Crescent Wolves - G. Bailey Page 0,46

me as he says one sentence that all but melts my heart. "Boots is mine."

The word mine is growled out, and he shifts almost effortlessly into a giant black wolf. The wolf is huge, stretching above my head, and I try not to be scared of him as I stumble out of the way. Shade's wolf growls low and hard, and lightning snakes across the sky, like the weather is backing up his protective call.

Tedore shifts into a much smaller brown wolf and the three guys behind him shift too, but Shade is already running at them. They clash in the middle of the forest, clawing and ripping at each other as they smack into trees, breaking them.

I jump out of the way of a fallen tree as Shade battles all four of the shifters on his own. One of them, who I'm pretty sure is Tedore, breaks away from the battle and stalks towards me. Blood drips from his mouth onto the fallen leaves and branches between us.

A cold feeling drifts over me and instead of fighting it, I let my wolf take over and shift me almost effortlessly into my wolf, landing on my four paws. Taking Shade's idea, I charge at the wolf and aim for his throat. He catches me with his mouth and throws me across the woods. I slam into a tree, shifting back without meaning to and freezing as the wolf slowly walks towards me. I can't see anything but the blood in his mouth, feel the pain in my shoulder from his bite as he opens his large mouth full of sharp teeth.

Suddenly Tedore's wolf is thrown away from me and Shade's wolf holds him down on the ground, his mouth around his neck. A scary growl comes from Shade's wolf and Tedore goes still under him.

I think he is submitting.

After a long pause, Shade's wolf lets him go, and he runs into the forest and out of sight. Shade shifts back and rushes to me, kneeling in front of me. He cups my cheek and lowers his hand to my shoulder.

"Close your eyes, boots," he softly suggests.

I nod and close my eyes, trusting him completely. He is my alpha wolf and I think he will always save me. A warm feeling fills my shoulder for a moment, and then it's gone. I open my eyes and look down at my shoulder. My shirt is torn and soaked with blood, but the bite mark is gone.

"How did you do that?" I ask Shade as he helps me stand. Shade might have blood on his clothes and a few bruises, but he doesn't look as hurt as he should be after fighting off four wolves. "In fact, how are you okay?"

"Alpha wolves can heal their pack. My wolf and I see you as ours," he softly tells me. "And my wolf will bow to no one. Especially not another wolf."

We smile at each other just as the skies open and heavy rainfalls down on us. I laugh, grabbing Shade's hand and we run through the forest towards the academy.

My alpha wolf saved me, and one day, I'm going to save him from the biggest danger I can see: Himself.

Chapter 20

"It's weird to be in nice, normal clothes," I admit to Hazel, who moves to stand at my side in front of the big mirror. I'm wearing high-waisted dark denim skinny jeans and a shimmery silver top tucked into them, a gift from Hazel. She said she bought them and they didn't fit her right and thought they would look amazing on me. I think she bought them for me, judging by the tags I found on them, but I don't want to point that out. I know she’s being a good friend and knows I don't have any nice clothes with me. "You look amazing, Hazel."

And she really does. Dressed in a tight red dress, her blonde curls pulled back into a braid I did for her, and silver high heels, she is stunning.

"I hope he likes it," she admits.

"Who?" I question and she shrugs, avoiding my eyes.

"No one you'd know," she tells me. "It's complicated."

"I get complicated," I reply, thinking of all the guys. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel something for each one of them. Shade is protective, Silas is secretive but makes me laugh, Hunter is mysterious but always there for me and Landon feels like he effortlessly takes my heart without trying too much.

The door is