Chapter Twenty-Eight
Xander
I had Skylar in my arms and I wanted to hurt her but I didn’t know why. All at once, a rush of icy air seemed to travel through me, making my head fuzzy and the room spin.
I still had Skylar, but the thought of hurting her was horrifying. I spun her around, away from the others in the room. The truth of what was going on rushed in at once.
Marcella. The stone.
That bitch had used the stone on me. Skylar was trembling in my grip. She was afraid of me. My heart ached and I leaned closer to her, noticing the blossoming black eye and redness on her face.
I did that.
I did that to Skylar.
My true mate. The one I swore I would always protect.
“Please tell me I didn’t hit you,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“You throw a mean punch,” she whispered. “Welcome back.”
Something inside me broke in that instant. It was one thing to harm me. It was worse to harm my mate. But to make me harm her was the most grievous sin.
I let go of Skylar, pushing her aside. Then I released my wolf.
I’d never shifted this fast my whole life. It was as if my wolf was in full control, feral and angry and wild.
Marcella’s guards moved in front of her, blocking her from my view.
“Don’t let her get away!” Skylar shouted.
That wasn’t going to happen. Two of Marcella’s guards shifted in front of me. A tiger and a bear. They were huge, muscular creatures and it was clear the queen had chosen them for their intimidation factor.
The bear stood on its hind legs and walked forward, swiping its massive paws at me. I moved aside, only to be hedged in by the tiger.
The massive cat snapped its jaws at me, threatening me. I wasn’t going to back down. With a growl, I charged, deciding the tiger was my first target. The beast lunged toward me, knocking me to the ground and getting a chunk of flesh with its claws.
I yelped but ignored the sting of the injury and quickly managed to break free. The tiger was fast and I just barely missed it’s snapping jaws.
A huge paw hit my side, the bear knocking me down. I grabbed hold of its paw, digging my claws into its arm.
The creature roared, and shook me free. It backed away, cradling its injured arm. The tiger was already after me again so there was no time to see if the bear was going to recover quickly or cower in the corner.
“Enough!” Marcella ordered.
The tiger fell back, turning to its master. I looked over to see Clara in the queen’s arms.
“Don’t make me do it,” she said. “Don’t make me kill the demon princess. I don’t want to, but I will.”
“She won’t kill her,” Skylar said.
I glanced at my mate. Blood streamed from a cut on her forehead and her eye was swollen shut. Skylar was panting, clearly working to catch her breath. She wasn’t in any shape to be fighting but I knew she wouldn’t go down easy. Two of the queen’s guards, vampires by the look of them, were on either side of Skylar. They appeared to be paused mid-fight.
“She won’t kill her,” Skylar repeated.
I wasn’t sure why she was so confident but I wasn’t going to take any chances. If it were Lola in the queen’s grasp, I wouldn’t risk it. I knew what this demon meant to her brothers. I couldn’t take her from them.
Still in my wolf form, I backed away a few steps, trying to show I was going to cooperate.