Of course, he was a bear.
There was no time to think about the potential fallout. All she could do was react. Grabbing a basketball-sized rock, she hurled it at one of the approaching wolves and managed to hit it in the head with a satisfying crunch. Another, she felled with a tree branch before turning to face off with the remaining two. If she could hold them off long enough, it would give Magnus the chance to take down the alpha.
Her makeshift club jarred in her hands when she slammed it into another wolf skull. She might have been stronger than an average human female, but it still didn’t come anywhere close to equaling the power exuding from the males around her. Her meager energy was waning quickly. She needed to get rid of the collar. Now.
A wolf tackled her to the ground, knocking the air from her lungs. She only just managed to wedge the branch in his mouth to prevent him from taking a chunk out of her as she leaned back to look at the other two locked in battle.
She hoped she was doing the right thing. As she kicked the wolf in the belly, she screamed, “Magnus! Get me his necklace!”
Would she even hear her? And even if he did, could he risk doing as she asked?
Nari lashed out with her legs, kicking whatever was within reach over and over as she pushed back on the branch. Her muscles burned, and she couldn’t breathe as the strain wore her down. The wolf’s hot breath and saliva rained down on her as she choked on her own bile, but she wouldn’t stop fighting him. She couldn’t.
She managed a fleeting glance at Magnus, hoping he was faring better than she was. The two other wolves still standing were now on him as well. He barely seemed to notice them biting and clawing at his back as he focused on their much bigger alpha.
The damn wolf on top of her was relentless, and his energy seemed unflagging. How the hell was she going to help Magnus when she couldn’t get this wolf off her?
Fate answered her question. The tension on the branch proved to be too much for it, and with his next lunge, it splintered.
Screaming with effort, Nari gripped the ends and thrust straight up at the same time he dove down for the kill.
One half went into his eye. Nari twisted that at the same time as the other jammed into the back of his mouth. He reared back, howling, but she drove them deeper. She continued to shove and twist and kick and scream until he lay on the ground. Still.
She dropped to her hands and knees, air sawing in and out of her lungs, her muscles in agony. For a moment, she was sure she would just collapse onto the mossy ground, but Magnus was still in danger.
After giving the inert body one last kick to make sure he was dead, Nari limped as quickly as she could toward the tangle of bear and wolf. The two smaller wolves were down, and from the mangled state of their bodies, she was sure they weren’t going to get back up.
With no hesitation, she launched herself at the wolf tearing at her mate’s body.
Magnus roared. At her or his adversary, who knew, but he couldn’t have been happy about either.
Nari clawed at the wolf’s face, concentrating on the soft squishy target that was his remaining eye. He was unable to do much about her attack when he had the much bigger problem of Magnus to deal with.
Needing a handhold, Nari grabbed on to the leather necklace that was still around his neck and took advantage. Grabbing it with both hands, she pulled and twisted, doing her best to cut off his air. If it ripped it off him, all the better.
He let out a guttural growl as he craned his head around to try to bite her. It gave Magnus the opportunity to swipe him with his massive paw. The momentum and force of the blow threw the wolf, and, since Nari clung to his fur, her with him. The jarring impact knocked the breath from her lungs and had her seeing stars as they landed in a tangled heap on the ground.
****
Magnus dropped to all fours again as he roared.
What had he done?
Magnus hurried to where Nari lay as fast as his battered body would allow. If he hurt her, he’d never forgive himself. What was he thinking? Of course, he’d hurt her. She lay crushed under a giant wolf, motionless on the ground because of him.
Shifting back, he tugged the body of the wolf away so he could cradle her body in his lap. Only, she wouldn’t let go. That gave him some hope. She was conscious enough to do that. It meant she was okay, right? “Nari? Speak to me. You can let go.” He tried to pry her fingers from the leather strap she held, but she only gripped it tighter. He thought he was going to choke when she tried to pull the wolf closer. When she couldn’t do that, she climbed over the body.
“Nari?” What the hell was she doing? She couldn’t be mourning him, could she?
Maybe she was confused. Nari was covered in blood and who knew what else. Was some of it hers? How hurt was she? Had she taken a hard knock to the head? It certainly was one explanation and one he actually preferred to her caring that the wolf was dead.
He forced his aching body to still and simply watched as she wrapped her arms around the wolf’s neck. Could you hear your heart break? He was pretty sure he truly felt it too.
Before he could fully react, she lurched back with the leather strap in her hands and a triumphant smile on her face as she kicked the body away from her with so much disgust that it was almost comical.
Relief was too mild a word for what coursed through him, and Magnus let himself collapse to his knees as the adrenaline in his system ebbed.
She crawled the short distance between them and fell against him.