by Callie Rose
But luckily, Kian avoids the topic. He joins us and starts placing cut steaks in the fire. “If that crazy motherfucker is right, we should be close to the Tree of Life. We found the ravine while we were hunting. It’s narrow and fairly short. I figure we’ll find the tree tomorrow.”
Malix whistles. “Damn. Crazy to think we’ve almost made it.”
As I set a steak aside on a tiny piece of aluminum foil that Frost dug out of his pack, it occurs to me that I have some pretty mixed emotions about finding the tree. Once we’ve got the ingredient we need, Frost and I can dose ourselves and get this horrible fucking poison out of our systems. And that’s good news, right? But it’ll also mark the end of our agreed upon truce, and like Malix told me earlier in the lake, their plan after that is to head off back toward that weak point between the realms.
Meaning we’ll be on opposing sides again, and I’ll have to hunt them down and kill them.
That thought hurts more than I’d like.
While we cook the meat and eat dinner, I stay quiet, lost in my thoughts and worries. The three of them aren’t exactly chatty either, though God knows they could just be sitting there conversing with their minds in whatever secret shadow person way they have. Yet another barrier that keeps me from ever truly being a part of their world.
Not that I want to. At least, not the world they’re aiming for.
We clean up after dinner, then pick places around the fire to lay down and rest. I’m packing up my dirty clothes and my knife, getting ready for an early start tomorrow, when the pain hits.
I gasp and go down hard on my knees.
My body might as well have fallen into a bonfire. I’m aflame from head to toe, and I can’t breathe. I fall to my stomach on the grass and gasp for air, but it’s like my lungs have forgotten how to work. My limbs go stiff, and the nerves all over my body feel like broken glass, sharp and shattering and tearing me apart from the inside even as I can’t move.
The world tilts. I roll onto my back to the sight of Frost’s pale, concerned eyes and realize he’s the one who rolled me. Dark edges press in around my vision, blocking him out, and I’m still gasping, still trying to get air through my useless throat. All I know is agony, my muscles cramping, my organs screaming.
Frost’s cold fingers close over my throat, and suddenly, some of the pressure eases. Enough for me to wheeze in a lungful of air.
My whole body twitches and my vision goes dark, then comes back, then goes dark again. I struggle to stay conscious, but it’s hard. I bob in and out of the blackness, and the black is where it doesn’t hurt. If I stay there, I won’t have to feel like this.
But I’m not ready to die, and the darkness behind my consciousness scares me.
I don’t know how long the poison attack lasts, but eventually, the pain fades enough for all my senses to return. Frost is still holding my head, his cold fingers tracing calming circles on my temples. I shake for a while longer, hoping the last of the pain will vanish, but it doesn’t.
It lingers inside me. Everywhere, a part of me, here to stay. Lower level, but constant.
Malix leans over me and smiles, although worry glints in his violet eyes. “How you feelin’, kitty?”
“Peachy keen,” I reply through gritted teeth.
Frost raises an eyebrow, looking at me like he doesn’t quite believe me, but I ignore him and sit up, groaning with the effort.
“I just need rest,” I assure him, brushing his hands away.
Malix and Frost remain sitting beside me while I rearrange my crap and lie down, using my backpack as a pillow. We usually shift to wolf form to rest because it’s easier on the hard ground, but I don’t have it in me right now. I curl up on my side, facing away from the dying fire, and close my eyes.
The guys move around a bit more, talking in low voices as they finish cleaning and packing away their own things. Then the clearing goes silent.
Still, I hurt all over.
I watch the underbrush and trees sway gently on the breeze. It’s peaceful, and on any other night, it’d be the perfect focal point for me to meditate on and pass out like the dead. But tonight, the pain is just too real. Too raw.
Why didn’t it go away?
Because I’ve reached some kind of critical juncture where the poison is half a day away from killing me?
I take a deep breath and let it out, my gaze following the tree limbs as they dance gently back and forth.
Master the pain. You can do this.
Suddenly, Frost’s spicy warmth appears at my back, distracting me from the hurt.
He lies down behind me without a word, then snakes an arm around my waist and tugs my back against him. His long, lean form spoons me, and the weight of his arm over my torso chases away my focus on the pain.
I breathe in his scent and sink against him. His presence, the connection between us that stretches like a taut wire connecting us heart to heart… all of it eases some of the agony burning through me. I don’t know how or why, but within moments, I feel better.
Frost’s breath tickles the skin of my neck as he whispers, “You’re hiding how badly you hurt.”
“After the attack, the pain didn’t go away.”
He tightens his arm around me. “I thought something like that.”
He tucks a leg between mine, and it’s such a claiming position. Not in a sexual way, but in an affectionate way. The way a guy might cuddle his girl in front of the TV on movie night. It sends my heart into overdrive and confuses all of the already muddled feelings inside me.
Closing my eyes, I focus on every part of him where he touches me.
“Do you feel like this all the time?” I ask.
“Yes.”
I slide my hand up and rest my arm over his, entwining our fingers. “I’m sorry.”
Nobody’s more surprised than me when I realize I actually mean it.
Frost doesn’t respond with words, but his arms tighten around me until I forget where he ends and I begin.
Wrapped in his warmth, I finally sleep.
Chapter 27
The next morning, we’re on the move before the sun even rises after Kian drags us all from sleep. He spares a loaded glance for Frost, who’s still wrapped around me, then tells us to get a move on because we’re burning daylight.
And it’s not even daylight yet.
His aggressive mood lasts all morning as we navigate the Devil’s Teeth and descend into the ravine behind the formation. He’s obviously in fine form, hard-edged as ever. Both Frost and I are moving slow, and I assume it’s because he hurts as much as I do, if not more. But anytime we fall behind, Kian’s on our asses, pushing us to move faster.
I know he wants to be rid of me, but damn.
The ravine isn’t so much a ravine as it is a deep, narrow valley between multiple small peaks. The trees are thick and lush, and the temperature stays cool and steady in the shadow of the canopy. Which is nice, because my body temp is running a lot higher than it should be, even in wolf form.
In the late morning, we stop long enough to eat and hydrate before Kian prods us back into motion. The low level pain I woke up with has sharpened over the course of the morning. Not as bad as when I had the last attack, but a constant ache that leaves me winded and irritable. No matter how bad it gets though, I keep pushing through and keep my complaints to myself.
No use in pissing off Kian this close to our goal.
After what feels like hours of traveling and searching, I sense the Tree of Life before I even lay eyes on it.
The magic is potent—an energy that radiates throughout the forest, pulsing like a heartbeat. Just being near the power emanating from the tree eases the growing pain inside me.
We break through a bunch of tangled undergrowth and step out of the constant forest into a small clearing. The Tree of Life soars high overhead, the most massive evergreen I’ve ever seen. It has to be ancient; it’s probably stood in this clearing since before people even mapped this area. I’m not even s
urprised the tree has magical properties.
Kian shifts first, then rifles through his pack for the mason jar of potion. “What’s the ingredient we need? Leaves?”
Frost shifts to human and tugs his clothes from his bag. “Sap.”
Kian sets the jar on the grass and reaches for his own clothes, as if just remembering he’s naked. “Do we know how much we need?”
Malix yanks his shirt on over his head, his voice muffled as he responds. “Erik didn’t say.”
Frost nods. “I imagine only a few drops would do. Witchcraft potions aren’t highly complicated.”
I pull on my jeans and tank top, then venture toward the magic tree as they continue discussing the merits of using too much sap or too little and how to extract it.
It seems warmer beneath the tree’s low-hanging branches. I trail my fingers over the soft, layered bark and listen to the tree’s heartbeat with my fingertips. I notice something shiny from the corner of my eye, and I find sap oozing from between the bark. I slide my fingers through the puddle and manage to get about a tablespoon’s worth in one swipe.
The guys are still bickering when I return. I reach past Kian and turn my fingers over above the open mason jar. The sap plops right off my skin into the potion.
A ripple passes through the air. Something invisible to the naked eye, but potent nonetheless—a wave of magic as the potion completes.
“See,” I tell them with a snarky grin, “the trouble with you assholes is you always need a plan. When the real answer is, just do it.”
My voice is a lot stronger than I expect it to be. The pain’s growing by the minute, even though we’re no longer moving across the rough terrain. At least now, I can drink the potion and feel like myself again. Relief settles over my aching body as I watch Kian close the jar and give it a couple of good shakes to ensure the sap is all mixed in. But on the heels of my relief, I can sense another poison attack coming.
Kian passes the jar to Frost first, who’s standing across from us. He sniffs the liquid, examines it, then chugs half of it down in one go.
I sway on my feet and my vision goes blurry. I catch myself on Kian’s arm and pinch the bridge of my nose, fighting through the wave of pain.
Malix taps me on the shoulder. “Your turn, kitty.”
Gathering my wits about me, I straighten and take the jar from his fingertips. I don’t hesitate—I just toss back every last drop.
It’s thick and gelatinous, with the slight taste of sulfur. I fight the urge to retch and close my eyes, clenching my fists at my sides.
Waiting.
For something.
Anything.
Then, slowly, a cool sensation slides through my veins, washing away the pain. My vision clears, and the throbbing behind my eyelids vanishes. I glance at Frost to see if it’s helping him too, and I notice a little bit of black smoke that’s wafting from his body. On second glance, I realize it’s happening to me, too, as if the poison is seeping out from under my skin.
I glance around at the three shifters and grin. “I think it worked.”
But even as I finish speaking the words, a new kind of pain clutches me.
It’s not the same as before, with the poison and the cramps and seizing. This is like a vise-grip in my chest, as if my heart’s being squeezed right out of me. I press my hand to my chest, fighting for breath, but I can’t get enough air in my lungs. My head goes woozy, and I drop to my knees in the grass.
All three men move closer, looming over me. I struggle to look up at them through the pained tears in my eyes.
Kian stares at me coldly for a moment before he says, “I sever our mate bond.”
Agony rips through my chest like he’s stabbed me in the heart.
Frost speaks up. “I sever our mate bond,” he says in his smooth, even voice, his face as enigmatic as always.
Another stab of pain makes me cry out. I collapse to my side, breathing hard, blackness pressing in on the edges of my vision.
Then Malix tosses something on the ground in front of me as he takes a step closer. “I sever our mate bond.”
It’s a… a vial. I clutch at the grass and try to sit up, but I fall back to the ground, staring at the little glass tube. Something dark clings to the sides of the glass, though it’s otherwise empty.
Oh god.
A sharp, painful realization burns through me as I stare at it, shaking my head as if denying the truth will somehow make it not real.
They did this on purpose.
They had a second potion, and they must’ve added it to the antidote before I drank the fucking thing.
A potion to break our mate bond.
Fury chases away the pain, and I snarl at them. “You motherfuckers. Why?”
Kian crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at me, a strange, unreadable expression on his face. “We have a purpose, Amora. You cannot stop us. And you cannot be a part of it.”
Then all three of them shift into their monstrous shadow wolf forms and sprint away.
Leaving me behind.
Our bonds broken.
Shattered.
Destroyed.
I stare after them into the shadowy trees long after they’ve vanished, breathing shallowly as I try to claw my way back from the abyss of pain that hollows out my chest and threatens to swallow me up like a black hole.
I know now, of course, why the men were so hard to track before. Their shadow wolf forms are literally shadows—they don’t even leave a scent trail.
They’re gone.
My eyes sting, and I let out a wild, furious scream. Birds scatter from the trees as the sound bounces off the mountain’s surface and echoes back to me. When the echo finally fades, I go quiet.
Birdsong fills the clearing again after a few moments, and the steady thrum of the Tree of Life’s heartbeat brushes gently at my skin.
Gritting my teeth against the pain, I manage to sit up. The worst of the agony is passing, and I manage to stumble to my feet. The Tree beckons me with that pulse of power, so I walk slowly over to it, dipping beneath the low-hanging branches. I lean my forehead against the bark and press my palms to the trunk, taking a few deep breaths of the ancient energy.
Within moments, I’m more clear headed.
A few more minutes after that, I feel strong enough to stand on my own.
Shoving away from the tree, I rub a hand over my chest and square my shoulders.
I may not be able to track the men in their shadow wolf forms, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll still find them.
And this time, I won’t have any distractions. They broke the mate bond, but that goes both ways. I won’t feel that soul deep pull toward them anymore.
I won’t have any soft feelings or affection for them.
Nothing will hold me back from my goal.
This time, when I hunt them down, I’ll fucking kill them.
To be continued…
Thank you for reading! Amora’s story continues in Untamed Mate, book two in the Feral Shifters series.
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Want to read more about Ridge and how he met his mate? The Claimed by Wolves series is now complete! Turn the page to find out more.
Wolf shifters are real. And three alphas have claimed me as their mate.
For years, I've been kept prisoner by my uncle, hidden like a piece of trash in the basement of his house. Beaten, broken, and neglected, hated by him for reasons I can't even understand.
But one night on the back roads of rural Montana, I see a chance for escape.
And I take it.
I run.
...straight into the arms of a naked man.
No. Not a man. A wolf.
Ridge, the man with dark hair and honey-colored eyes, is the alpha of the North Pack. I can hardly believe shifters are real, but how can I deny it when I've seen
him transform with my own eyes?
I don't trust him. I don't trust anyone. Still, that doesn't change the overwhelming pull I feel toward him. And when the alphas of the East and West Packs step forward and claim me as their mate too, I feel that same desperate urge to claim them back.
But the part that scares me most?
There's only one reason all three of them could form a mate bond with me.
I'm a shifter too.
**Available now on AMAZON and AUDIBLE.**
Books by Callie Rose
Boys of Oak Park Prep
Savage Royals
Defiant Princess
Broken Empire
Kings of Linwood Academy
The Help
The Lie
The Risk
Ruthless Games
Sweet Obsession
Sweet Retribution
Sweet Salvation
Fallen University
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
Claimed by Wolves
Fated Magic
Broken Bond
Dark Wolf
Alpha Queen
Feral Shifters
Rejected Mate
Untamed Mate
Cursed Mate
Claimed Mate
Kingdom of Blood
Blood Debt
Dark Legacy
Vampire Wars