cruel sounds of their barbaric brawl. My head spins, but they all leap at one another, taking bites at Dušan. They move with tremendous speed.
The sight of my soulmate butchered will haunt me forever. I suck in shaky breaths and with all my strength, I hurl a rock at one of the guard wolves offering me a clear view of his side.
Thump.
It smacks right into his head, just below his ear, hard enough that it knocks him off Dušan. He teeters on his feet, then shakes his head. But I don’t waste a second and sprint toward him.
My knees tremble as I rush to him. Before he reacts, I jab the pointy end of my stick right at his ribs. With all my weight behind me, I drive the branch into him, piercing skin. It sinks in deeper than I expect.
He yelps and flinches away from me, sucking the branch right out of my hands, still jabbed between his ribs. His cries add to the chaotic sounds flooding the air. He collapses and starts transforming back into his human form, already passed out.
I turn to the fight, where I notice now it’s only Dušan on top of the guard, but Mad has slipped from the fight. My heart speeds up. Where the hell is he?
A sudden, loud whistle carves through the sounds. My head swings toward the back of the fortress.
Mad stands about fifteen feet away, naked, his body covered in bitemarks and bruises. He’s now holding the rifle the other guard carried. The butt is tucked into the pocket against his shoulder, one hand gripping the stock, and the other on the trigger. He’s pointing at Dušan.
Darkness sweeps over me, stealing all my thoughts… taking everything but the ringing of the gun firing.
I scream, catapulting myself toward Dušan. “Run!”
My heart thunders as my world dissolves and moves too fucking slow for me to ever reach him in time.
The bullet strikes Dušan right in the chest with such strength, it throws him backward. He hits the ground with a heavy thump. The guard next to him throws himself to the ground, barely missed by the bullet.
My insides shatter like glass, and I’m at his side in a flash. Dropping to my knees, I cry out, “Dušan, please tell me you’re okay! Please.”
So much blood pours from his chest where he got shot. I can’t even see the bullet in the tangle of blood and fur.
His eyes are glassy and he’s looking up at me.
Tears run down my cheeks. I’m breaking apart. “Y-You h-have to heal.” I hiccup my breaths, hating the feeling coming over me. I’ll lose him. And the emptiness I lived with all my life rushes forward.
The hurt, the agonizing despair, the constant battle to make it through another day. All those feelings are tangled in a knot, swelling inside me.
He’s still breathing, drawing in rugged, hissing breaths.
I’m sobbing uncontrollably as his body changes back to his human form.
Lying before me is my Dušan, trembling, curled on his side. Deep gash wounds cover his body, just as they did on Mad. I press my hands to his chest to stop the bleeding. His mouth moves, but no words come out.
“Just hold on. You’ll heal. It’s what wolves do. Please don’t leave me. Don’t you dare, Dušan.”
Blood seeps between my fingers, riveting down my hand and splattering into the soil.
He needs help.
“Hold on.” My pleading slips past my lips as more tears fall.
Suddenly, someone grabs my hair and yanks me backward.
I cry out, reaching back to free my hair, my feet moving with the motion, all the while, my heart thundering.
“It’s over. He’s dead and you are mine.” Mad’s hoarse words tear over me.
I can’t breathe from the anger crashing into me. My lungs tighten, as do my muscles. And I can’t stop looking at Dušan, but I don’t know if his ability can heal a bullet wound. He’s on the ground, in a pool of blood.
This is too fucking much. I scream and shake violently.
I’ve lost everything once already, and I won’t let someone take it from me again. I thrust and buck against Mad, my hands clawing at his grip on my hair. But on the inside, I’m dying at Dušan being left to die.
My entire body pulses with adrenaline.
With it comes a hatred that rages inside me, beating through me.
I’m broken. I’ve always been this way, and there’s only one way to really finish this.
My monster lingers just beneath the surface, nudging me to come out,