why they were obeying her command, but doing so nonetheless.
Anna pointed toward one of the men dressed in Army fatigues who was holding a military issue rifle.
“Why do you attack us?” she asked in an emotionless voice.
“You’re monsters,” the human stammered. “You all need to be killed. Wiped from the face of the earth so that humans can have our world back.”
Anna cocked her head at him and stared. Sweat beaded on my forehead and dripped down my spine. What was she doing?
“I want you to die,” she announced in a flat voice.
The man fell to the ground and laid motionless. No one else spoke. I don’t think any of us were capable of it. Not while Anna had us under her spell.
“Why do you attack us?” Anna asked another human.
He stared at her with wide eyes and didn’t answer. She waved her hand at him and his body hit the ground with a thud.
“Why do you attack us?” Anna said to the next human.
Nausea churned in my stomach. No emotion came from Anna through our bond, it felt like she was just going through the motions of something routine. If I couldn’t sense her presence through the bond, I’d swear this wasn’t Anna at all.
“They said you were dangerous,” the human shouted at her. “That you would kill all of us if we didn’t kill you first.”
“Who?” Anna asked coolly.
“Humans First,” he answered quickly. “They had a pretty blonde girl there who said you were stockpiling weapons and planning an attack against us. They said you were shifters,” he spat out the last word as if it were poisonous.
Anna didn’t respond.
I struggled against the hold she had on me, desperate to get just one word out.
“Mate,” Anna said as she turned to me. “I feel your distress. Be assured that I’ve seen into their hearts, and they will return to destroy us if we allow them to leave.”
Anna flicked her eyes toward Austin. “He knows.”
And just like that, over thirty human men fell dead. Their bodies hit the ground with a series of thumps that made me sick to my stomach. Anna released her hold on me, and I fell to my knees, numb with shock.
Death was all around us, and Anna floated by us as if she were out for an evening stroll.
Austin laid his hand on my shoulder.
“We’re not done here,” he said quietly. “We need to muster everyone, triage our casualties, and check on the damage.”
I swallowed all of my emotions down and stared at the ground for a moment. Austin was right. We needed to take care of our packmates. My chin rose, and I looked around at the wasted lives around me. They’d died for no reason. We should have been working together against our real enemy, but instead we were killing each other off.
Austin released my shoulder and held his hand out to me.
“I need you,” he said solemnly. “Anna is…” his voice trailed off as he struggled for words. “She’s not herself.”
I grabbed Austin’s hand and let him pull me up. I wouldn’t leave him do this alone.
Chapter 22
Anna
With the threat to my mates eliminated, I drifted back to the house. There were shouts as the wolves scampered to put out the fire that was devouring their home. I watched the fire burn for a moment, admiring the brightness of the flames. They danced in the darkness, pretty orange and yellow light twisting and twirling over the wreckage of the house.
A scream sounded out as a wall collapsed, and everyone scattered. The small streams of water they aimed at the inferno did nothing to put it out as it continued to burn uncontrollably. I cocked my head at how upset they seemed to lose their home.
Your home.
It was just a tiny whisper of a voice, but something deep down inside me was struggling to break free. I shrugged it off because it was just a pile of brick and wood they were worried about. They could just build another one.
“Anna!”
I turned to face my mate as he jogged up to me with two little dogs in tow.
“I was so worried about you!” Caleb murmured as he pulled me into a tight embrace. “What’s going on?” he asked worriedly.
I stared into his warm chocolate eyes that were clouded in concern. I felt his emotion wrapping around me, but even that couldn’t penetrate the cold stone wall that kept me distant from everything. The two little dogs cried and danced at my feet, and