Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,56

and drive my actions to madness. I need to figure out how to combat this, to shut down the wild insanity of it if I’m ever going to hope for some semblance of a life that I can live with.

My wolf is ready to dive into the anger as though nice weather is a worthy foe for us, but I know logically that makes no sense. Her instincts are riding me hard, but I’m still in here too, and I need to learn to fight it off.

I focus on the weird chirp of insects, a sound and creature we don’t have back home at Twin Rivers. I try to let its music pull me from the madness and focus on the fact that I’m alive. That I survived Burke. I run through the good things that have occurred in my current state instead of focusing on the bad, in hopes it calms my jagged soul. I need to be strong.

I get tossed a vision of the brown wolf as if in response. I grudgingly give my wolf that one, because he was strong. He did win the chase and the fights. And mate or not, that was the best fuck of my life. I’m never going to do it again, but at least I’ll have the memories. My wolf growls at me, but the menace that was filling my veins is suddenly calmer. I dismiss her protest and push to my feet, because whatever it is I’m doing, it’s time to get going.

My stomach growls and gurgles, voicing its opinion on the matter of what my priorities should be. I also feel sticky and disgusting. I need to find a way to scrub the male from my body. I turn my head, eyes landing on the bite puncturing my shoulder.

You’re going to be gushing with my seed, drenched in my scent.

Swallowing hard, I yank my eyes away from the spot before I march out of the cave and start down the small mountain. I go in search of food and some form of water, while also keeping an eye on the ground for snares and traps. I don’t need Ruin Falls to catch me twice, and after my unknowing join-in of their claiming hunt last night, I have no idea how they’re going to react to me.

As a stranger, I posed a threat. But now, thanks to Warrik and my fuck buddy last night, I have no idea where I stand. Am I now pack? Will my half claim offer any protection? Or will I still need to be tested and proven like that other wolf in the shed said?

I growl at the uncertainty of it all. I don’t even want to be part of this damn pack, but for some reason, the potential for rejection feels smothering and sour. I’m such an idiot. I don’t know my half-mate’s name, his position in the pack, where he lives, or what the hell I’m supposed to do now.

He just left me behind in the dirt, with his cum on my legs and blood on my shoulder. The asshole left me to wander around naked, in a territory I don’t know, and on top of that, I’m thirsty, dirty, starving, and pissed. Some fucking mate.

After just a few minutes of walking in the forest with my skin getting scratched up, my feet stepping on sharp sticks and rocks every few seconds, I decide I’ve had enough. “You got us into this mess,” I snap to my wolf, hands placed on my hips. “So you can come out here and help. Find us water and a damn bunny to eat for all I care, but I’m done walking around and getting messed up.”

I realize I probably look like a crazy person standing here talking to myself, but my wolf rolls her eyes and stretches to a stand inside of me. Then, she lunges up, and our body shifts as she takes over.

It’s not as painful this time. Hopefully, the more I do it, the sooner it will become as easy as breathing. When my mom shifted, she always did it happily, like she was simply stretching out her limbs, the other part of her spirit rising up.

Right now, I can’t even fathom that sort of harmony with my wolf. So far, we haven’t had the chance to just...be. To learn each other. To get settled.

No, Burke ensured that, from the moment I got her, we were being pushed and pulled and forced to