Free The Red Wolf (The Wolf Fey #2) by Kailin Gow Page B

pixie, sword raised high.
    “You need to get out of here,” Kian said to me, as we returned to what had by now become a familiar battle formation. “Take her – just keep her safe, do you understand me?” He leaped forth, motioning us towards the gate, which was rapidly being closed by a pair of scowling pixies. The narrow gap between us and the exit was growing smaller by the second. “Make sure nothing happens to her,” he cried. “Can you do that?”
    “Kian, no!” Breena cried, and her cry broke my heart. As I caught a glimpse of the glance they exchanged – so full of pain, of longing – I felt a pain deeper than the cut of any pixie sword. I knew it now – she loved him. She loved him as she had never loved me; I could see it in her eyes. She wanted him; her soul called out to him.
    As mine had always called out to her.
    “Come on,” I said, grabbing Breena by the arm. “We need to get out of here.”
    “But Kian!” she cried.
    “Run!” Kian was shouting, shooting Breena one last look, his brilliant blue eyes glimmering with the force of his love and desire. “Breena, run!”
    And then the pixies set upon him. He was fighting them off now, his sword flashing in every direction as he fended them off, protecting us, buying us time...
    We had no choice. We ran into the night. I transformed into a Wolf and, instinctively, Breena climbed onto my back. Her touch sent shivers through me. Feeling her legs straddle my waist; feeling her muscles digging into my skin, her arms around my chest and body pressed flat along my back– it was an ecstasy the likes of which I had never truly known. We ran faster and faster, outstripping all the pixies, until at last we were safe, shrouded by darkness and magic.
    Breena dismounted, and I shifted once more to my human form, glad of the leather loincloth I always kept tied around me in both human and wolf form.
    I looked at her, my heart swelling with love and longing. She was safe, at last; she was free. We had managed to get her away from Delano – and from Kian. It was just the two of us now. And although my feelings towards Kian had softened, I did not mourn his probable loss too deeply. He may have loved Breena, but he had also kidnapped her, and as long as Breena had anything to do with the Winter Court, she was in danger.
    “You're safe,” I whispered, holding her tight, stroking her hair.
    She looked up at me, her wide eyes filled with concern. “We have to go back for him,” she whispered. Her tone was quiet but steely – from the moment I looked into her fierce, dark eyes, I knew there was no stopping her. This was a different Breena from the one I had known only a week earlier in Gregory, Oregon. Breena was stronger now, more powerful. The air of Feyland had acted on her as it acted on all of us – giving her new life and vitality. She was more beautiful than she had ever been – older, more womanly. The curve of her shoulders and her breasts seemed more defined; her hips almost seemed wider, sloping as they did from the narrow center of her waist. Her face was rounder, smoother. She wasn't a child any longer. Neither of us were. This Breena I saw before me was a woman: the woman I had always dreamed of loving.
    A woman who loved another.
    “Go back?” I couldn't stop myself from protesting, although deep down I knew that resistance was futile. “That man – he kidnapped you! He took you into Feyland...”
    “He saved me,” she said. “From Delano. From all these creatures of Feyland that came after me. He kept me safe. And he wasn't trying to hurt me – he's going to return me to the Summer Palace unharmed. That's my home now – at least, I think it is. But he's not all bad - Kian. When he first took me, I didn’t want to come along. But all that's behind me now.”
    “What – did he brainwash you?” I couldn't stop myself from adopting a sarcastic tone with you. “Breena, this guy is dangerous. As long as you're in with him you risk