Page 95 of Bound to the Wolf
It had been almost a minute since she felt the last beat. Fifty-three awful seconds while her mind came to the realization that the Nevins had succeeded.
She couldn’t feel the tether anymore, and no matter how much she reached out with her magic trying to bind herself to him, it was like something inside him was rejecting it.
Rejecting her.
She had no idea if this had something to do with him being a werewolf and her being a witch, and she didn’t give a damn. She just needed to save him.
Elise was trying to pull her off, but Delainey wouldn’t budge.
Something sharp jammed into her chest, and she gasped, and that finally broke her attention. She looked around and felt over her heart as if she expected to find a spear protruding from her breastbone, but there was nothing.
Then Reece twitched.
“Did you see that?” she said. But Elise had scrambled away to deal with the injured who she could actually help. Delainey tried not to feel upset about that.
Reece twitched again.
Delainey poked her fingers hard enough into his neck to bruise, but this time she found his pulse, strong and quick. She slid her hand up until she was cupping his chin and tapped his cheek.
“Come on, come on, wake up,” she said, patting his face with her open palm, and not gently. But Reece just groaned and turned onto his side.
“You can’t kill my parents!” Delainey heard the scream tear out of Elise’s throat.
Okay, maybe she needed to pay attention to what was going on behind her.
She glared down at Reece. “Don’t you dare die on me now,” she said and got to her feet.
The members of the Wallace Grove Coven had been split up, with Brenda Nevin on her knees beside Cole, who had claws out and hovering right over her neck. Cole’s claws were fully extended, thick, curved, dark at the tips, and they hovered an inch from the pale column of Brenda’s throat.
Tim lay unconscious on the ground at Serena’s feet. His face was turned to the side against the grass, a dark bruise already forming along his temple, and Serena stood over him with her university sweatshirt singed at one sleeve, the last crackle of electricity dying between her knuckles.
Emerson stood by a wolf who must have been Hugh, his hands in the air. The other unnamed members of Wallace Grove were also on their knees, hands up.
“They kidnapped a member of my pack, Elise. I can’t let that go unpunished.” Cole said it without raising his voice, his broad frame planted between Brenda and any possible escape route, stone-carved features giving away nothing but absolute authority.
“Think about what you’re doing,” Elise insisted. “Think about their coven. They can destroy you.”
Brenda didn’t look at all repentant. In fact, she had a smug little smile on her face because they all knew at least Elise was right.
“You kidnapped my people,” Cole said to Brenda.
At the moment, Delainey wasn’t going to quibble about Cole callingherone of his people. This battle felt like more than a truce. It felt like a true alliance. With Nico and Elise together, and her and Reece together because he was going to wake up, and they were going to figure their shit out, her coven and the Southern Basin pack seemed to be getting closer and closer by the day.
“This is all a big misunderstanding,” Brenda said, her chin still lifted even from her knees, that imperious tilt holding firm despite the claws hovering at her jugular. “There is no need for more violence.”
This motherfucker thought she could get away with it.
Delainey had stood up but hadn’t walked away from Reece, and every step she took further from him felt like she was pulling pieces of her soul out, not physically and not magically. Emotionally, though it was a roller coaster.
She didn’t realize she had stepped more than thirty feet away until she looked back and saw the distance. The tether betweenthem was gone, but she could still feel a piece of wild magic deep in her soul, a piece that felt like Reece.
How?
She’d have to figure that out later.
“They masterminded the kidnapping,” Delainey informed everyone, thankful that Brenda had taken a bit of time to explain her dastardly plan before trying to kill them. “She hired someone to kidnap Nico and Elise and hoped Elise’s magic would go wrong, kill Nico, and send her running back to Wallace Grove.” Delainey let the words land dispassionately. She wanted this to be over.
Elise made a pained sound in the back of her throat. “Mom?” she asked. “Dad?”
