A Crown of Blood

Chapter 14

I was going to die.

Damon Caine was going to rip my throat out if I didn't haul ass quick.

When his murderous gaze locked with mine. Blood glistened scarlet across his white mouth, dripping onto the remnants of the male beneath his massive paws. I'd seen massive wolves before. But never, ever a creature as beastly and wild as the Alpha of the Caine Pack. His muscles flexed, the hair on his back rippled with his movement, and I swore he readied himself to punch through the small window and drag me inside.

Exhilaration passed through me. And then white-hot fear.

I am so royally fucked.

Move! The wolf screamed in my head. Her panic soured the tip of my tongue and I tumbled out of my hiding spot, the real possibility of my imminent demise rippling up and down my spine, snapping me out of my haze. There was no possible way to beat him. Not even with my magic. This was all about escaping and hoping not to lose life or limb. 

This wasn't how this experiment was supposed to end! I was supposed to make it count!

But dammit. Damn me. Damn him.

My mind focused on a way of escape. Sprinting across the gravel, I reached for my magic for any semblance of help. It sparked and flickered to life—like a lighter shuddering in a harsh breeze—and then sputtered out when the wolf rose with it. In the quest to save me, they battled for dominance—and canceled each other out.

Pain tore up my heels. My lungs burned and the world shifted in and out of focus.

I needed to clear the gates. I needed to get into the woods. Maybe if I found a river, I could make it in one piece. 

But the gates were too tall to clear for any wolf. I collided with the heavy metal, and pounded my fists hard against it, magic sparking and dying under the claws that shot out of my fingertips. What was the fucking point of training if I couldn't use it in a time like this!

Stop it! I screeched the wolf. You're going to get us killed!

And here I thought I'd caught some hold of my magic. That it was possible.

A deafening boom ripped across the quiet landscape, as though the male was breaking through the floorboards and walls to get to me. I threw a haphazard glance over my shoulder, relieved to see he hadn't cleared the door, and raced toward the training cabin. If I got to the cabin, I could barricade myself. Buy some time to get away. There were crystals meant to recharge me. Runes I vaguely recalled.

Damon's vicious growl zapped along my spine. I cried out, waiting for impact. Nothing yet. But the impending doom didn't stop. I smelled blood. Wolf's blood. It was getting closer, along with Damon's angry panting, and the crunch of wood and rock and soil under my feet.

Help me! I screamed to the wolf. To the monster locked in its cage. This is the time to come out!

The cage in my mind rattled and rattled and rattled—but it was too late. As I raced to the front of the training cabin, just as I rounded the corner to the back entrance where Jude and I worked on etching runes into the dirt, Damon's teeth latched onto the back of my dress and threw me. My scream was lost to the air whooshing out of my lungs when I collided with a tree. Stars danced across my vision, and I gasped. And suddenly, he was on top of me. Crushing me to the ground.

No magic or monster could help me.

I was completely powerless beneath him.

Damon's bright eyes blazed in the night as he brought his face closer to mine, blood dripping from his teeth onto my face, his labored breath forming puffy white clouds in the cold night air. There was madness and fury in those eyes. The same madness I'd seen when he chased me to the subway, except with less control.