Alvin pressed his paw into my skull and shoved me into the earth. His claws pierced my skin; I could already feel warm blood blossoming.
Vi shouted from her Jeep, but the other wolves snapped and barked at her. She eyed them all warily. I knew she was considering taking them on. Maybe she could do it, but not without risking too much.
I yipped, the sound half-muffled. Vi hesitated. Good. That’s what I wanted. I wished I could tell her to leave, so she wouldn’t have to see this. My jaw shape wasn’t meant for talking, even when there wasn’t a wolf on me.
No matter how I wriggled, I couldn’t escape Alvin’s heavy weight on my body. My skull felt like it would crack and cave in soon. I prayed that he wanted more of a hunt. If he released me with the idea that he might be able to chase me a while longer, then maybe I could escape.
But Alvin didn’t let up. He didn’t pull back. His growl reverberated inside my skull as he pushed harder and harder. My entire being raged against his presence. My skull throbbed. It would break any moment. Just a little more and I would be paste on the ground.
What a pathetic example of a shifter, I thought, angrily.
Alvin feared everyone. He hid that fear behind violence, but I could see right through him. He’d climbed his way to the top by stepping on everyone else. He kept them beneath him instead of fostering them.
He was weak and useless.
The clouds overhead broke open. Rain pummeled the ground and made the leaves whisper. That wasn’t enough though. The rain wouldn’t do anything. I needed more. I needed lightning.
The dark presence inside me unfurled. It reached for my tongue before flinching back. Hound muzzles were not meant for speaking. I had to shift back.
Oh man, this was going to hurt.
Still, I did it. My form changed. Claws turned into fingernails digging into the earth. I tensed when the pressure on my skull intensified. Alvin’s claws tore into my scalp. But I had my tongue.
The dark presence inside of me filled my mouth. It wrapped around my tongue like a silk sheath. When I spoke, my voice vibrated with power.
“Move,” I said.
Alvin’s paw left my head. I picked myself up and stumbled towards Vi’s Jeep. She cast questioning glances in my direction. I paid her no attention as I started to pull myself into the Jeep.
The one word was not enough. It had no clear direction, nothing to stop Alvin from trying again. He caught the back of my leg. The other wolves followed suit and struck in unison. The arcana from Cerri’s potion shimmered in the air around me. It shattered under the force of the simultaneous attacks.
I cried out. Vi jumped and reached out to help me. I grabbed ahold of her hand, but I wasn’t sure if she had the strength to pull me up. The wolves tugged. My flesh burned as they tore through me.
I opened my mouth to issue another command, but the dark presence fizzled out and vanished. A scream escaped me, against my will. It echoed in the night until it was swallowed by thunder. The rumble should have comforted me, but it wasn’t enough. Not when I was literally being torn to shreds.
Ryder’s grumble broke the panic overcoming me. With a box tucked under one arm, he grabbed ahold of Alvin with his free hand. Alvin went flying back into the woods. The crack of branches would have been satisfying were my legs not burning from the bites all along them.
Ryder hoisted me up by my waist. Though I tried to protest, my voice was weak. I didn’t have it in me. I let Ryder set me in the Jeep’s backseat. Vi gave me a concerned look, both of her brows vaulted.
“Take her home,” Ryder rasped.
I doubted his concern for me had tightened his throat, so why was his voice so strained? Before I could wonder what happened, Ryder reached into the sky, closed his fist, and brought it down. Lightning, ripped from the sky, slammed into the ground where Alvin’s posse remained.
They all scattered into the night.
I’d survived, but I would pay for this in blood later. The prophecy had begun, and Alvin would not quit until he’d won.
There wasn’t a chance in hell that I would let him have this victory, though.
Vi gunned it away from the woods. Her Jeep bounced over the ground until we hit asphalt. Then, she put the gas pedal to the floorboards. Not long after, I saw Ryder’s car behind us.
The cool night air tousled my hair. I wished I could see the moon, but the clouds from my storm had blotted it out.