Turn of the Moon (Royal Shifters #1)(31)

There was another wolf about to finish him off, but I grabbed a tree limb off the ground and threw it like a spear, piercing it through his gut. Ryker ran over and ripped out his throat. Darius’ laugh could be heard echoing through the trees. Sebastian growled low, but he couldn’t get up. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tried to lift him, but he was too heavy.

“Dammit, Sebastian, don’t you dare die on me. You hear me?” More howls filled the night, more death. Tears ran down my cheeks, but I wasn’t about to give up on him. I had to get him away from the fight. Grabbing his legs, I pulled him as far as I could until an arm grabbed me around the waist.

“It sure is good to see you again, darling,” Darius whispered into my ear. “I’ve missed you.” He jerked me away from Sebastian, holding me tight around the neck.

“You’re a lying son of a bitch,” I hissed, digging my claws into his arms. “Let me go.” His hold was so tight, I could barely breathe. Then, he injected something into my neck and my claws retracted.

I tried to shift, but nothing came. “What the hell did you give me?”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not enough to kill you. Just a subtle dose of wolfsbane mixed with a sedative.” Panic consumed me, especially when I could feel the serum burning like acid in my veins. “Be a good girl and stop kicking. I thought I raised you with better manners.”

I got one last look at Ryker fighting off the wolves and Sebastian lying still on the ground before he hauled me over his shoulders. “Ryker . . .”

Darius only had time to take two more steps until the loudest growl I’d ever heard echoed through the air. He dropped me to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and I hissed in pain.

Out of the twelve Yukon wolves, only two were barely still alive. We were faring better, but still had one dead and two injured. Sebastian was nowhere to be found. “Where’s Sebastian?”

Ryker responded, his voice tense. “I don’t know.”

My head felt fuzzy and my vision started to blur. Darius stood his ground and clapped, but blocked me from Ryker’s sight. “Well done, my friends. You’re a lot stronger than I gave you credit for.” He was too confident, especially with being outnumbered.

“Ryker . . . h—he’s up to something.”

“What the f*ck did he do to you?”

The edges of my vision turned dark. I was about to lose consciousness. “Poison.”

Darius slowly reached behind his back and pulled two liquid vials from his pocket. Even though my vision was blurry, I could still see the blue petals of wolfsbane inside. His muscles tensed and I knew what he was about to do.

“No!” I screamed. Grabbing the first thing I could find, I grasped the tree limb and hurled it right at Darius, at the man I thought was my father. It pierced him in his belly and the sound of him choking on his blood made my stomach curl. Falling to his knees, he looked down at the limb and then over to me. The darkness crept in, but I was able to watch as Sebastian came from out of nowhere, baring his fangs. The last thing I saw was him ripping Darius’ head off and watching it roll onto the ground. I went under with a smile on my face.

Sebastian was alive and the enemy was dead.





Ryker (Three Days Later)

I poured myself a cup of coffee, and watched Sebastian gulp his down as if it wasn’t steaming hot.

“When do you think she’ll wake up?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” Seraphina had said there was only a small amount of wolfsbane in her injection, just enough to keep her capacitated for a few days. We’d just have to wait for her body to flush it out.

“Do you think she’ll be pissed at me?”

“For what, pretending you were about to die?” He nodded. “I don’t know. From one alpha to another, it was brilliant. But she was terrified when she watched you go down. I didn’t realize she liked you that much.”

“Jealous?”

“Hardly,” I answered with a smile.

As much as the guy got on my nerves, his only concern had been for Bailey. I couldn’t fault him for that. After setting his cup in the sink, he walked to the door and took off his shirt. “I’m going for a run.”

Tyla showed up as he was making his way out the door. She was carrying a large paper bag in her hands, and watched him exit.

“Please tell me you’re not interested in that douchebag.”

She snorted. “As if. I totally have better taste than that.” She said it but I didn’t believe it. “I guess she’s still not awake?”

Sighing, I moved over to the couch. “No.” She sat beside me and set the paper bag on the coffee table. “What’s in there?”

Grinning wide, she pulled out the contents. “My mother made you some soup and I brought two loaves of my homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies. Bailey hasn’t eaten in three days. I’m sure she’ll be starving when she wakes up.”

“Thanks. She’ll love it.”

“I guess your plans to mate on the full moon were thwarted. You’ll have to wait three more weeks now.”

“True, but it’s not that big of a deal.” She nodded, but I could tell she was keeping something from me by the smile on her face. “What is it?”