Page 85 of Starting a New Life

Another pulse.

The barrier was closed.

Time to stop playing.

I let out a howl.

Maim! Kill! my wolf snarled.

We were on the home stretch.

The atmosphere shifted as we closed in further, tension rising. They thought they were leading us on, when in reality they’d fallen into our trap.

Heath was faster than me, pushing ahead, his white snout in my periphery, teeth bared, snarling lowly with each breath.

Rhett panted, eyes fixed on a sandy wolf almost the same colour as him, while my eyes never strayed from the grey wolf running for his life.

His fear was sour, sharper than usual.

Did he know things were different?

My wolf snarled. Not important. Maim.

Did he know we were hunting them like they’d hunted Nix? Did he know that, contrary to Nix, they had no chance of escaping? I wouldn’t allow it.

Kill.

Almost.

The barrier came into view, brimming with energy. It should’ve been a warning sign to keep others out. Those intruders should’ve listened. Instead, they had tried again and again. Tried to steal my mate from right under my nose. Had hunted him for months.

Never again.

I snapped, teeth piercing the wolf’s hind leg. Copper burned on my tongue as blood sprayed into my mouth.

The wolf pulled, ripping his leg out of my mouth, flesh tearing.

He yowled, the sound pitiful, his fear mingling with the scent of blood. He jumped, desperation fuelling him on—only to hit the barrier mid-jump. His body landed in a broken heap on the ground.

Fear spiked.

Wolves yelped.

Panic rose, but they were too fast and too close to the barrier. Two more crashes sounded, bones breaking, yelps turning to howls.

Two were dazed, struggling to get back on their feet as we pounced as a pack. Blood sprayed, howls turned to gurgling, then eerie silence as their blood soaked the pristine snow.

My heart was hammering, my wolf urging me to finish what I’d started as I trudged up to the grey wolf. He was a heap of broken bones, his breath shallow, irregular pants. His front paw twitched, eyes fixated on me with a desperate plea.

A quick death was more than he deserved, but I obliged. A pounce, jaw closing on his throat, blood spraying…

The twitching stopped as the life drained from his body in a last, gurgling breath. The pleading drained from his eyes, his look now empty, devoid of life.

I cast one last look at him, then at the two other wolves. They hadn’t stood a chance, their lifeless bodies now lying at the paws of my pack. Rhett and Heath were staring at them, with Angelo, Cassidy, and Jasper a couple of steps back. Blood painted the snow, the forest floor turning into the scene of a horror movie.

Still, I didn’t feel regret. Those were the wolves that had mercilessly hunted my mate. The very wolves that had tried to condemn him to a life of slavery, an existence of misery.

I howled in triumph, letting my pack know the threat was gone.