Werewolves Be Damned - By Stacey Kennedy Page 0,72

went to follow, but Drake grabbed her hand. “Let them go through first. The portal will remain because we have need of it. Please stay with me a moment.”

Once Valor and Briggs vanished, Nexi turned to Drake again. His eyes were tormented, his voice equally so. “Are you able to handle this?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

When she attempted to walk forward, he tightened his fingers around her hand, forcing her to look at him. “You’re returning to your family’s home. You haven’t been there since your parents’ deaths. And you’ll need to keep your head straight, or you’ll get killed.”

Nexi sighed, understanding his worry. This wouldn’t be easy for her. However, only one thing truly mattered. “If Kyden is there my focus will be on him, and only him. And if Lazarus is there, I will kill him.”

Drake smiled, pride oozing off his expression. “Keep those thoughts on your mind. Stay focused.”

With a smile back at him, as she experienced that rich hunger to hunt and destroy Lazarus, she spun on heel. Trudging her way toward the portal with Drake on her heels, a rustle of the grass sounded next to her, and she slowed to a stop.

One moment there was nothing blocking her way. A second later, a wolf’s muzzle came right in front of her, inches away from ripping her apart. Not two seconds after that she wasn’t standing at all, she was tumbling backward. Landing on the pavement with a loud oomph, she bounced up immediately, then her world froze.

Drake had thrown her behind him and positioned himself directly in the line of the wolf. From there, everything happened in slow motion. He turned to her with a cold fear in his eyes, and Nexi charged forward, trying to get there to help him. He didn’t have time to pull his sword, nor did he have time to act. The wolf was too close to him for a punch to have any effect and only mere centimeters were between Drake’s throat and the wolf’s teeth.

“No,” she shrieked, spotting softness touching Drake’s features as his smile became warm and accepting.

Only another second passed before the wolf slammed into Drake’s chest and pushed him straight to the ground. He tried to get away and fight off the wolf, but the wolf’s teeth on Drake’s neck pinned him. Nexi heard her own screams blasting through the dark, city street, as she begged her body to move faster.

Seconds seemed like a lifetime.

How could fate bring her father back only to rip him away like this?

Before Nexi’s eyes and still too far away, the wolf sank his teeth deep into the side of Drake’s neck and ripped into his throat. In that exact moment, Nexi got a good look at the wolf. He wasn’t a stranger. She’d never forget that black stripe running along his head and over his snout.

The wolf killing Drake was the one who’d gotten away at her parents murder.

Rage so intense and wicked burned her blood, and Nexi finally grabbed the wolf. She reached for her sword, swung her blade to slice lengthwise through the wolf. His blood spread through the air soaking her. She only wished she could’ve made his end more painful, but Drake held her concern.

Sinking to her knees, she pushed her hands against his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. She stared down at her hands, watching his warm blood pouring through her fingers so rapidly. “Don’t leave me,” she gasped.

Drake’s eyes glazed over and blood spewed from his mouth, as he gurgled. Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. “Stay with me. Don’t leave me. Oh God, this can’t be happening. You have to fight. I can’t lose you.”

Her chest tightened and she couldn’t even find the strength to sob. She only stared in utter dismay. His blood continued to spill over her hands and it didn’t matter if she pressed harder, it only made the blood come out faster.

Nothing she could do would stop this.

He would die.

“No, God, no…” She shook her head, sending tears falling down her cheeks. “Don’t take him.”

Less than a second after that, she recognized her prayers would be ignored, as the life drained from his eyes. She drew in a ragged breath, realizing no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop this, and a surprising wave of calm washed over her as her father faced his death.

Eating back her screams, not wanting the last thing he heard to be the sound of her cries, she accepted her reality. She