He didn’t need the telepathic connection anymore. He was wolf and was all over Rafferty and Sienna’s scents like white on rice.
His paws tore over the earth as he followed their trail. Dimly, he noted the bloody knife on the ground, but ignored it as he sprinted on.
The urge to kill filled him. Already he craved the tang of Rafferty’s blood in his mouth. Wanted to stare into the listless eyes of the man who’d tried to kill Sienna multiple times already.
Fuck. He should’ve seen it coming. Should’ve realized who was the traitor among them.
The sound of snarls and fighting came from up ahead and his heart twisted with the sharp terror that he was too late. That Rafferty had shifted and was tearing the life from Sienna.
He crested a hill and froze, the moon above illuminating the sight below. There was a break in the trees and in the clearing not one, but two wolves struggled to the death.
Was it possible? The thought barely flickered through his head before he tore down the hill, ready to defend his mate. Kill for her.
When he reached the clearing, though, one of the wolves had already delivered a fatal blow.
He stumbled, almost numb with dread at the possibility that Sienna was the crumpled animal in the shadows.
But then he saw her, shifting slowly back to human and collapsing naked and pale to the ground.
Jesus Christ. What everyone had thought impossible had just happened. Sienna, someone who was only half shifter, had just morphed into wolf.
Warrick shifted quickly back to human, closing the distance between them and kneeling down. Relief sagged his muscles, had a gasp fleeing his lips.
“Thank you, God,” he muttered raggedly. “Thank you.”
She was out for the count, her breathing shallow and her body too still. But not as still as Rafferty’s. The treacherous shifter was dead, his throat ripped out by Sienna. Or Sienna in wolf form.
The thought boggled his mind, was almost too much to comprehend right now.
“Is she all right?”
Kevin crested the hill, before he began to scale downward, slowly and carefully.
“She’s fine,” Warrick murmured, lifting her into his arms, reassured at the feel of her weight and curves in his grasp. “We need to get her out of here and call in the cleanup crew.”
“How…?” Kevin’s gaze and the flashlight he held slipped over to Rafferty. “Did you do that?”
“Sienna did.”
“What? She…?”
“Shifted,” Warrick acknowledged, adjusting his grip on her.
“Absolutely remarkable. I’ll head back to the van to call for help.” Kevin scurried back up the hill, leaving Warrick alone in the darkness.
Sienna stirred in his arms, her lashes fluttering open. “What are you doing here?”
A soft laugh built in his chest. “Baby, I came to save your ass. Turns out you did a pretty good job saving your own.”
“I did?” Her brows drew together. “What happened? I remember Rafferty forcing me into the woods and then…nothing. But oh my God, my body hurts.”
“You shifted into wolf.”
She made a strangled noise and her eyes rounded. “The hell I did.”
“Shifted. Fought Rafferty. Ripped his throat out.”
Disgust swept across her face and she struggled in his grip. He lowered her to the ground but didn’t let her go.
Her gaze scanned the area, before landing on Rafferty’s crumpled form.
“I really shifted?” she whispered.
Warrick kept an arm around her waist, sensing she could collapse at any moment. “Sure did.”
“Wow.” She winced. “Maybe that’s why I feel like I just visited the chiropractor from hell.”
Amusement pricked, but it was quickly swallowed up by another emotion that swelled his chest and filled every inch of his body.
Warrick turned her to face him, catching her chin gently in his hands. “I thought I’d lost you. You have no idea what that did to me, Sienna.”
A tremble rocked her body and she lowered her gaze. “How did you find me?”
“You’re my mate, Sienna. I connected telepathically with you.”
She tensed, before trying to pull away, but he tightened his grip.
“That can’t be possible.”
“Haven’t you realized that phrase is overrated by now? We’re bonded, Sienna. And that bond will only grow. I heard you calling for me. I saw what you saw. Ask yourself how else I could have logically found you in the middle of the Fells?”
She was quiet for a moment, then, “It doesn’t really matter anymore.”
Warrick stilled, tension racing up his neck. “What the hell are you saying, Sienna?”
“I’m saying I release you from the bond,” she whispered, avoiding his gaze. “I’m pretty sure a memory wipe is useless at this point, but—”