Page 81 of The Night Calling

RAIKA

I watchedin horror as Shane shifted, but not into his usual big black wolf.

This one was big, it was black … but it was something else. He didn’t fall onto all fours. No, Shane stood on his legs, two heads taller than before, his limbs longer, thicker, his hands turned into sharp claws, his body covered in black fur and swirls of shadows, and his face a wolf's—with a long snout and sharp teeth, his eyes bright red.

The shackles broke from around his wrists like an elastic band.

I took a step back as he growled at the demons around us.

At me.

He didn’t recognize me. That was why he had told me to run, to hide.

Oh, by the moon.

Shane attacked the demons and chaos ensued. More demons ran into the main square, coming for Shane, but he ripped through them as if they were made of paper.

The demons guarding me forgot about me and stepped forward to face Shane.

I retreated a few steps.

This wasn’t Shane. I knew he had killed before, I knew he would kill again, but this massacre—bodies piled on the ground and blood spilled everywhere—this wasn’t Shane. It couldn’t be.

Several feet to my left, Conri handed the crystals to Dixon, who put them in a velvet pouch and hid it inside his jacket. Dixon nodded at Conri and broke into a run.

No! He couldn’t get away with the crystals. We needed those.

I turned to follow him, to stop him, but the damn rope around my arms and the shackles around my wrists made it hard to run.

Without thinking about it, I called out. “Shane! The crystals!” I pointed to Main Street, where Dixon ran farther and farther from us.

Shane lifted his head from the fight and stared at me with those big red eyes.

Shit, what had I done?

A cold shiver slid down my spine as he stalked toward me, his lips pulled back, growling.

I stepped back. “Shane,” I called, my voice trembling. “It’s me, Shane.” I retreated, but his legs were too long for mine. In half a dozen of steps, he halted in front of me, his huge shadowy body looming over mine. My legs shook. “I’m your mate, remember?”

Shane leaned over me, he sniffed my head, my shoulder. He reached down with his claws and cradled my arms in them. He lowered his head toward my hands, his mouth opening.

“Shane, no—” The words died in my lips as he bit down on the ropes and shackles and set me free. The broken shackles clanked on the floor—one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard.

Shane lifted his head, his eyes on mine. He had recognized me. He knew who I was. He poked his snout at my cheek, then turned and set into a fast run.

He lunged at Conri, who shifted into his demon-wolf—a four-legged wolf, bigger than most, with yellow eyes, and the same shadow magic around his body as Shane’s. If it wasn’t the same, it was similar.

Conri met Shane half-jump and the two of them rolled to the side and grappled.

Remembering the crystals, I turned toward Main Street. Dixon had a huge lead, but if I shifted into my wolf …

Giddiness filled me as I imagined shifting into my wolf once again. It had been so freaking long. I closed my eyes and let it happen. I welcomed a little pain as my limbs shifted, my bones changed, and my wolf took over.

I fell on all fours, my clothes ripped on the ground, and jumped in delight. I looked down at my paws—my light gray fur was back. Joy filled me.

I set out on a run after Dixon.

Not twenty yards after I started to run, a powerful force rammed into my side and I rolled as if I had been hit by a car. I slammed into a house’s fence and whimpered as I stood and glanced up.