Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(50)

“That must have been tough," I said. "What would you have studied?”

“I don't know. Maybe astronomy. I still have my telescope. It’s set up on the roof, and I like to go up there to relax sometimes. It helps get my mind off of things.”

I smiled at the image of him under the stars and opened my mouth to ask him more about it, but Kaden stopped suddenly, his face turning hard. He turned his head up to the sky and inhaled sharply.

I paused next to him. “What is it?”

He swore under his breath. “We walked too far outside of the pack borders. We need to head back.”

He turned around and started heading back, and I hurried after him, wondering what the big deal was. Or how he could even tell we'd left the pack lands. But mostly I was disappointed we'd been interrupted—Kaden had finally started opening up to me, but now that was over.

Kaden suddenly jerked his head toward me and commanded, “Ayla, shift right now."

I complied without questioning the order, without even stopping to take off my clothes. I’d been practicing with Stella to get the timing down in case I needed to shift in an emergency, and I could do it as fast as any seasoned wolf now. Except an alpha, of course. Kaden was already in his wolf form as I stepped forward to meet him, my shredded clothes in a pile behind me. He wasn’t looking at me, and I noted that our paws were completely different sizes. My pure white wolf felt small next to his black one.

I wouldn’t have picked up the sounds of people approaching if I’d been in human form, but I heard them clearly now and followed Kaden’s gaze to the tree line ahead of us. Three males walked out of the trees, and they were close enough for me to see the ram symbols on their arms.

Aries.

They fanned out, coming straight for us, and the middle one said, “Take the female alive."

A low growl emanated from Kaden’s wolf beside me. A warning. The three Aries males ignored it completely, stepping right up to us and shifting into their wolves. Their pack was allied with the Leos, and there could only be one reason why they would want me.

What the hell do I do? I’d worked so hard on fighting in human form and shifting into wolf form with Stella. I could smell something that belonged to the Ophiuchus pack from miles away, but what use would that be to me right now? I’d never fought anything in my wolf form—we hadn't gotten to that part of my training yet.

Kaden looked over at me, his black ears twitching, and jerked his head back toward the direction of Coronis. If I’d been in human form, I would have frowned, but I just cocked my head at him. He repeated the motion, this time with a soft growl. I swore I saw some sort of desperation in his eyes.

He wants me to run, I thought. No way. I shook my head at him as best as I could. I wasn’t going to leave him. It was a stupid idea, anyway. I could lead the Aries pack directly to the town if they decided to give chase, and the moon wasn’t out to give me an advantage. No, there wasn’t any option except to stay and fight.

Kaden and the Aries wolves circled each other, growling and snapping. I hadn’t felt this kind of tension, or the threat of serious violence, in quite some time. I’d almost forgotten how terrifying it could be.

Their growls became deeper, more threatening, and I backed away a few steps, still trying to figure out what exactly to do. Another wolf emerged from the shadows, a bit to the left, and neither the Aries wolves nor Kaden saw it. I watched in horror as the wolf lunged toward Kaden.

I opened my mouth to warn him—no good. I couldn’t do more than bark or howl, and who knew if he’d understand it. No, there was no time to think. I threw myself into the wolf’s path, knocking it off course. We both tumbled to the side, and I rolled to my feet instantly, crouched and ready to fight. I bared my teeth at the wolf, who shook its head, like shaking off water. Then, it jumped at me, too fast for me to follow, and suddenly we were fighting.

The moves that Kaden had taught me were useful for my wolf body, at least to an extent, and with my enhanced senses, it was a lot easier to react to the attacks and counteract them. We tussled for a bit before I got my jaws wrapped around the shifter’s hind leg. I bit down hard, squeezing my eyes shut as I broke skin and blood spurted out. The shifter howled and fought to get free. With a great wrench of his leg, he finally got out of my grasp and sprinted away.

I sunk back down into a crouch, half-expecting him to turn around and bowl me over. I was so focused on the fleeing wolf, that the next attack took me completely by surprise. Faster than anything I’d ever seen move, a blur of gray fur raced toward me. Just as I turned to face the new shifter, he rammed into my side. It felt like a freight train. I went airborne, flying several feet back before hitting the ground hard enough that my breath left me in a huge whuff. For a moment, I laid there, my brain trying to catch up with the sudden shift in environment, and then the pain came in.

I’d gotten good at dealing with pain over the years. It came with dealing with Dad and Jackie’s punishments, of being beaten up by other Cancer pack members. It was easy to breathe through the pain eventually, but what could I do when I couldn’t even breathe?

I felt the pull of my bones as they started reshaping into my human form. No, not now! I thought desperately, trying to hold onto my wolf form, but it was like trying to hold onto water. It slipped through my fingers and I found myself settling back into my human form.

That was exactly what I shouldn’t do. I stood no chance against fully trained shifters in human form. I was barely holding my own in my untrained wolf form. It didn’t do any good. I tried to move, to push myself up, but it was useless. My human body was weak and injured, and there was no way I’d be standing on my own any time soon.