The young wolves whimpered behind me, pressing close, their fear sharp and raw inside the cabin.
I positioned myself between them and her, my claws ready to strike.
“Riley,” I yelled, “shift back. Last warning. Don’t make me put you down in front of the pups.”
“Shift back?”
She sneered and slashed the air with her claws.
“You worthless runt! Faking your death to poison the pack against me, playing the victim for scraps of pity—you make me sick!”
I shielded the puppies and moved silently towards the door.
“I’m taking back what’s mine. You screwed up. You should pay,” I said.
Riley’s eyes were filled with pure hatred. “You should’ve died! If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be like this!”
Before her words had faded, she flashed at me, her claws gleaming like knives.
I barely moved my stance, but that wasn’t enough. Three burning gashes ripped across my shoulder.
Blood poured down my arm and soaked my sleeve. I raised my claws to block the next blow.
“Stop! Don’t do this!”
But Riley had already fled, slashing wild.
The puppies screamed.
“Don’t hurt my teacher!” Hudson exclaimed.
He shifted into pure white lightning and launched straight at Riley’s gut.
“Hudson, no!”
Shifting before the age of eighteen had the potential to ruin his entire future, and he threw it all away for me.
Tears burned my eyes.
Riley locked onto him before I could move, grinning like a psycho. “Good. Come at me, brat. I’ll rip your throat out first.”
She lunged forward, claws raised to kill.
My heart seized.
I dashed forward, shoving myself between them.
Pain erupted throughout my body. My throat filled with blood, and I coughed hard, my strength draining quickly.
I staggered, but did not fall.
I threw my arms wide, shielding the puppies. “Enough! Riley, you touch the pups and your own blood-pack-the Silver Moon Guards will tear you apart!”
Riley did not even flinch.
“Then I’ll rip you to pieces first!”
Her body swelled, and each glass vial shattered.
A blood-red blur shot directly at me.
At the last moment, a massive gray-black paw slammed it down.
Owen.
Fully shifted, he tackled Riley, pinning her hard no matter how much she screamed.
Riley snarled at him. “Wow, Lizzy. Didn’t take you long to climb into another wolf’s bed.”
Her sharp, malicious eyes cut across me. “I told Ethan you never cared! Look at you. Somebody else is already running to save you. And he didn’t believe me! Filthy mutt in heat.”
Owen dropped her and moved in front of me.
“What pack you with? You laid claws on our Chief Healer – you’re dead.”
Riley, enraged, screamed, “You think you’ve won? You ruined me! I’ll haunt you till you die! Kill me if you’ve got the guts!”
I remained focused on her, prepared for whatever came next.
Then-
“Lizzy!”
That voice.
I snapped my head up.
