Page 155 of Ravenous
The sconces in the hall burst as they passed, glass raining like sleet. Dried charms and witch knots tore loose from the walls. The floor split under his pounding strides, dust pluming. Nettle screeched somewhere in the keep as the beast thundered on.
Cold air hit her as they burst into the night. Trees seemed to writhe toward them, as if pulled by the Lykae’s gravity.
Four Riders appeared, hoods up, palms lit. Smirking Rosewyn the Banehand was among them. She could fell even this beast!
“Attack him!” Ditch ordered.
He tensed in readiness—
But the Riders stepped aside. Waved him on. Let him pass.
Understanding rang through her like a death knell.A coup.Conniving Rosewyn hadn’t been able to dethrone Ditch herself, so she’d schemed for a Lykae to do the dirty work.
Rosewyn had fed her to a wolf.
“You treacherous little worms!” she screamed.Enrage not a demon.“I swear on every hell that ever spat me out I’ll peel your minds apart! I’ll save you for last, Banehand!”
Thane’s beast loosed a triumphant howl and plunged deeper into the Witchwood. Branches whipped past, roots tearing under his feet.
“Where are you taking me, you mindless brute?” she snapped, even as dread sank its claws into her gut.
He didn’t slow. Couldn’t acknowledge her.
This creature had a destination. A purpose. A monster driven by Instinct.
She feared she knew exactly what it intended.
“If you force me from the Skein, I will hate you across worlds. You don’t understand. I must be here. I must rule and stop the All-Battle! If I leave, the Skein burns.”
The last chance of the immortals neared, and no one knew this but her!
“Thane, stop!Stop!” Her horns gouged his shoulder again. Her tail and claws dug for purchase.
He ran harder, the world hazy from his speed. They cleared the tree line. The ground dropped away and rose again in jagged shelves.
She slammed her fist against his implacable chest. “Damn you, wolf, listen to me.” Her voice cracked, its raw tone foreign to her ears. “I have never begged for anything in my life, but I’m begging now.Please. Fight for control. Sway your beast. I will do anything you want. I will surrender as your mate. Just don’t force me from here. All will die without me.”
Her words vanished in the wind, carried away with his heaving breaths and low snarls.
The beast tearing her from everything did not care—not about her destiny or wants, only his own. His strides lengthened even more, brutal and relentless, hammering forward.
Toward Mount Nothrior.
Toward the portal.
Toward a world that was not theirs.
***
Meera
Alone. Stunned.
Lowell just left me.She watched as he sped away, slowly lost to the mist.
Her staggered mind kept picturing the excitement she’d seen in his glowing blue eyes. Kept picturing how his beast had begun to surface and how she—idiot that she was—had believed it’d arisen for her.
Bile rose. This moment of discovery had been fated since he was born, and he’d been taking a witch’s virginity and making her orgasm when it’d happened.
