Rika had taken her higher up the mountains, the opposite direction from Sleepy Briar. This was where my cousin Dane, his mate, and Gabe burned Rika’s lair to the ground a few months back. I’d been over this area multiple times, but I’d never caught the dark magic scent like I did now.
It felt good to let my wolf spirit rise. I ran miles easily, never once bothered by the elements. Instead, I relished them. Possessive power raged through me. I would kill this succubus. She dared to take Willow—my mate—from me?
I’d not asked Willow to accept me as her mate, but in my heart, I knew it was true. She was the only woman for me. I’d raise Theo up as my son, teaching him all the ways of the wolf shifter and, when the time came, manhood.
The blizzard weakened. Snow continued falling steadily, but the temperature warmed. Ice stuck to the fur between my pads. I gained elevation as I followed them. Willow’s scent mingled with dark magic and fear.
This was exactly what I’d been afraid of. I’d wanted her away from Sleepy Briar because as a human she was easy prey for a malevolent paranormal. Now my worst fears had come to pass. Willow was captive to one of the few creatures more powerful than me.
I’m coming for you.
What was Rika doing, heading up into the mountains this late in the year? The fresh snow was covering the warmed snowpack below. Springtime was avalanche season in the mountains. Rika knew that.
I loped up the steep incline as lightly as my bulky body allowed. Wolves move gracefully, but dislodging a shelf of soft ice and sending it crashing down a mountain was something even I couldn’t survive.
Up ahead, the scent drew me. My fur bristled. A growl rose deep in my belly.
Rika was marching Willow up the mountain. They zigzagged to prevent triggering an avalanche. Didn’t matter; loosened ice chunks rolled down anyway. I dodged the first two, but the third one took me by surprise. I turned my head just in time to avoid getting hit face-on. Instead, it was like a fist of ice slamming my right ear.
My bellow rang out against the snowpack. If Rika hadn’t known I was following her before, she knew now.
I’m coming for you, Willow. Hang on.
My ear rang from the hit. A trickle of blood stained the snow, marking the path I followed.
Chapter12
WILLOW
Isensed Brody. His energy reached out to me and I don’t know how all this shifter magic works, but it does. His howl of anger made me shiver for reasons that had nothing to do with temperature.
“Stupid wolves. Never subtle.” Rika poked me in the back as we climbed. “Faster.”
I wanted to free myself from her, but for the first time since Taylor died, fear gripped me. My marriage to an abusive shifter was a picnic compared to the threat of dark magic wiping out my son. Being with Theo as he grew was no longer my biggest concern. His very survival was now my top priority.
“Stop dawdling. Keep it moving,” Rika pushed me forward causing me to stumble. “Don’t get all mushy on me. I will throw you over the ledge.”
How to stop her from setting the town on fire?
I couldn’t see Rika behind me, but I could feel her distraction with Brody following us. She muttered and cursed in a language I’d never heard before. The farther we climbed the more chunks of ice and snow fell down the mountain. My pace slowed, and dizziness overcame me. This wasn’t dark magic. What I felt was a lack of oxygen from our fast ascent.
Rika’s gnarled walking stick surely aided her, but I had only my puny human lungs and lack of physical fitness. The trail narrowed again. Ahead, a curve beckoned—or my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had to do something. Throwing myself over the edge would be easiest, but nothing guaranteed I would land in a bank of snow.
And in the end, Rika would still burn the town, with my son in it.
I’d have happily tossed Rika over the edge, but my face still ached from the invisible force field she threw at me the last time.
“Stop!” Rika called.
I turned around. She dug around in her evil purse, out of my reach. I rested my hands on my knees, panting.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“Elevation.”
Rika snorted. “Not my problem you've never seen the inside of a gym. You humans are so soft. How you are successfully ruining the planet at this pace impresses me, considering how weak your own bodies are.”
Where the hell was Brody now? I could no longer hear his outraged growls.