“What’s wrong?” Donovan grabbed my shoulders, holding me in place. “Are you sick?”
“No … dizzy.” Granted, my stomach was rolling. Even though I couldn’t hear or smell anything, I knew something was charging at us. “We need to go back. Now.”
Egan tensed. “Let’s go.” He pointed at me. “Can you pick her up or do I need to?”
“I’ve got her.” Donovan bent down and threw me over his shoulders.
Vomit inched up my throat. “I …”
Realization sunk through me. We were no longer alone.
Chapter Five
“Let me down,” I groaned. I didn’t want to stand but having Donovan’s shoulder rammed into my stomach was infinitely worse.
My head still swam, but I had to power through it. Something … someone … was almost here.
“You can barely stand.” Donovan stopped in his tracks. “I don’t know if it’s smart.”
“Something’s here.” This would hurt like a bitch. I rolled, desperate to get out of his grasp so I could face the incoming threat. I braced myself to hit the ground, but Donovan tightened his hold on my waist.
“Just give me a second,” he said with annoyance. He grabbed my waist and set me down.
I managed to stay standing … barely. “We aren’t alone.”
“What do you mean?” Egan tensed, and he circled us, scanning the area. “I don’t …”
Roxy came to my side and touched my arm. “Sadie, there isn’t anything around us.”
“No, she’s right.” Egan took in a deep breath. “We won’t be alone much longer.”
“If this is a joke because we left you two behind, it’s not funny.” Roxy glanced over her shoulder. “We’ve learned our lesson.”
Axel glared at Egan and me as he stood protectively on her other side. “You two are scaring her, so stop it.”
“No, I don’t give a shit that you took them out here.” The more they got in tune with nature, the better. “This isn’t about you. There’s …” Two hauntingly gorgeous men stepped from between the trees.
The tallest one was a few inches shorter than Roxy, about my height. He had short royal blue hair and matching eyes. His golden skin glistened even in the shade of the trees.
The shorter one took a step toward us. His bright yellow hair hit the middle of this back, and his eyes were a light yellow. They looked eerie, especially against his pale skin, and they were locked on me. “What are you?”
“I think the better question is: Who are you?” Egan stepped in front of our group, protecting us.
“We aren’t interested in you,” the yellow-haired one spat as he focused on me. “It’s her.”
My brain felt like it had sunk to the bottom of a river. A strong current rushed inside my head, muddling my thoughts. “You think I should be forthcoming when I have no clue who you are?” I forced my legs forward, and by the grace of God, I didn’t fall to my knees.
“We came here in peace, this one time.” The blue-haired man lifted his chin. “It’s wise not to anger us.”
“What are these people?” Axel scratched the back of his neck. “By guy standards, these two are shorter than average.”
“Do you find yourself funny?” the yellow-haired one said threateningly and glowered at Axel as my head swam harder. “Like we haven’t heard that joke from your kind before.”
Roxy snickered before she could tamp it down.
I hated to use the pack bond with them already, but it was necessary. Do not make fun of them. These guys are fae.
What the hell’s going on? Axel sounded scared. I’m hearing voices now.
No, it’s the pack bond. I didn’t need them freaking out. We can mind link when we want to say something between our group or individually.
Fae? Donovan lifted an eyebrow. I don’t even know what that means.
The fact that Donovan was staying on point was great. He’d accepted his wolf a little more, and he recognized the threat standing before us. I hoped the other things that came with being a wolf would be easier to accept after he’d had time to reflect on it.
Dude, remember Tinker Bell from Peter Pan? Axel actually sounded excited, but then he trailed off. She was freaking hot. Is she for real?
You keep thinking about hot girls, and I’ll cut your dick off in your sleep, Roxy growled.
Oh, dear God. Tinker Bell was based on fae. We had to focus before we lost track of everything.
How the hell was their magic affecting me that way? I needed to protect my pack. Besides, the fae wanted to focus on me. “I’m a wolf shifter.”
“We’ll give you one last chance to answer honestly,” the yellow-haired one said with disgust. “You should know how hard this is for us as we aren’t known for our patience.”
They were the most quick-tempered supernaturals when they had to travel to this world. Their presence here scared me.
You know, I always thought yellow was a happy color until this guy, Roxy quipped through the bond.
I didn’t bother responding—my focus needed to stay solely on them—but I agreed with her. He was the angriest of the two. I could feel the power radiating off him. “I don’t have any other answer to give.”
The sun faded away, and darkness engulfed us. The yellow-haired fae’s face morphed into one of pure disgust. “Fine, we’ll do it the hard way.”
A fallen branch lifted into the air.
It then shot across the opening toward me.
Egan moved to help me, but the branch was moving too fast. It reminded me of the bullet the vampire had fired at me.
My eyes locked on the branch, and despite my foggy brain, something inside me warmed. The friction built within a second and blasted out of me. The branch fell to the ground.
The yellow-haired one huffed. “What the hell?”
“Don’t worry.” The blue-haired man threw his hands to the side, and something surrounded me. He lifted his hand, and I felt like something was squeezing me.
I took a ragged breath and tried to push whatever was inside me out, but it sputtered like it was losing steam.
“Sadie!” Donovan yelled and touched my arm. “What’s wrong?”
“I … I don’t know.” None of this made any damn sense.
Egan charged at the blue-haired guy. “Stop hurting her.”
“You don’t get to intervene,” the yellow-haired one said and pointed a finger at Egan, flinging him backward like he was a stick. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Egan slammed into a tree trunk and grunted. “Like hell, it doesn’t.”
Now! Donovan yelled through the pack link.
He and Axel raced toward the two fae, and the blue-haired one lowered his head and bent down. He hit the ground with his hands, and the earth cracked apart as if he were drilling a hole. The lines traveled directly to Donovan and Axel.
Shit, we needed help. Roxy, howl. We needed to alert the vampires.
Yeah, okay. She threw her head back and pushed her wolf forward enough for a howl to escape.
The blue-haired fae diverted his attention to her. “They’re calling for backup.” He closed his hand, and her voice cut off like she had a muzzle.
I’d never fought a fae before, but I’d been told they were super powerful. The only way to weaken them was to keep them in this dimension long enough. They could only replenish their powers in the fae realm, but these guys weren’t at risk of losing too much power. It was like they had stepped straight out of their dimension.
Something had to give. I was so damn tired of feeling helpless. I let anger fill my body and fuel every part of my being. I wasn’t sure what I was doing—even my wolf whimpered—but I had to do something, and this felt right.
I watched as Donovan and Axel collapsed, and Roxy’s eyes widened in pain. Egan was still plastered to the tree. We were all helpless against the two fae men.
Static electricity broke in my chest and flooded my body. I didn’t know what the hell was happening, but I couldn’t let my pack or Egan get hurt.
Several loud howls echoed around us.
“What the hell?” The yellow-haired one frowned. “I thought they were the only four wolves here.”
“So did I,” the one with blue hair replied without taking his focus off us. “Go check it out.”
The yellow-haired one vanished.