Animals ✔

Chapter 25

His shift is almost instant.

It's the smoothest transition from man to beast that I've ever seen, and in seconds his black wolf is towering over me, snarling furiously.

He barely seems to notice the shard of glass in my hand, still snarling at me as he slowly stalks across the kitchen.

Ira wants me to be afraid. His eyes narrow in on my face and I can feel my arm shaking. My knees feel weak and my mind is racing. I'd call the flames, but I'm almost certain he'll feel it coming and leap at me before I can make a move.

The sound of a door slamming shut echoes through the kitchen and my breath catches in my throat. Callum.

Ira jerks his big head toward the entrance to the kitchen, one ear twitching in the direction of the sound.

His body tenses, and I can tell he's about to chase after my brother.

The instant he turns fully away from me I retract my arm, breathing in a shaky breath. I have to do this. It's me or Callum.

My heart is pounding and my hands are shaking. I press the jagged edge of the shard against the side of my neck, directly above the bandage covering his mark.

It's almost funny how history repeats itself.

In this case, it feels like the closest I'll ever get to justice. I steel myself, pushing the glass shard harder against my neck.

"Stop," I say.

Ira doesn't notice, licking his jaws and preparing himself for the chase.

I push the glass even harder, using the tip to pierce the skin of my neck and dragging it slowly across so that it cuts through the bandage and through the mark he left on my skin. It burns as I drag it across my neck, but I force myself to ignore it. For Callum.

Maybe it's the scent of blood in the air, or maybe it's our new supernatural connection, but his massive body freezes mid-bound and he spins around to face me.

There's not an ounce of humanity left in him as he growls furiously at me.

He takes a step forward, and then another. I throw up my free hand, trying to tell him to stop, to back up. I can't seem to form the words. He ignores it.

I'm his prey.

Taking a deep breath, I thrust the glass even deeper into my neck.

He freezes.

I don't move the glass, even as I feel the warm blood streaming down my neck. The world starts to spin around me, but I force myself to remain still.

"Is there anyone going after my brother?"

He doesn't move.

I take a deep breath. "I said is there anyone going after my brother?" I grip the shard tightly, even as it bites into the palm of my hand.

There's no coming back from this.

Either I bleed out, or he keeps me locked away for the rest of my life. I'll be lucky if I even end up with a window the size that Callum had.

But if he's safe, it'll be worth it.

Ira shakes his big head, his black eyes never leaving my own. He's waiting for me to move, to give him an opening. We stand like that for a while, though I'm not sure how long exactly.