Turn of the Moon (Royal Shifters #1)(29)

“Thank you,” she gasped, “I thought I was going to die in there.”

“We need to get out of here. Can you shift?”

Her face contorted in pain when she moved. “Not yet. Once my adrenaline pumps up, I should be able to.” I could only pray that came soon. The fight was still going on, but I had to trust that Ryker and Sebastian would come out on top. Usually we could heal pretty quickly, but Kami was so weak, her body couldn’t catch up. We were almost a mile away from the fight when I got the whiff of something foul—another Yukon wolf.

“Fuck me,” I hissed.

“I’d be glad to,” a voice spoke up from behind.

Kami tensed in my arms, but I squeezed her hand and slid out from under her arm. Whispering as low as I could, I said, “I want you to get away from here as fast as you can.”

“She’s not going anywhere and neither are you. Now I have two wolf whores to f*ck.” Anger boiled through my veins and I didn’t even bother masking my power. He was going to know who I was, but I didn’t care. I turned around and his eyes went wide. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

I recognized him from the day Kade came to get me. His name was Ansel, one of his friends. I shifted into my wolf and went on the attack, but he was faster than anticipated and ducked. He was bigger than me, yet I was stronger. We circled each other and I lunged, snapping at his neck; he knocked me away, right as I took a bite out of his backside. He growled and nipped my shoulder, but I tore away before he could lock down. Kami was by the trees, trying to shift. I could see the fight in her glowing gray eyes. She wanted revenge.

Ansel attacked and knocked me on the ground, the breath whooshing out of my lungs. He bit down on my shoulder and I howled, the pain radiating through every nerve in my body. I raked my claws over his face, blinding him for only a few seconds so I could get out from under him. He fell over, and then a beautiful gray wolf landed on top of him and attacked. Kami latched onto his throat and jerked as hard as she could. His blood sprayed across the ground and his eyes lost their glow.

Kami huffed and turned her back on him. Before we could take off toward the ranch, Ryker and Sebastian joined us, both smelling of the enemies’ blood. Ryker found the wound on my shoulder and growled, but it was already starting to heal. We needed to get out of there before more wolves showed up.

Tate’s wolves were all congregated in the back of his house. When they saw us, they grabbed a blanket and raced out to Kami, who collapsed onto the ground. She immediately shifted back and Tate picked her up in his arms, covering her with the blanket.

“What the f*ck did they do to you?” he thundered.

“I’ll be fine.” Then she looked down at me. “Follow us inside. I’ll get you some clothes to wear.”

I was thankful, considering I ruined mine when I shifted with them on.

Ryker and Sebastian both turned and fetched their clothes from the back porch. I padded past them into the house and followed Tate and Kami into one of the back rooms. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her.

She clutched the blanket closer. “Yes. I just need some time.” When he left, she opened the closet and pulled out an old high school T-shirt and a pair of shorts. I shifted and put them on. “I’m sorry it’s not much, but this used to be my room before I moved out on my own. The only thing left in my closet are things I wore in high school.”

I looked down at them and smiled. “No worries. I’m not picky.”

“I didn’t know you were a royal. I couldn’t tell right away when you came to save me. I already know Ryker, but the other wolf, he’s a royal too, isn’t he?”

“Sebastian? Yes. We can hide our essence from other wolves. It works well if you want to sneak up on someone.”

“It feels like I learn something new every day. I don’t know if I should bow or curtsy.”

“Neither,” I exclaimed, holding my hands up, “I’m a wolf just like you.”

“With a lot more power and royal blood,” she added.

“I didn’t know I was a royal until a couple of weeks ago, when I found out my parents were murdered. I didn’t have a fairytale life.”

She nodded, her expression sad. “I can see that. You must be the one they’re after. I heard them talking about you, how they were going to take you up north.”

I snorted. “They can try, but I’m not going anywhere. Right now, my concern is for you. What did they do to you?”

Sighing, she averted her gaze. “Things I don’t want my brother knowing. He trained me to be a fighter, but I let him down. I couldn’t fight against them.”

“That’s not your fault, Kami. There were four of them and one of you. They were the cowards. They were the ones who had to use wolfsbane against you. You’re a survivor.”

Tears fell down her cheeks. “But they touched me, humiliated me. Their bite marks are all over my skin.”

I put my arm around her. “They will heal. The dipshits who did this to you are dead.” I paused for a moment. “Did they . . . rape you?”

She glanced up at me. “No, they didn’t. With it being so close to the full moon, none of them wanted to chance it. I can’t imagine being mated to one of them.”

“But you’re not of age. The magic of the moon wouldn’t have worked.”