Luckily, I was faster than Bhrunyz. I spared a glance back. He wasn’t gaining on me. I could keep this up and get away.
He materialized in front of me. Shit. I was so fucked.
Fear threatened to swallow me whole as I realized I was going too fast to stop. I was going to run right into him.
I tried skirting around him, but his massive claws ripped into my side.
I howled in pain as I tried to keep going. I didn’t know where I was heading. I just had to go.
Donovan ran past me and leaped onto Bhrunyz again. I kept moving. Bhrunyz would shake him off and keep coming after me. I was his goal.
And then the beast cried out.
It wasn’t just any snarl, but a magical one. It burned along my skin as it locked my muscles in place. I was frozen mid-sprint in the middle of the woods. I couldn’t see Bhrunyz, but I knew he was still behind me. My limbs shook even as the magic held me in place. Fear had my heart racing. How in the hell was I going to get out of this one?
Donovan howled. His power ripped through my muscles. The Alpha was ordering me to move. The bond between us was strong enough that Donovan’s energy overruled the beast’s magic. I nearly cried with relief as my limbs kicked into motion. I lunged into a sprint, glancing back as Donovan tried to slow Bhrunyz down.
Donovan’s anger and fear beat at me as I dodged between trees, trying to get as much distance from the beast as possible. But it was useless. We both knew it. We weren’t giving up. I had to get away, but I had no idea how. The beast could transport whenever he wanted. It was just playing with me.
Bhrunyz cried out with magic, and I froze for a split-second. The edge of the forest was just ahead and the field beyond it stretched wide into the horizon. Donovan’s power set me free. We moved over onto the field.
It went on forever like that. Every time I froze, Donovan would unfreeze me. Bhrunyz couldn’t move his bulky mass very fast. Even with him freezing me, I gained a lot of distance, but every time I got too far away, he’d transport.
Donovan kept trying to attack him, ram his feet, anything, but the beast’s leathery skin wasn’t the least bit hurt by claws or teeth. I was running as fast as I could and Donovan was attacking Bhrunyz, but nothing was working.
Bhrunyz was on a mission to kill me, and he wasn’t going to stop until he’d finished.
The beast got close enough to swipe me again. Pain burned through my left side. My skin grew warm as hot blood rushed from the gash.
Donovan slammed into the beast. My mate was getting desperate and it was going to get him killed. I had to think.
Running was getting me nowhere. It didn’t matter how fast ran or how long I could keep it up, Bhrunyz wouldn’t tire. He wasn’t going to stop.
That meant that I had to stop.
I turned around and sprinted to Bhrunyz. Donovan was still trying to knock him over but having no luck.
My only thought was that Donovan had gone after Bhrunyz’s arms, legs, neck, and head. But when I’d hit his face with the table, Bhrunyz had bled. So it was possible to hurt him.
My best bet was to go for his stomach. It was basically suicide, but I was basically already dead. It was only a matter of time. If I was lucky, his middle would be soft. Even if I didn’t manage to kill him, maybe I could get him to retreat.
I watched Bhrunyz’s arms, waiting for an opening. Donovan ran at him, distracting him, and I had my in.
I leaped onto his stomach. My claws ripped into his soft, fleshy stomach. Black blood oozed out as I fell to the ground.
Something crashed through the field toward us, but I was paying attention to the beast standing over me. He yelled again, but this time there was no magic. He was hurt. I’d hurt him.
But I was hurt, too. I tried to get up, but couldn’t move.
Bhrunyz lifted his arm. His long razor-sharp nails hovered a foot above my head.
I opened the bond wide and poured love through it. I was going to die, and Donovan needed to know how I felt.
A metallic crunch echoed and glass shattered down on me.
I didn’t know what happened, but Bhrunyz disappeared.
He was gone.