Chapter 100


    Chapter One Hundred


    I know Oliver. He’s one of Philipe’s most loyal foot soldiers. He and his brothers, Felix and Emile, are a


    force to be reckoned with. They trained together to fight as a team, and I’ve seen what they can do.


    Emile, the wolf that Eric attacked, sinks his jaws into Eric’s nk. I scream as thought it were my flesh


    between his teeth. At the same time Eric growls, swinging his hind legs back to fling Emile off.


    I rush forward, knowing whates next. Emile is the distraction—Oliver is the real fighter. Eric spots


    me, and snarls, fangs bared at me, before wheeling around to meet Oliver’s charge.


    The snarl is as clear to me as if he spoke: get out of the way.


    A gust of wind lifts my ponytail and chills my neck, reminding me that I don’t have my wolf. I’m a liability


    here, not an asset.


    I curse the Seer for the millionth time. How am I supposed to purify my heart if I’m defenseless in an


    attack?


    I can’t purify it if I’m lying dead in the skan wilderness.


    N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    Slowly, I back up toward the truck. I don’t look away from the fight. My eyes dart between Felix and


    Emile, wondering which of them will be the one to kill me.


    But the attack neveres.


    Eric is bigger than the brothers, but his size doesn’t slow him down. He’s not defending himself


    anymore, either—he’s on the offensive.


    He’s a blur of movement, his teeth shing as he lunges at one brother, his ws flying through the air


    at another. Fur and blood fly through the air, and there are deep gouges in the asphalt of the parking lot


    under their feet. It’s not a fair fight, because three against one isn’t enough to challenge Eric.


    Oliver howls, his tail pointed down, and just like that it’s over. Emile and Felix limp after their brother


    into the trees, leaving Eric and I alone in the parking lot again.


    Eric’s wolf takes a few deep breaths while he heals the minor injuries he sustained. Then he shifts


    back. His human form is just as impressive as the wolf. I can’t help the way my eyes drift down to take


    in all of him.


    He’s huge, everywhere. The glimpse I gotst night before he shifted didn’t do him justice. Heat races


    through my body, settling low in my belly. Every inch of his skin sparks desire in me, from the top of his


    powerful shoulders, to his tree-trunk thighs and massive—


    This is Eric. You can’t want Eric, I remind myself.


    When I yank my gaze back to his face, he’s not smirking or cocky the way Cam would be if he caught


    me ogling him like that.


    He’s livid.


    “Who are they?” he demands.


    “I-I don’t know. Didn’t recognize them,” I lie.


    He stares me down and I know he’s counting my heartbeats. Listening to my breaths. Thank the


    Goddess for adrenaline, because both things are faster than usual.


    Finally, he makes a gruff noise in the back of his throat and stalks past me to the truck. He opens the


    back and pulls a fresh set of clothing out of his backpack.


    “That was reckless and stupid,” he says, mming the hatch shut. “I told you to stay in the truck, not


    because I’m some heartless asshole who wants to confine you. I smelled unfamiliar wolves. I didn’t


    know how they’d react to our presence.”


    “I didn’t sense them,” I say, stunned.


    “Of course not! You don’t have your wolf! And it will help us both out a great deal if you could remember


    that and stop flinging yourself stubbornly into danger!”


    I stalk around to the passenger side of the car and get in.


    “You could have told me we hadpany,” I grumble.


    “I don’t have to tell you anything, especially when you’re brother’s wolves are roaming around,ing


    after us. Don’t try to tell me those weren’t his allies, either. I’m not stupid. From here on out, when I give


    you an order, you obey it. That’s how this works.”


    He pulls out of the gas station and back onto the highway. A mile slips by. Then two. Then ten.


    I stew silently in my seat the whole time.


    “I can’t imagine what it feels like to lose your wolf.”


    He rubs the center of his chest, like the thought of losing that part of him is causing him the same


    physical ache that I feel.


    I do feel it—all the time. It’s a bruise on my insides, a faint echo of what it felt like when the Seer bound


    my wolf, but when I bump up against it identally, the sensation sharpens.


    Most of the time, I can ignore it. I’ve gotten good at numbing myself to constant pain.


    “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that,” Eric adds. “It must be hard, not being able to defend yourself


    the way you normally would. I know how important this trip is to you, and that you wouldn’t risk our lives


    on a whim.”


    It’s almost an apology. Coming from Eric, it’s practically groveling.


    “I’m sorry I put us in danger. Thank you for saving my life,” I say.


    He lifts one shoulder. “You die, I die. Nothing else to it.”