CHAPTER <b>8 </b>
Alpha Elias was swerving erratically across the road, trying everything he could to dislodge the werewolf clinging to the roof, but the beast wouldn’t budge. I could see its paws crashing down on either side of the car, swiping dangerously close. One of them finally mmed through the window beside me, sending shards of ss flying.
The creature’s paw reached inside, wing at me. I fumbled to unbuckle my seatbelt and slid across the seat to get as far away as possible. Elias reached over and grabbed me, pulling me into the backseat. There was more space, and I crouched down on the floor just as he
ordered, heart pounding in my chest.
Suddenly, his ws extended, long and sharp, and he shed at the wolf’s paw still intruding through the broken window. His strike hit home–he ripped a bloody chunk from the attacker’s limb. The wolf let out a high–pitched yelp and yanked its paw back, but it didn’t jump off the roof.
Elias kept swerving wildly, but the wolf held on. Realizing that maneuvering wouldn’t shake it, he mmed on the brakes hard. The wolf flew forward off the top of the car,nding with a
sickening thud and rolling down the road ahead.
“Stay here,” Elias ordered, voice clipped. I nodded quickly, pressing myself against the seat. He jumped out of the car while I cautiously raised my head, peering through the windshield.
I didn’t recognize the wolf lying in the road, but Elias walked toward him without hesitation, his form already starting to shift. He didn’t need to stop or even slow down–his body morphed mid–stride until a huge ck wolf reced him, charging straight for the other one.
He collided with the enemy wolf in a blur of muscle and rage, tearing into him with savage force. The attacker tried <i>to </i>fight back, but he was slower, weaker. Elias’s ck wolf struck again and again, relentless. His fury made him terrifying to watch. The fight wasn’t even–it
was a ughter.
I was frozen, watching the brutal scene, when suddenly the back door flew open. A strong arm reached in and seized me, yanking me from the car before I could react.
I screamed and thrashed as I was dragged into the forest. The man was huge and powerful; I was no match for him. Thin and weak, I couldn’t fight back effectively. Another man was waiting deeper among the trees, and as I struggled, he grabbed my legs and helped haul me further away from the road.
< CHAPTER 8
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Just as suddenly as it had started, they stopped. A low growl echoed through the trees, and the second man dropped my legs. I looked up to see a grey wolf crouched ahead of us,
baring its teeth. It was ready to attack.
The man holding me didn’t back down. He shoved me in front of him like a shield and ordered
the other man to handle the wolf. Without hesitation, the second man shifted into a dark
brown wolf and lunged at the grey one.
But the grey wolf was lightning–fast. It dodged the attack with ease and spun around,
The first man kept barking uselessmands, but the brown wolf was <i>no </i>match. The grey wolf managed to sink its teeth into his opponent’s neck and shook violently until I heard the gruesome snap of bones. The brown wolf copsed, lifeless, and the grey wolf stood over
him, blood coating his muzzle–but none of it his own.
Then the grey wolf turned his attention to us.
The man holding me adjusted his grip, keeping me between himself and the predator. But
that’s when a second growl erupted–this time from behind.
He spun us both around, still using me as a shield. Emerging from the shadows was a
massive ck wolf, eyes glowing with fury.
Even without being told, I knew exactly who it was.
It’s my Alpha, my Alpha Elias.
The man clutching me looked utterly panicked, torn between which direction to run. Before
he could make a decision, the grey wolf crept up silently behind him and lunged, its jaws mping <i>down </i>on his lower back and yanking him backwards with brutal force. At the same
time, I was also dragged back, falling hard onto my back. But when I hit the ground, I realized he was no longer holding onto me.
Distant sounds of snarling, tearing, and bodies colliding echoed through the woods, but I barely registered them. My hand instinctively went to my head, where I could feel a wet, sticky sensation–blood. My fingers came away red from a shallow wound at my temple. I must’ve hit my head on a rock or branch during the fall. It throbbed, but I hadn’t cked out. I was still conscious. I was okay.
“Lyra!” I heard Alpha Elias shout, his voice full of urgency. He ran toward me and dropped to
< CHAPTER 8
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his knees beside me. His eyes immediately went to the cut on my head, and his fingers gently examined it. I could tell he was concerned, but honestly, it was nothingpared to what I’d endured before. I knew I was going to be alright.
Still, he didn’t take any chances. Without saying another word, he lifted me into his arms bridal style. His chest was bare, warm and firm against my side, and despite the chaos, I felt a strange mix offort and embarrassment. I curled closer to him, taking in the quiet protectiveness in the way he carried me.
We were surrounded by several wolves, all tense and alert. Elias gave a quickmand for
them to search the woods and make sure no attackers remained. Then he turned back
toward the car with me still in his arms.
Back at the vehicle, he gentlyid me down across the backseat. I watched him walk to the
trunk and return with what I realized were clean clothes. He crouched beside me again and
pressed a sterile gauze pad gently to my temple.
“I’m okay. Really,” I whispered.
“You could have a concussion. Stay still,” he said firmly, not moving the gauze.
“I’ve had worse, I promise. That barely counts as a scratch,” I insisted, trying to sit up slightly. <f44> Original content can be found at find·novel</f44>
“Were those rogues from Crystal River Pack?”
He let out a short, bitterugh. “No. Crystal River’s fighters couldn’t pull off something like
that. They’re pathetic. These were from another pack–one I’ve pissed off before. I’m sorry, Lyra. I didn’t mean for you to be caught in the crossfire.”
He leaned forward and rested his forehead gently against mine. The sudden closeness made
my breath hitch. I didn’t know how to respond. No one had ever apologized to me before-
never sincerely. I was used to pain, <i>to </i>me, to being invisible. Now here he was, taking
responsibility for something that wasn’t even my fault. It left me speechless.
I reached up and ced my hand over his, the one still holding the gauze. He didn’t pull away. We stayed like that, connected by touch and breath, until a voice broke the moment.
“Alpha. I’m so sorry,” Luke said as he approached, clearly distressed. “I didn’t know the bastard would pull her back when I grabbed him. I thought he’d let go. I didn’t mean for her to get hurt.”
So, he was the grey wolf. I had guessed right.
“Enough, Luke. I know you’d never intentionally harm her,” Elias growled, his voice low and
< CHAPTER 8
firm. “You saved her. That’s what matters.”
Luke hesitated, then asked, “So why is your father stilling after us?”
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Elias’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know,” he said. “But now that he’s touched my mate, I’m done ying games. The next time I see him, I swear I’ll kill him.”
His voice was full of fire and certainty, and the words made my heart race for a different reason. He would kill his own father for me?
Why?
What made me worth that? I didn’t understand. I wasn’t someone worth dying–or killing–for. Sure, we were mates, but every werewolf had a mate, didn’t they? Why did Elias care so much
about me?
Elias returned to the driver’s seat without another word. He started the engine, and we pulled away into the night, leaving behind the blood, the bodies, and a hundred unanswered
questions.
The motion of the car was starting to make me nauseous as Iy there, so I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position. I caught Alpha Elias’s eyes watching me through the
rearview mirror.
“I told you to stay lying down,” he said, his tone calm but firm.
“Lying down was making me feel sick. Sitting up feels better,” I replied quietly.
He was silent for a second, then asked, “Have you ever even ridden in a car before?”
The question caught me off guard. It seemed so random, and I couldn’t imagine why he would think to ask something like that.
“I’ve never left the packhouse,” I admitted, barely louder than a whisper. But he heard me. I could tell by the low, guttural growl that rumbled in his chest after I spoke.
“I wasn’t growling at you,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry. That reaction wasn’t meant for you.”
I gave a small nod to show I understood.
Then, hesitating for only a second, I asked, “Why does your father want to kill you?”
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