words in some archaic language. “This spell will keep you still while I gut you. But don’t worry,” he said with fierce merriment. “You’ll still feel everything. And then when your body parts are spread all over this clearing, maybe some wild animals will come to feast on you. Because of my spell, you’ll feel that, too.”
Narrowing his eyes, Ruben struggled to free words from his throat. “Why?” he managed.
But instead of answering, Chad grinned at him, the lopsided grin of a madman. “Why not?” he countered. “Don’t try to tell me you haven’t realized I’m the one you’ve been hunting all along.”
Still smiling, he muttered more nonsensical words, brandishing a wicked-looking knife.
Though he knew nothing about magic, Ruben swore he could see the dark tentacles of this spell swirling, wrapping him in ropelike layers.
He couldn’t move—not his feet nor his arms. In fact he could scarcely breathe.
Inside, his panicked wolf snarled, pacing and occasionally launching an all-out attack in an attempt to break free.
The knife flashed in the dim light as Chad raised it.
Suddenly, Ruben knew. Changing into wolf might be the only way to fight this madman. For the first time ever, his wolf might be his only hope.
Releasing his mental hold on his inner beast, Ruben took a deep breath. And then he set his wolf free.
The change ripped through him, breaking the magic’s hold on him and pushing him to his knees. His clothing shredded, his skin bled as the fur took over. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out as his bones changed shape, slamming him from human to wolf in one heartbeat, two, the sheer ferocity of it sharply painful.
Wolf now, his animal self reacted without thought, teeth bared, leaping at the man who still chanted his useless magic.
Chad staggered backward, taken by surprise. Dropping the knife, he went down, arm up in reflex to protect his neck and face. Otherwise, wolf-Ruben would have ripped out his throat without hesitation.
Instead, he tore open Chad’s arm, laying the bone bare. Completely abandoning his attempt at completing the spell, Chad shrieked and tried to crawl away. Enraged, wolf-Ruben held fast, fury driving him to sink his teeth in deeper. The next bite would be at Chad’s throat.
“Stop,” a voice said from behind him, the air of command as clear as a bell.
Willow. Surprised, wolf-Ruben let Chad go.
“Get him off me, get him away from me,” Chad babbled, struggling to staunch the flow as his life’s blood gushed away into the dirt.
Ruben snarled, baring his teeth. He shook the injured man, wanting him dead. The coppery smell of blood further enraged his beast.
“Ruben.” Willow’s hand in his fur. He froze, his human aspect dimly realizing what he’d almost done.
“Leave him alone,” she said sternly. Then, apparently trusting a wild beast to follow her orders, she went to Chad. Dropping to her knees, she used pieces of Ruben’s torn clothing to tie a rudimentary tourniquet.
“We’ll get you some help,” she murmured. “Try to focus. You’re in shock.”
Once she’d secured Chad’s wound, she climbed back to her feet, turning to face wolf-Ruben. After crossing the space between them, she crouched down to put her face at eye level. Ignoring his bloody muzzle, she stroked him. “I need you to change back to man. Can you do that for me?”
Unbelievably, he felt a surge of calm radiating from her touch. Acquiescing, the wolf retreated, permitting Ruben to begin the change.
Though less rapid, the shift back to human felt nearly as painful as it had earlier, most likely due to the intensity of the first change.
Man once again, Ruben turned away from the now-moaning Chad and gathered up his torn trousers in an attempt to hide his nakedness.
“What have you done?” So much sorrow and disappointment rang in Willow’s voice. Directed at him. He felt a twinge of pain before he realized that she didn’t know the truth.
Slowly, Ruben turned. “He’s the one who killed my servant. After he confessed, he was going to try to kill me. He cast some sort of spell that held me immobile.” He pointed toward the knife. “He planned to use that to cut me into pieces.”
To his relief, she nodded, accepting his statement as fact. She turned to eye Chad, who had passed out from the loss of blood.
“Can you heal him?” Ruben asked.
Willow shook her head. “I don’t know. Mostly what I do is soothe troubled animals, calm them. It’s more psychological than physical.”