as breathing, despite the years of struggle since I’d last worn my own skin. And then I was there, kneeling at her side, lifting her off the cold, damp grass.
“Shay, oh my Shay. I’m so sorry, my love. I’m here. I’m with you.”
I cupped her face, her gray eyes fixed on mine as I held her, shuddering in my arms.
“I’m so sorry. I love you, I love you,” I whispered as I stroked her soft cheek. I was unable to tear myself away and couldn’t hear anyone else around me as the life faded from her eyes. Mere seconds later, she went limp, lips parted as if to say my name, though I knew she would never speak it, never again.
Something inside me broke, cracking right in two as her heart stopped.
I threw my head back and screamed my anguish at the thunderclouds. It was raw, and painful, and questioning. Why, when she was the most beautiful soul in this whole cursed world, why would they take her from me so soon? It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Red haze prickled at the edges of my vision.
The wolf was half-rabid with pain and horror, fighting against my control. If I gave in, I would be feral once more. But this time, I had nothing left to live for. If I gave in, I would murder every single person in the clearing, and there would be no one who could stop me.
I couldn’t give in, so I held him back with all the vicious sorrow pounding through my veins. I had to give my mate the burial she deserved. I had to hold on for a little longer, long enough to give her a warrior’s funeral-an honor she deserved, to the bitter end, as she protected those she loved-and then bare my neck for Kane to take me out before I could hurt anyone else. The pain in my chest was so horrible, my wolf would burn the world to ash and never stanch it, even as he reveled in the flames.
It was the only way.