My breaths came in short bursts. With every inhale, my lungs burned from the workout I’d just finished with Bevin. I’d no sooner shifted back to my human form, complete with running shorts and a sweaty ponytail, when a fluffy white towel careened through the air and into my face. The fabric hit hard enough to sting the sensitive skin near my eyes. I ripped the terry cloth fabric away and glared at Carter, the guilty party.
“What the hell?” I demanded.
“Sorry, you looked like you could use a mop-up.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. A grin teased the corners of his mouth. “I was just trying to help, swear,” he added, when he saw my expression.
“You know she’s in a mood, Carter. Don’t be an idiot,” Bevin said around gulps of water.
Carter just snorted, completely ignoring the warning. “I can handle myself.”
My glare hardened further. “You want to test the theory?” I snapped.
He shrugged, but there was a hardened gleam in his eye. “I’m game.”
I handed my water off to Bevin, too happy to give him what he was asking. My fight wasn’t with Carter. Deep down, I knew that. But I had no other way of relieving the fountain of stress that seemed to bubble closer and closer to the surface with each passing day.
Bevin opened her mouth like she was about to argue but must’ve thought better of it and backed away. It wouldn’t have done any good. She was right. I was in a mood. It was this stupid competition. No, it was the competition and my sister. Why did I have to fight her? Why couldn’t I fight Lane or Ronnie or someone else? Hell, why couldn’t it be Sheridan? I definitely wouldn’t mind taking her down.
The bottom line was that I was twisted up about the fight to come. And the only way I knew to deal with it was to fight as much as possible now. The gleam in Carter’s eyes let me know he fully understood that. The human side of me appreciated that about him. The animal side of me just wanted to tear a chunk out of his—
“Ready when you are, Vuk.” Carter stood with his feet planted shoulder-width apart and arms loose. His fingers were twitchy at his sides. He reminded me of a cowboy about to draw his six-shooter. It might’ve made me laugh under other circumstances. As it was, I smirked, all confident and aggressive. He didn’t even bother to shift yet, waiting on me.
I pulled my wolf to the front of my mind. It hung there, ready anytime I gave it the green light. I loved this feeling. The way it felt right before I shifted. With my wolf straining against my human self, itching to be free. It felt like possibilities. I felt alive.
I eyed Carter and nodded. “Go.”
We shifted at the same time and I launched myself through the air, straight at the bark-brown wolf that was Carter. He planted his feet and bared his teeth, waiting to meet me head-on.
I collided with him and we went rolling, end over end. I could hear his teeth snapping, feel his animal breath on my neck. I snapped and shoved at him with jaws and claws. When I could feel us slowing, and he threatened to pin me, I shoved hard and felt his ribs land with a thud against a tree trunk. The breath whooshed out of him and he stilled. Just for a second.
I saw my opening.
I sank my teeth into his neck and bit down. I felt his flesh tear—just a small piece—and the blood well up into my mouth. I released him and spit blood onto the leaves, heaving and shaking my head against the coppery taste it left behind. I thought that would be the end of it. I didn’t even bother to look back at him. I just assumed he’d take a minute to catch his breath, let his body heal, before he shifted back to his human form.
So without turning, that’s what I did. I shifted back. To my sweaty ponytail and running shorts. And used my arm to wipe the blood off my chin. It felt beyond gross in this form to have blood on my mouth but it would be easier to clean this way. I pulled my shoulders back, getting ready to spit some more.
Several yards away, Bevin raised the water bottle to toss it over then stopped mid-swing, her eyes going wide at something over my shoulder. She opened her mouth as if to yell something but never got a chance.
The impact of Carter’s wolf weight hit me from behind and sent me flying. He landed on top of me in a strangled yelp, knocking the breath from my lungs. I convulsed and rolled over the grass, struggling to get my breath back.
Carter rolled away before he could land on top of me. For that, I was grateful. Carter as a wolf was damn heavy.
It dawned on me as I waited for the air to return that the impact from being thrown to the ground hadn’t even hurt. My lungs ached as they seized for air but all I registered was a burning sensation in my right shoulder, extending up to my neck. Vaguely, I had an image of sharp nails sinking into my shoulder and ripping skin away.
I managed to glance down at my shoulder where the burning stemmed from. All I could do was stare at the red liquid bubbling up around the gaping hole of white tissue and exposed muscle. It didn’t even hurt. I was too shocked to be hurt. At first.
My breath returned just in time for me to let out a scream.