I root around, flinging dishtowels and mismatched spice containers out of the way. There’s no block of knives but one of the drawers wields a meat cleaver with chipped edges.
Yes. Good. It will cut. It will hack the moon-mad wolf into tiny pieces.
Grayson’s fingers wrap around my wrist and I jump, the moon-mad wolf rattling the window at the same time.
“It’s fine.”
His words aren’t a comfort.
He brandishes the meat cleaver and, blade glinting, stalks forward.
Another hit and the glass shatters. Only a wooden lattice pattern remains in place. Through my scream, Grayson swipes the knife, the wolf taking the hit. Chunks of fur and flesh go flying.
How do I help him?
How do I feel anything but terrified, frozen, useless?
There might not be an ax but the owner of the cabin has to have something near the fireplace to stoke the coals.
I stalk to the fireplace and swipe a poker from the metal hook buried in the wall, swinging it like a sword.
This is what it’s come down to. Instead of shifting the way I should, instead of doing the one thing I was born to do, I’m worse off than a human.
The beast is halfway through the window when it claws for Grayson.
He stabs with the meat cleaver then buries it into the creature’s forearm. There’s no pause, no yelp of surprise. Only another low growl as it pulls itself forward.
It’s close enough to bite him. Close enough to take them both down.
I wasn’t fast enough to save Grayson the first time.
I won’t let anything happen to him again.
With a yell, I slam the poker down. It glances off the wolf’s skull and buries in the wood floor. I pull it free and glance up at Grayson, holding himself still, staring straight ahead as a shudder racks his body.
Sweat trickles from his hairline down to the sharp jut of his jaw.
This time I’m the one who steps in front of him.
The one who sends the tip of the poker into the wolf’s shoulder. Black and red blood oozes from the wound. It roars, setting me in its sights, clawing at the poker like an ineffective needle stuck in an annoying spot.
I drag the poker free and rear back to jam it into an eye socket this time.
Dizziness worse, stomach revolting wildly against the nerves, I drive the poker forward until it glances off bone.
And Grayson hasn’t moved.
When I glance his way, he’s rooted, shoulders rigid, face set in hard lines. His eyes glow gold and when he turns to me and my heart stops.
“Mandi…”
He trails off as his scent changes and I know in an instant we’re royally screwed. The fight has triggered his change. His wolf pushes against his skin in a rippling wave and goosebumps break out across his forearms.
When he speaks again, it’s with a mouth crowded with pointed teeth.
“Run.”
Chapter