Free Luke's Dream by Melissa Haag Page B

pulling away from the shoulder. But, thanks
to her pulse and scent, I knew a moment before she moved to try to
bite me and blocked her while still keeping the bike on the
road.
    Undeterred by her failed attempt, she
repeatedly tried for success. The base of my neck tingled with
anticipation. I wanted her teeth there very badly. However, her
reasons for wanting to Claim me were all wrong. Had she been
several years older, I wouldn’t have cared if her reasons were
wrong or not. She wasn’t older, though, and I couldn’t bring myself
to use her fear to obtain what I wanted.
    When she finally gave up, she leaned her
forehead against my back. She was cold again.
    “I’m going under,” she said, relaxing.
    “Try to hold on. I called for help. There
should be a car ahead,” I said over my shoulder. I twisted the
throttle to speed up.
    Even with the wind from the ride, I could
smell her spike in fear as she wrenched her head from my back.
    “What do you mean you called for help?”
    A wolf flew out of the woods before the last
word left her mouth. Big, black, and furry, the chap just missed
our back tire. Bethi wrapped her arms around me tightly, trembling
as it scrambled to gain on us.
    “Ease up,” I said, knowing it would hear.
“You’re scaring her.”
    When I watched him try to bite the back tire,
I realized this wasn’t the wolf Joshua had sent to meet us.
    “Hold on,” I called loudly over my
shoulder.
    “Faster!” She punctuated the command with an
unnecessary slap to my back.
    I’d twisted the throttle and gained some
speed when another shape flew into our path. I leaned left and made
a swift, deep swerve around the second one. Thankfully, Bethi moved
with me, keeping our balance as she clung to my back and panted in
fear.
    A small, distressed sound escaped her a
moment before her arms tightened around my waist and the strap cut
into my chest. One of them had her. Releasing my hold on the bike,
I let her captor have us both.
    The bike continued forward, slipping out from
between my legs as I reached back, wrapped around Bethi, and
severed the strap. We landed just seconds after being unseated. I
quickly got to my feet as the bike glided for a distance then fell
onto its side on the gravel shoulder.
    In a glance, I took in the competition and
crouched defensively in front of Bethi. Since this was an
unsanctioned challenge in a public place, these two were unlikely
to play by the rules and come at me one at a time. From the looks
in their eyes, they meant to kill me to get to Bethi.
    The dark grey wolf behind us surged to his
feet and shook the severed bag from his mouth. The black wolf
counter paced his grey partner. They studied me, waiting. Two
against one left the odds in their favor, but they were smart not
to rush in.
    “Go,” I said, giving Bethi a nudge. I didn’t
want her to see what would happen next and preferred her safely
away from the fight.
    “No, thanks.” She picked herself up off the
ground and moved several steps back but didn’t leave.
    The two tensed, sensing an opportunity, and I
knew there wasn’t any time left to argue with her.
    I loosened the tight hold I had over the
change and let my claw and teeth burst forth as I leapt forward.
Both wolves crouched and sprang for me. Twisting in the air, I
reached out toward the grey while swinging out my legs to the
black. My foot connected with a chest as my fist drove into a
muzzle. As I landed fully transformed and on all fours, the black
wolf stopped his backward slide on the road and the grey one shook
his head.
    Both exuded anger and resentment. I truly did
empathize with them. I’d felt the same way when I heard Gabby
showed preference to the quiet, backwoods Clay. However, I never
thought I had the right to kill one of my kind to get to her.
    When the grey wolf lunged at me, I twisted
and deflected a viciously aimed bite. The black one used the
distraction to try to move in. Spinning, I savagely ripped into his
face. With my