Chapter 229

A low, malicious snarl rumbled in the back of BJ’s throat.

I tucked tail and bolted down the lakeside without waiting for her killing order. The enemy pack didn’t howl as they raced after me, but I howled like a maniac, calling for help.

I hoped some shifters who weren’t loyal to BJ would hear and come to my aid, but my howls only brought five more hostile wolves from the edge of the forest where I was heading.

They rushed toward me, cutting off my escape route.

They’d planned this somehow, which meant they’d followed me, and me and my wolf had been too busy prancing through the forest to notice. They wanted me dead, and I was making the job easy.

After counting their numbers, I ceased howling. If Danielle, Paris, and Summer came, they’d be walking into a trap. There was no way the four of us could match two dozen wolves. No wonder BJ ruled the Academy.

But if Shade could get here...he wouldn’t get here in time. When I’d rushed into the forest, he’d been on the terrace, talking to some royal lady and fully dressed.

I was alone, and this inevitable battle would end soon.

I was a new wolf who had just learned to put one foot in front of the other while chasing her tail for fun. The dozens of wolves closing in on me had been doing this for years and were all highly trained, vicious fighters.

I bared my teeth, intent on maiming as many enemies as I could, but then I caught sight of BJ. I should take her out first. If I failed to tear out her throat, I’d try to gouge her eye out. I had already made her a one-eared wolf. It would be fun to make her a one-eyed wolf as well.

Fear gave way to courage, and a war song pumped in my wolf’s veins. I threw my head back and howled into the sky one last time, then I turned my tail and charged in the direction of the silver wolf, but that cowardly bitch

 had seven wolves lined up in front of her to protect her, and they bolted to me as one.

A brown wolf lunged at me from the side, intending to slam me down with her weight. She was damn fast and had calculated the exact moment to crash into me. I would have been sent flying into the lake—which was a good way to kill a wolf since most wolves couldn’t swim—if I hadn’t lowered my belly against the hard dirt and skipped forward to avoid that blow.

It wasn’t a move a normal wolf could pull off, but I had. The brown wolf flew over me and dove into the lake headfirst with a splash. I’d have cheered if I could afford the time to do so.

Without missing a beat, I lifted my head and kept on the collision course against BJ and her pack.

My tactic was to change direction at the last second and squeeze through the space between two wolves to reach BJ, and then I’d give all I had to swipe my claws against her throat.