When I lifted my head, seven wolves circled around me keeping the others at bay. I fumbled in the bag for my knife, relieved when I clasped the handle. An attacking wolf leapt high trying to clear the circle, but one of my defenders jumped up to meet him. The move knocked them both back into the waiting melee and created an opening in my defense. Another of the enemy ran forward to take advantage of the break, but a sleek grey wolf spun from the circle and used a swipe of his claws to rip away the throat of the attacker.
My eyes scanned the forms as I looked for Luke’s coppery coat. I found him in a sea of attackers—Luke had been the wolf who’d blocked the attacker’s jump. They bit at Luke, tearing into his skin as he swirled, swiped, and savaged those around him. None of the defenders encircling me moved to help Luke. Without thought, I shuffled toward him. My heart hammered and my palms grew cold and clammy as another line of blood marred Luke’s coat.
“No,” I whispered as another attacker sunk his teeth into Luke’s neck. Luke still hadn’t recovered from the last bite he’d received. Possessiveness swelled along with anger.
“I have run,” I croaked with an emotion-tight voice. I straightened and dropped the arm protecting my middle. “I have bled.” I moved forward, determined. “I have remembered.” My voice rose and some of those on the outskirts of the fighting angled their heads to watch me. “I am the Wisdom of the Judgements, and I will not fail again!” I screamed at them, flipping the knife in my hand, and throwing hard through the tangle of bodies. The blade flew true, sinking into the eye socket of the one attached to Luke. “Bite him again and I will rip your tongue from your mouth!” I promised.
Two turned from Luke and moved toward me. I touched the hindquarter of the grey wolf in front of me. “Pick me up,” I demanded not caring that he fought with several wolves. He slashed wildly, spun toward me, shifting so his arms looked more human and capable of throwing, and lifted me. “Throw me to him,” I said pointing at the screaming wolf clawing at the knife in his eye. I saw the grey wolf’s hesitation to throw me into that mess and touched his face. “Now!”
Catapulted into the air, I tucked into a ball and closed my eyes as I somersaulted toward Luke. Remember. Remember. I’d never done this myself. Never my own body. But another of my sisters had. I opened my eyes as I felt the downward pull of gravity. The wolf was just below me. He wasn’t paying attention, but others around him were. They moved to try to catch me. Luke looked up, causing an opening for another injury.
I swore again, untucked myself, and twisted to land on the wolf with the knife in his eye, bringing us both to the ground. The impact killed my stomach, ripping me further. I grunted in pain but still managed to pull the knife from his eye. It caught slightly on the bone of his socket. The wolf screamed. I silenced him with a swipe before I stood. A wall of man-wolf bodies leaned in around me. Luke growled and raged just beyond.
“Time to die,” I whispered with a slight smile.
Several pairs of eyes widened in surprise as I swiped out in a spinning turn and sliced open their soft under bellies barely covered with fur. Yeah, I knew how bad that hurt. Ignoring the grunts of pain, I dodged their attempts to grab at me. I fell to my knees and swiped again, darting the blade behind their knees. Three dropped to my level. Three more crowded in. The handle started to slip in my grip. I swung out again.
A horn blared long and loud. A few of the wolves around me looked up as a white wolf landed on the three new wolves thinking to have at me. Another wolf with a brown coat landed behind me, his growl sent a shiver down my spine. He didn’t attack anyone. He partially transformed to lift me, his big hands gentle. Something in his soft brown eyes stayed my knife.
He jumped and brought me back into the circle of six bodies that still surrounded the bike. There he set me on my feet with a firm “stay” and leapt back into the dying fray. Despite the odds, we were winning. Four of the wolves fighting with us moved with such incredible speed and agility that they faced at least four opponents at once.
Bodies started flying through the air as the wolf who’d saved me started throwing the injured and dead away from the immediate area. The attackers’ numbers halved. And then, as one, they turned and fled. No one gave chase. As the road cleared of attackers, two cars sped past and turned the curve in the road that I knew led to the Compound. Several of the wolves turned their heads to watch the vehicles pass, but no one made a move to stop or follow them. In the window of one, I saw a little boy’s face.
I bent slightly, curving an arm around my stomach again and was surprised my guts weren’t leaking out, yet. Then Luke was beside me, pushing me toward the bike. He bled from several lacerations and no longer wore a shirt. Tinker Bell covered his bottom half. I smiled and sobbed at the same time.
Luke sat on the bike, and someone lifted me behind him. Everyone moved quickly. We all recognized the need to leave before another bout could begin. I draped against him too hurt and tired to do more. Finding a clean spot near his shoulder blade, I turned my head and gave him a kiss.
Somehow, we’d done it again. Survived. Tears trailed down my cheeks to drip onto his skin.
The wolves ran beside us as we sped to the Compound. I shook and clung to Luke. Blood covered his back, again.