Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,105

challenge.

To the death.

Then Katelyn’s vision swam before her eyes. She needed oxygen. Everything hurt; she couldn’t breathe.

They rolled to the side and in the confusion, somehow Katelyn drew up her right leg and slammed her knee into Lucy’s body. She didn’t know where the blow landed, but Lucy grunted and loosened her grip. Katelyn hit her in the face and got to her feet, preparing to run. The rest of the pack was keeping their distance, as Jesse cried and Justin held him, and Katelyn half ran, half staggered toward the driveway. Her ears were ringing.

I don’t have my car, she thought, lurching forward, dizzy and disoriented.

“Kill her, Lucy!” someone shouted.

They’ve come to watch her kill me, Katelyn realized in a panic. I’m going to die and Trick and my grandfather will never know why.

“I’ll get you, bitch!” Lucy screamed, yanking Katelyn by the hair. Then they heard roaring, and Lucy spun her half around.

Katelyn blinked and slowly realized that Mr. Fenner was standing alone, hands on his hips, and he was speaking.

“— going on here?”

Before Lucy could say a word, accuse her of stealing Justin from her, Jesse shouted. All eyes swiveled toward him and in horror Katelyn realized he was holding her phone.

“What is it, Buddy?” Justin asked.

“Cordelia married that no-good Dom,” Jesse said, waving the phone in the air.

“No,” Katelyn whispered. “Oh, no.”

That must have been the text she got. Now everyone would know she’d been in contact with Cordelia.

“Ssh,” Justin warned her. “Not a word.”

The silence was terrible. Katelyn braced herself for Mr. Fenner’s fury. The entire pack held its breath.

Then, with icy calm, the patriarch of the Fenner clan, leader of the descendants of the Fenris Wolf, squared his shoulders and raised his chin.

“War,” he said, his voice ringing out. He looked at his daughter, Regan.

“War,” Regan replied.

He looked at Arial.

“War,” she concurred.

Then Doug: “War.”

And Al, Arial’s mate: “War.”

And then it was Justin who said, “War.”

Then Justin slid a knowing glance at Katelyn, who was heaving, trying to catch her breath. They had a secret, just them two. She was his secret weapon. But he wasn’t planning on making his move then.

A thrill of pure, unadulterated horror shot through her. So much had changed in the past few hours.

And she knew, with crystal clarity, that right there, right then, so much was about to change again.

Trick, she thought, her heart breaking. Take care. I love you.

“I can be your secret weapon, Mr. Fenner,” Katelyn said in a loud voice as she took a deep gulp of air.

Justin’s knowing little smile broke. She read his expression — What the heck are you doing? — but she ignored him, staring straight at Lee Fenner.

“I’m immune to silver,” she announced. “It can’t hurt me.”

A ripple of shock and a few strained laughs of disbelief went through the crowd as Mr. Fenner strode past Lucy, forcing her to get out of his way or get slammed into, and grabbed Katelyn by the hair. He yanked back her head and glared down into her eyes. His eyes began to glow as the wolf took him over. She forced herself not to betray any fear.

“I’m not lying,” she said. “You can test me.”

“Right, because we’re always testing each other for that,” Lucy said between clenched teeth. She was practically pawing the ground. “She’ll do anything to save her skin. Let me finish what I started. It’s my right.”

“Lucy, shut up,” Justin said quietly.

“Justin, go get the sword,” Mr. Fenner ordered him, staring down into Katelyn’s eyes. Her scalp was on fire. She was dizzy, and in pain, but she forced herself not to blink at the mention of a sword.

It seemed her entire life flashed past as Mr. Fenner held her in his agonizing embrace. She heard footfalls, and then the unmistakable odor of silver. Chills rushed through her as the odor grew stronger. Were they actually going to cut her, stab her? She was immune to silver, but she wasn’t invincible.

Mr. Fenner pushed her away and she fell down hard on her knees. He was holding a silver sword, its hilt wrapped several times in some kind of cloth, in his right hand. She started to panic, imagining he was going to cut off her head.

“This sword is our most priceless possession,” Mr. Fenner said. “It’s the silver sword that the gods used to attack our father the Great Fenris Wolf, but they failed to cut him down. In retaliation, the Great Wolf devoured his enemy. He was forever after