Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (11 page)

M
y
torn
nightgown rips clear of my body as I
embrace the wild
animal
clawing at my insides.
The world around me
goes deathly
still and I
ignore
the searing pain
pulling at me
as my joints pop and my bones slide into place
.

Once
my metamorphosis
is
complete I crouch low
, putting my weight on my front paws
in preparation
as my nails rake the rich
, pungent
soil.

I take in all the eyes staring at me, one
cruel
set in particular.
As c
oldness envelops me
,
fight or flight instincts kick
in
hard
and my wolf lets loose a deep guttural howl
, her control snapping like a frayed leash
.

Targeting
the master’s
challenging gleam
in
my
crosshairs, my
pewter eyes
—e
yes that have seen far too much for a girl my age
—zero in on his pulsing jugular
.

I draw
the master’s
scent into my lungs, and when I move past the expensive cologne, I can smell the silver in his pocket, the gun powder residue on his hands from the last wolf he executed.
Some small coherent part of my brain is telling me to s
alvage my plan, to
show obedience in
some
last ditch effort to
prove my loyalties
,
but I can’t
seem to leash my wolf
.

She
hungers to spill his
blood
and nothing or no one can stop her
.

The rain falls harder, the
torrential
downpour coating my
thick
fur to my body
and blurring my vision
.
Stone is yelling at me,
his
dark, hostile
voice vibrating in my ears,
cautioning me
.

From my peripheral vision I can see him stripping his
clothes
from his
body
, desperate to s
hift
back
into his primal form.
But I ignore his word
s
of warning and bare my
teeth
in challenge
.
Despite the six guns pointed down at me, ready to shoot upon
the
master’s signal,
I call my wolf into action and my
beefy paws
sink
into the mud
.
I
take
a
threatening step
forward.

My actions aren’t rational, or smart, but when th
e
strong
, primal
scent of wet earth
reaches my nose and
reminds my wolf of freedom
, of running through the mountains unleashed,
it
prompts her
to move faster
.

Standing his ground,
the
master
gives me a savage smirk
, everything about hi
s cool exterior
exud
ing
confidence
.
I realize it
’s his
malicious
way of
letting me know he’s not afraid of the runt he
’d
raised
and controlled
since birth
.

As my
enemy shows no fear in the face of an attack
it occurs to me
j
ust how much danger I’m in.
Just how much torture I’m going to have to endure before he kills me.

But I’m
certainly
not about to let that stop me.

As
uncontrollable
rage unfurls inside me, fury obscures my vision, causing me to miss the wolf closing in from behind.
His
heavy
body lands on top of mine, and I
crash to the ground
with a
n agonizing
thump.
I thrash beneath him, my long talons digging into the
wet
,
unforgiving
ground as I struggle to gain purchase.

Sharp
canines
go to my throat and I howl, the sound carrying in the breeze and echoing off the
distant
mountains.
Breathing hard,
I twist and turn, wanting to see
into
the eyes of my killer
before I draw my last breath
.
But
when I manage to turn my neck, and find Stone restraining me from above, his teeth locked on my jugular with predatory precision,
it
has me questioning his loyalties.

But the ease at which he dominates me has my mind racing back to all the times the master pitted me against him during our agility training.
I’m not sure why I’m suddenly thinking about
such things
.
Perhaps it’s because I’m dying and my
very
life is flashing before my eyes.

Regardless,
a
s blood pours from my neck, one thing becomes
glaringly apparent
.
Over the years
Stone could have
easily
beaten me at the obstacle course
,
yet
I always came out the victor.
Everyone, the master included,
thought it was because I was smarter, able to think with my head and not my heart.
But
I’ve only just come to learn that
Stone
has
spent his life fighting
with a combination of the two, and that
has
undeniably
made him
the
better warrior.
As I think more about that
fact
m
y heart
crashes harder and
suddenly everything
become
s
crystal clear
.

Stone always
let me win because win
nin
g meant I’d eat
fresh food
that day, even though he’d go on scraps.
He let me win to save me, the same way he’s saving me now.

“
Pride
,” he warns
and I don’t miss the
deep desperation in his voice as his
warm breath wash
es
over my face
.
When
hi
s familiar scent reaches my nostrils
and weaves its way th
r
ough my blood it does something to my wolf
.

“
Stone…
” I
cry out
,
wanting
to tell him
I’m okay, that I understand
what he’s doing
, and that I’m
grateful for everything
he’s done for me,
but
I can’t quite find the right words
.

He nudges me with his muzzle, and my
spiked
hackles settle when
I meet his dark, pewter eyes
—e
yes that showcase so much emotion when they look at me
.

He lets loose a relieved breath when my wolf
finally
simmers
,
relaxing beneath his careful hold
.
“
Easy, Pride
,” he
return
s, the hostility gone from his tone
as he shifts his
body to ease
the
weight on top of me
.
“
Now
follow my lead
.”

“Enough,” the master demands and
S
tone
instantly tenses.
He obediently
releases his grip
on my neck
,
inches back
and lowers his head in the company of the master
.

“Well done, Stone.”
With that
t
he
master
snaps his fingers and Mario appears with t
hree
collars.

I flip over and land on all fours, and
when my
attention
flicks to
Gem, my heart squeezes
and the full impact of what I’ve done hits me.
My rebellious
wolf
ha
s
put us all in great danger and I know
in an instant
I must fix it, must make it right.
Otherwise
all could be lost.

I’m not sure what finally made me snap, perhaps it was seeing Gem damaged, or our failed plan, or maybe it was master’s evil smirk.
But I do know that I’m angry, angr
y
for
losing control,
for losing focus of my mission
.
But mo
re
importantly I’m
disappointed
.

How could I have
lost sight of my goal
?

I want to howl at my
mutinous
actions, for not keeping it together in the face of a crisis.
Instead I give a savage shake of my head and berate myself for my behavior.
I take a moment to remember my vow, remember that the elders died for me and I will not let their deaths go unavenged, which means that n
o matter how much the master taunts me,
no matter how much I hate him,
I can
n
ever
, ever
let
my
rage
get the better of me
again
.

Panting hard, heavy rain drops
drench my tongue a
nd
I
widen my muzzle to
drink them in.
Hydrating myself in the downpour,
I watch Stone shift back to human
, and try not to cringe when my glance traces his deep purple scars
.
As he pulls on his jeans,
I go on my
haunches
, taking that time to heal my
battered
body a
nd settle
my rattled
mind
.

Mario fits
the powerful alpha
with a co
l
l
ar
, then comes to stand over me.
I see trepidation in his eyes,
and
his hands shak
e slightly
as they
grip the circular metal band used to restrain me
.
That’s when I realize
the handler’s
not afraid of me, he’s afraid for me.

He knows my fate.

“Shift,” the master says
, his voice so hard it hits me like a slap to the face.
When I growl, he
signals the other wolves in the courtyard to
back away and
resume their business
.
For them, the show has ended.
Although everything in my gut warns that for me, it’s just the beginning.

I watch them go, the
n
m
y head jerks back to
the master
and I slowly rise to my feet.
As I thin
k
about the damage I’
ve
done, equal measures of guilt and worry
come together in a heavy lump in the pit of my stomach
.
I
have no idea if there is a way to repair the
d
ent in our plan
, or even if our army on the outside is still with us, but I do know that
I’m the one who
got us all into this mess, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get us out.
As I think about what it will take to tear down these walls
and escape
,
I shake off my wolf and call on my human side.