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  No time to look in the scope, she lifted the barrel and pulled the trigger. The butt of the rifle slammed against her shoulder because she hadn’t the time to position it right, but that was nothing compared to the pain of the weight of the snarling wolf. Axton slipped on his back leg where her shot had landed, and that injury was buying her time. Emma fought like some wild thing, using the gun to keep his jaws off her neck. “Dustin!” she screamed.

  Desperate to live, Emma’s system filled with adrenaline as she kicked against Axton, and pushed against the gun. Just as her strength failed and Axton lunged forward, something dark sailed over the brush behind her and barreled into her attacker. Axton flew sideways and spun into a tree, but Dustin wasn’t done with him. He attacked viciously. Beast roared behind her, and the air filled with the howling and barking of wolves. Emma should’ve been cheering Dustin on, happy for him that he was ending this, that he wasn’t on his belly begging to be a part of a pack that didn’t deserve him. She should’ve been fully immersed in the moment, but all she could do was stare at the seeping bite mark on her hand.

  Tears streamed out of her eyes to her cheeks and slipped down, down until they made pattering sounds on the dry leaves beneath her knees. Axton was lying on the ground now, eyes full of hate on his brother who stood over him, crimson teeth bared and poised to finish him. Dustin hesitated, though, and she got it. Even if he was traitorous and evil, Axton was his brother.

  Burning pain drifted up her veins from the bite mark, and she clutched it to her stomach as if that would stop the excruciating sensation. “Dustin,” she whimpered.

  His glowing green and blue eyes crashed onto her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said mindlessly. It hurt so bad. “I’m sorry.” She held out her hand. Pit-pat, pit-pat.

  She couldn’t even open her hand anymore. It was frozen with pain, as if she was in a fire she couldn’t escape. As if she was a vampire in the sun, but that would never be now. Not when the wolf was devouring her body.

  Dustin looked back at his brother, and a horrifying snarl left his lips. Axton huffed a sound that resembled a wolfish laugh. Laughing? He thought this was funny? Wreaking havoc on Kane’s Mountains, using his brother, planning and plotting Dustin’s death, and now this? Stealing her chance at turning vamp, stealing her chance at hearing like everyone else. Stealing her chance to sing.

  Dustin leapt onto him, and Emma ripped her gaze away when he jerked Axton’s neck. There was a sharp whine, and then nothing. The pain was dizzying, and all around her was the barking and howling of the wolves, as though they were calling the monster from her soul.

  A panther screamed in the woods, a bear roared, and across the sky streaked two monstrous dragons. Perhaps she was dreaming. Perhaps she was still back in the motel and would wake up from this nightmare whole again.

  Head spinning, she fell backward, but where she expected to hit the ground hard, Dustin’s arms were there, cradling her back and head.

  He was in his human form, but he looked like hell. Beautiful hell. Cut and bitten, covered in seeping crimson, his long hair matted and plastered to his blood-spattered face, his eyes glowing, Dustin looked like a warrior. No, he was a warrior.

  “Beast,” she murmured, her arms seizing with the fire in her veins.

  “Fighting.” Dustin looked up toward the sounds of yipping and whining and chaos. “All of the Blackwings are fighting but the dragons. They’re waiting.”

  “For what?”

  Dustin leveled her with a look. “For vengeance. They’ll be eating ashes tonight.”

  “It hurts,” she whispered.

  Dustin’s eyes rimmed with deep emotion, and he looked away. “I know, Em.” He swallowed hard and looked sick. “This is all my fault.”

  “I don’t want his wolf, Dustin. Not his.”

  He dragged his misty-eyed gaze back to her. “I can call your coven. My phone is in the car. Maybe they can get here in time.”

  She shook her head. Sweet wolf for trying to give her what she wanted. “That option has passed. I can feel it in me.” She arched her back as she felt her bones breaking. Emma sobbed, “Dustin, I want a wolf from you. Please.”

  A tear streaked through the blood on his cheek. He pulled her against his chest. And right before he sank his teeth into her shoulder, he whispered, “I’m so sorry.” And then there was deep, aching pain.

  The fire blasted down her nerve endings, but she didn’t fight this one. This wolf she wanted. Dustin was sorry, and so was she for how things had turned out, but right now it felt imperative that she was Turned by Dustin, not Axton. Some deep-rooted instinct told her she could be okay if Dustin Turned her. She didn’t want to be a monster. Her entire torso was engulfed in pain now, but this was how it should’ve been. Dustin was rushing to take her shoes off, her shirt…her hearing aids. She would still need those. Emma sobbed harder as she curled in on the pain expanding like a sickening fog down through her stomach.

  There was fire around them. Dual flames blasted into the clearing behind her. She could smell the smoke and more. She could smell the dragon’s gas and hear the click of their firestarters. Agony rippled through her, warring with the pain in her arms until a new and brighter pain took over.

  “Let her have you,” Dustin murmured, rocking Emma’s body and stroking her hair away from her face.

  Winter was there, a black panther, pacing a few feet behind Dustin, her glowing eyes gold and trained on Emma.

  Let her have you.

  Massive and hollow-eyed, face and claws covered in blood, Logan’s bear lumbered in behind Winter.

  Let her have you.

  And then Beast was there, human, bitten up, bleeding, eyes glowing gold still. He felt terrifying. Was this what Dustin was always talking about? Could she feel dominance now?

  Let her have you.

  Emma closed her eyes and reached for the wolf. The good one that was light and born willingly. The one Dustin had given her, not the dark creature that sat snarling within her and ready for violence. Not the monstrous creature Axton had tried to turn her into.

  With a gasp, Emma held onto the good pieces of herself and ripped apart.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Emma was the most beautiful creature Dustin had ever seen. She stood there in the headlights, legs splayed like a newborn colt, eyes a fierce green and locked on him. Her coat was thick and striking with cream points and a light gray saddle. Her ears were erect, and her lips were drawn back over her teeth. She approached slowly, head down, steps unsteady as her massive paws flattened against the mud. She gave narrow-eyed looks to the D-Team, then trained those blazing green eyes back on Dustin.

  Shit, she was about to maul him, and he was too devoted to her to lift a single fang to hurt her. She could gut him right now, and he would let it happen.

  Axton’s wolf had won. That much was clear from the snarl in her throat and the heaviness that wafted from her. Emma climbed over his legs, opened her jaws, and bit into his shoulder, shredded it. Dustin grunted and waited for her to move to his neck and end it all.

  But she didn’t.

  Emma released him and did something that made no sense at all. She licked his wound over and over, cleaning it. Panting at the pain, he looked to Logan, but the bear huffed a deep breath and herded Winter into the woods. Beast stood suddenly and strode away into the shadows, and the dragons dipped this way and that into the woods, devouring ashes, devouring the packs that had joined forces to destroy Dustin.

  Emma buried her massive face against his chest and whined, her tail wagging slowly, and it hit him. Axton’s wolf hadn’t won. Emma had.

  Her first act as a werewolf wasn’t violence. It wasn’t vengeance for what had been done to her.

  Instead, Emma—his beautiful, loyal, fearless Emma—had claimed him back.

  Chapter Eighteen

  This body didn’t make sense yet, but it would. Her stance was too wide as she tried to keep her balance, especially with Dustin’s grip in the scruff of her
neck. His face was buried in her fur, and over and over again, he heaved breath. He’d been through hell tonight. They both had.

  She’d already fallen in love with him, but here, in this body where all her senses were heightened and on alert, she became hopelessly devoted to him. He smelled so familiar. Fur and Dustin. Blood, too, but that was an afterthought. Perhaps it was the bite she’d given him that was causing the warm sensation in her chest right now, or perhaps it was that he smelled so sad and so happy all at once. Guilt for what had happened to her, but more potent than that, love. He’d chosen her without hesitation. She’d asked for his wolf, and there had been the barest flicker of a relieved smile there on his lips. He was her world now. Her pack, her crew, her mate.

  Mine, she tried to say, but it came out a high-pitched whine that hurt her ears.

  Everything was so loud in this body, so crisp. Every leaf rustling in the storm wind, every soft pattering rain drop, every hitched breath from Dustin.

  “I heard the gunshot, and I thought I was going to lose you,” he rumbled in a gravelly voice. “I thought I wasn’t going to get to Axton in time. Why did you come for me, you crazy woman? I told you to be careful, not run into danger.”

  She whined again and licked his face. I would do anything for you, just like you would do anything for me.

  A precise line of fire blasted the earth behind Dustin and ate up Axton’s body. The wind grew to hurricane strength, and Dustin shielded her protectively. In a moment, it was done. All that was left was Kane’s terrifying dragon arching upward with battered demon wings that stretched as wide as a mountain. Where Axton had lain, there was nothing but a deep divot of charred earth.

  Dustin was free, but his eyes held a thousand ghosts as he looked at the burned earth. Emma’s heart ached for him. He’d had to kill his own brother, and no matter that Axton deserved death, it would be a mark on Dustin’s soul forever. Emma wished she could take that pain into herself so he wouldn’t suffer.

  Winter’s panther screamed again from the woods. She was calling Emma, calling the crew. Above, the dragons were monstrous, lifting on the air currents until they disappeared into the thick, roiling storm. Lightning flashed and illuminated their dark silhouettes in the clouds. To Human Emma, it would’ve been a terrifying sight, but to Wolf Emma, it was beautiful. Those were her dragons. Beast had thought the crew failed them, but they had come. Breathe, bleed, and die for each other, no matter what. Perhaps this crew was more like a pride than the battle-hardened Beast had realized.

  “Emma,” Dustin murmured in the softest voice.

  She ripped her gaze away from the sky and searched his eyes. What Dustin?

  A slow smile transformed his face as he cocked his head. “You can hear me,” he said in the barest whisper.

  Emma perked her ears, flattened them, and perked them again. Winter, Logan, and Beast were moving through the woods, just beyond the shadows. She couldn’t see them in the dark, but she could hear exactly where they were and smell that it was them. She could hear Dustin’s breath and his racing heartbeat. She could hear her own.

  She’d known her hearing would be improved in this body, but she hadn’t realized it would be perfect. She wanted to cry and scream and laugh, and then cry some more. She spun a quick circle and blasted down onto her front paws, butt up in the air, tail wagging for her mate. You did good Dustin. Really good.

  “Listen,” he murmured. Dustin cupped her face gently and raised his eyebrows. “Listen. We always knew the animal would be able to hear. Your human hearing will be improved, but it might not be like this. We won’t know until you Change back.”

  Emma pranced from foot to foot. How do I Change back?

  “Wait.” When Dustin chuckled, his smile was stunning.

  Home is where you rest your bones. No. Home was in Dustin’s smile. The real ones he made for her.

  Dustin stood, his muscles flexing with the movement. His eyes were so pretty right now in the dark, glowing blue and seafoam green. “Before you Change back, and before we find out either way how your hearing will be in your human body, I want to show you something. Okay?”

  She yipped excitedly a few times. There was too much pent-up energy in her body. She could hear Winter purring now. Emma wanted to tackle her with wolf hugs and bite her. Not to make her bleed, just to tell her she loved her. A love bite. She would bite Logan and Beast, too, and if they tried to kill her, she would just run away. She would be fast in this body. Show me!

  She bolted unsteadily to the tree line, then back for Dustin. She was starting to get the hang of this body. Come on! I want to see and hear everything!

  Dustin grunted and Changed into his beautiful black wolf with the eyes she adored. She didn’t like the pained sound in her mate’s throat, though, so she licked his face, because instinct said face licks would make anything better. She could lick him all night. She was going to do that. Lick him until he was happy, but wait! Dustin let off a warning growl and clamped his teeth onto her neck. Whoo, he was serious. And sexy. She liked his teeth. He gave good love bites. Emma barked excitedly about a dozen times in a row until Dustin let off a strange, long yip and trotted off toward the D-Team. He stopped at the tree line and waited, eyes locked on hers, face somber.

  He was stunning in this form. There was no color variation in his fur, and he wasn’t mottled like Axton had been. She could see him so much better in this body. He was pure black with a thick barrel chest and long, powerful legs, giant paws, and a thick tail that swished languidly as she approached. He probably had fifty pounds on her wolf. Mine, mine, mine. Dark Wolf, bright soul. My Dustin. Emma was a greedy wolf. She would bite anyone who looked at him. Hi Dustin! She rubbed up his body like a prancing cat, and he huffed a wolfish laugh, then trotted off into the woods, careful to step around the scorch marks. Careful to avoid the last remaining evidence his psychotic brother had existed on this earth. Emma sniffed it. Bad. Smelled like evil. Dustin wasn’t like him. She’d gotten the good one, not the cull pup. She’d gotten the one who grew up to be a dependable, protective man.

  The rain sounded beautiful. Her ears twitched in every direction with the rain pattering against fern leaves. Dustin had warned her not to get her hopes up in her human body. It wouldn’t be like this. She still had missing parts in that body. She would still have impairment, but at least the tradeoff was this. At least her wolf could hear. She wanted to cry again. Why were her emotions so up and down right now?

  Winter hissed as she trotted by.

  I love you, too. Emma veered off and chased her for a love bite, but Winter bolted up a tree. Tricky kitty. Emma pranced back and forth on her front two paws and barked, but Winter sat on a branch out of reach, her long, black tail curved down gracefully, her eyes glowing gold in the dim light.

  Dustin circled around her, herding her. He wasn’t as tricky as Winter. She could see exactly what he was doing. He wanted to show her something, so she gave in. Bye Winter! Oh! The sleek cat jumped in front of Emma and startled her.

  Winter was big, and her claws were out as she slunk into step beside her. Hi. She ran her whiskered cheek against Emma’s muzzle once.

  Emma tried to lick her, but Winter ducked out of the way and swatted her with a massive paw. Didn’t hurt. Logan was here now, an enormous dark-furred grizzly, striding in the woods parallel to them. He smelled like blood and brokenness. Emma loved him, too.

  Beast was human, but Emma wanted to sniff him, so she bounded up to him and barked a bunch so he would memorize what she sounded like. You’re welcome.

  Beast narrowed his eyes down at her. His face looked painful, all scarred up on one side and perfect on the other. He lunged like he would attack her, but he didn’t smell mad, not really, so Emma held her ground and wagged her tail. He was all cut up, and the rain that splattered on his skin made red rivers down his torso. You’re my friend. You helped me save the one I love.

  Beast snarled, but there was no venom behind it. With an annoyed glance at the group behind th
em, he sighed and brushed his fingertips over the fur on her head once. “Now shove off,” he muttered.

  But she didn’t miss it. He’d smiled. Only for a moment, but it was there, and it counted. Tonight was the best. Except…she really wasn’t going to be a vampire now, and maybe she would never sing… A wave of memories hit her at once. The longing to be in choir with her school friends, playing guitar to her lyrics and barely being able to hear the music. Her voice, always off-key and out of her control. Always slurred, no matter how hard she worked on it. All of the times she cried on her bed and wished she could sing like the people she wrote songs for.

  Her emotions were so overwhelming in this body. A soft whine left her as she really thought about the blow she’d been dealt. She’d gotten the wolf, but it had come with a price. What if her hearing was just the same when she Changed back to a human?

  And then Dustin was there, right beside her, big and strong and steady. He drew in front of her and blocked her path. Was this what he wanted to show her? Emma looked around, but there was nothing special about this clearing. It was circular and surrounded by towering trees that had vines dangling from their branches. Despite the October chill, everything was still lush and green, and the moon had peeked out from the clouds just enough to douse the forest in hues of blue. It was beautiful—breathtaking really—but it was just like the other woods they’d been walking through.

  And then everything changed in an instant.

  Beside her, Dustin arched his neck back slowly, a howl lifting from him as he closed his eyes. Emma stood there utterly shocked at the sound. So pure. So perfect. Her fur stood up all over her body. When Dustin’s note tapered, he lowered his muzzle to hers and opened his eyes. He said so much with that look.

  I love you. This is the gift that comes with the wolf. Are you ready to sing?

  Buried in emotion, Emma lowered her head.

  Dustin lifted a howl again, but this one was different. It was lower, louder. It called to her in ways she didn’t understand. It drew her wolf up and made her want to…sing.