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With my free hand, I tossed out a line of fire, creating a whip of flames. I cracked it overhead like a circus ringleader before bringing it down on the cat right as she lunged for me. The whip snapped across her nose, and I spun away from her reaching claws.
She yowled and landed, rubbing at her singed snout. I cracked the whip again and brought it down on her haunches.
Yeah, that’s right. I spanked her like the bad kitty she was.
With a final snarl in my direction, she dashed into the trees and out of sight.
“Julian! No!” Tabitha’s panicked voice shouted from the house’s front stoop.
I whipped around. Her toddler son Julian ran down the steps and straight toward two giant wolves snarling and snapping at each other with deadly intent. I recognized the grey one as Luka, which meant the brown one had to be Rico.
There was no way Tabitha or I would reach Julian in time, but neither wolf saw the little boy headed their way.
14
MONDAY AT NOON
As Julian raced toward his stepfather and uncle, everything else seemed to slow down in my vision. Even though I knew I wouldn’t make it in time, I had to try. I sprinted toward the little boy with everything I had.
At the last second, the brown wolf snapped his head toward the fast-approaching boy and bared his teeth. Saliva dripped from his mouth, and he lunged for Julian.
Luka intercepted his attack with a pounce of his own and pinned the brown wolf to the ground beneath his massive grey paws. His jaws closed around the other wolf’s neck, and with one wrong move from Rico, Luka would crush his throat.
I was almost there, but Julian didn’t stop. He ran right up to Luka and pounded on his wolfish head. “Let tío Wico go!”
Luka’s surprised gaze swiveled to the little boy, and his vise-like grip on the brown wolf lessened.
That was all the diversion Rico needed. He rolled out from beneath Luka with a snarl, kicking the grey wolf in the side, sending him plowing into two shifters. They set on him immediately.
Rico growled and lunged toward Julian again.
“No!” I yelled as I ran, reaching for the boy.
A blur of brown fur swept past me and slammed into Rico. A smaller female wolf clawed and bit him relentlessly, sending tufts of fur flying. Even with the newcomer’s fury-filled attack, Rico was much bigger and stronger and slowly gaining on the other wolf.
Before Luka could shake off the last shifter, an enormous bear barreled toward him. It bellowed as its paws thundered against the ground.
I reached Julian and pulled him to me just as Rico flung the other brown wolf away. The smaller wolf slammed into a large rock and collapsed, whimpering as she stood, only to fall again.
“Momma!” Julian cried out, trying to wriggle away from me.
Despite the bear lumbering toward him, Luka’s head snapped our way. He searched for the cub, ensuring the boy’s safety before his own. The bear smacked him with a massive paw, sending the grey wolf flying into a tree with a resounding crack. The trunk split and half the tree fell with Luka.
Rico’s wolfish gaze fell on me as the next potential threat.
I sucked in a breath as we locked eyes and drew my fiery wings around Julian and me. Something was wrong with Rico’s eyes. They weren’t the usual wolf colors—shades of brown, green, and yellow. His were an icy blue, a color that reminded me way too much of William’s.
Goosebumps prickled across my skin. The mountain lion I’d fought had a similar eye color, and a quick glance around proved that many other shifters and wolves did, too.
The bigger brown wolf raced toward me, unafraid or unaware of my fire in his craze to get to Julian. I shoved the kid behind me and raised my knife.
Instead of deflecting the wolf’s attack with the blade, I found myself glued in place and unable to move. My wings’ fire extinguished, and flecks of ash drifted away.
Panic rose fast. Rico’s snarling teeth were only a paw’s length away from my face, ready to maim and disfigure, but he was frozen mid-leap.
I glanced around as much as I could. Everyone had stopped in the middle of whatever action they’d been doing. Any attempts at using my magic or shifting resulted in absolutely nothing.
What the fuck was happening?
