POV Natalie
Time slows to that weird vampire-speed thing where I can count heartbeats and catalog every micro-expression.
Avery’s pulse is hammering. Her knuckles are white around her blade handle. Her eyes flick between me and her pack member like she’s calculating odds.
And then she does something that makes my dead heart actually stop.
She steps in front of me.
“Stand down, Marco,” she says, voice steady as steel.
“What the hell are you doing?” Marco’s voice cracks with disbelief.
“My job,” Avery replies, which is such beautiful bullshit that I almost applaud.
That’s when everything goes to hell.
The wolf on Marco’s left—younger, more trigger-happy—lunges forward with a silver-tipped spear. I twist sideways, but he’s fast.
The blade slices across my ribs, and the silver burns like liquid fire through my jacket.
“Fuck!” I hiss, stumbling backward.
Avery spins, her blade catching the overhead light as she deflects another attack aimed at my throat. “I said stand down!”
“She’s compromised!” Marco shouts, and suddenly all four wolves are moving.
This is about to become a bloodbath, and not the fun kind.
I grab the nearest thing, a heavy metal chair, and launch it at the window. Glass explodes outward in a cascade of sharp stars. The sound is deafening in the small space.
“Sorry about the property damage!” I call to Avery, then dive through the destroyed window in one fluid motion.
I hit the ground rolling, silver-burn screaming through my side, and come up running. Behind me, I hear Avery shouting at her pack, her voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.
“She’s gone! It’s over!”
“Like hell it’s over!” Marco’s voice, furious and getting closer.
I sprint through the forest, branches whipping at my face, adrenaline and vampire speed carrying me deeper into the shadows.
The silver wound is slowing me down, not letting me to use my shadow magic and making every step feel like I’m running through molasses.
Behind me, I can hear them coming.
Four wolves who know these woods better than I do, tracking my scent like bloodhounds with a personal vendetta.
This is what I get for having feelings.
This is what I get for thinking maybe, just maybe, there could be something between a vampire and a wolf that didn’t end in violence.
I make it maybe two miles before they catch up.
The first wolf tackles me from behind, sending us both crashing into a tree trunk. The impact knocks the wind out of me, which is impressive considering I don’t technically need to breathe.
“Got her!” the wolf shouts.
I twist in his grip, elbow connecting with his ribs hard enough to hear something crack. He loosens his hold just enough for me to roll free.
Two more wolves circle me like I’m wounded prey. Which, technically, I am.
“This doesn’t have to get messier,” I say, wiping blood from my lip. “I was just leaving.”
“After doing what to our Alpha’s daughter?” Marco emerges from the trees, silver-tipped weapon gleaming in the moonlight.
“Having a conversation,” I reply, which is technically true.
“Bullshit.”
The third wolf—the young one who cut me—grins like Christmas morning. “Father’s gonna want to question this one personally.”
That’s when I realize they’re not here to kill me. They’re here to capture me.
Which is so much worse.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” I mutter, and then I do something stupid.
I run directly at Marco.
He’s not expecting it—vampires usually try to flee or fight defensively. But I’ve spent fifty-three years disappointing people’s expectations, and I’m not about to stop now.
I duck under his swing, grab his weapon arm, and use his own momentum to send him flying into the nearest tree. The satisfying thud of impact is interrupted by claws raking across my back.
Pain explodes through my shoulder blades, but I spin with it, catching the attacking wolf across the face with my elbow. He staggers backward, nose definitely broken.
The young wolf comes at me from the side, silver spear aimed at my heart. I grab a fallen branch and parry his thrust, the impact sending vibrations up my arm.
“Stay still so we can capture you!” he snarls.
“Counter-offer,” I pant, “fuck off.”
I feint left, then go right, slipping past his guard and putting my palm against his chest. One hard shove sends him sprawling into the underbrush.
But there’s still the fourth wolf, and he’s smarter than the others. He’s been hanging back, waiting for me to exhaust myself.
“You’re bleeding,” he observes, circling me slowly. “Silver poisoning. How long before you collapse?”
He’s not wrong. The wound in my side is burning like acid, and my vampire healing is struggling against the silver contamination. I can feel my strength bleeding away with every heartbeat.
“Long enough,” I lie.
He lunges.
I barely get my arms up in time to block, but the impact sends me stumbling backward. My foot catches a root, and I go down hard, silver-burn flaring white-hot through my side.
The wolf stands over me, weapon raised, and I can see my death in his eyes.
That’s when Avery appears.
She doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t announce herself. Just steps out of the shadows behind the wolf and taps him on the shoulder.
When he turns, she punches him in the face hard enough to drop him like a sack of potatoes.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathe, staring up at her. “Where did you come from?”
“I know shortcuts,” she says simply, then extends her hand to help me up.
I take it, and the contact sends electricity shooting up my arm. “Your pack’s gonna be pissed.”
“My pack needs to learn some boundaries,” she replies, pulling me to my feet.
Around us, the three conscious wolves are groaning and trying to figure out what just happened. Marco’s still unconscious against his tree.
“You should go,” Avery says, “before they remember how to use their legs.”