The Wild Moon by Riley Storm

Chapter Forty-One

Desperately, I tried to push through the barrier. I fought with all my might, straining against it as claws slowly click-clacked their way toward me.

I didn’t want to die here. Nor did I want to fight him. I couldn’t submit to it either. Meanwhile, my wolf was frantic, searching for some solution. She still wanted to throw herself at him, accept the Soulbond and live the life we dreamed of growing up. But just by looking at him, she knew that this wolf wasn’t going to let us live. We would never have that life.

For different reasons, we both knew we had to get away from him. In this, we were on the same page at long last. The irony of that wasn’t lost on me. That when it was too late, we were able to work together.

We shoved harder as terror overtook us, a wave of never-ending fear as our doom approached us, stalking us, torturing us with his slow approach. It gave us nothing but time to contemplate our end as we dug our claws deep into the ground, straining.

There! It gave an inch, compressing ever so slightly. I swear I had felt it give on this latest push.

I still couldn’t see what was stopping us, though. The tunnel was clear ahead, but we simply could not pass. It was blank. Like an invisible wall. After that first inch, nothing happened. It was like pushing against steel.

Hopeless.

Which meant escape was no longer an option. We were going to have to stand. And fight. I bowed out to my wolf at this, opting to ride in the back seat of our mind while she took control. If we were going to have any hope of escaping with our lives and our fur intact, it would be because of her.

Not that I held much hope. I’d shifted precisely once outside of the now nine Wild Moons that had passed since my twenty-first birthday and my first Soulshift. Johnathan, on the other hand, had been shifting for nearly two years. He and his wolf were much more in tune with one another.

But I had to try. We had to try.

As we turned, an icy spike of fear choked off any sound we might have made. He was less than ten feet away, a huge, furred form, fangs out, saliva dripping from them as he snarled and growled.

We can’t win in a straight fight. We need to surprise him. Do something he won’t be ready for. Submit!

I sent the idea to my wolf, telling her to let go. To bow down to the junior Alpha and truly submit. To open herself to him.

She resisted. If we did that, she wouldn’t come back. He would overwhelm her with his Alpha power, and she would be as good as dead. A puppet to him.

I’ll protect you, I said, reaching out to shield her mind with my own, a layer of defense.

It was our only hope.

My wolf didn’t like it, but I wasn’t sure how we had any other choice. It was this and probably die or don’t do this and definitely die. Any chance was a good one right now.

So, she obeyed. She pressed down to the ground, meek and willful, opening herself up to his power. The Alpha’s command flooded us, and I groaned mentally at the strain as it battered our shared mind like a typhoon raging against us.

My wolf retreated behind the mental shield I’d erected, whimpering and hurt.

But alive.

I had no idea how I was doing what I was, but it worked. Johnathan came to a stop, three feet in front of us, relaxed and confident that he could do with us as he pleased. He snarled and came for our neck.

Releasing the shield, my wolf sprang back to herself and surged through the body. We purged it of the foreign power, and my wolf went on the attack. She lunged at him, going for his neck, trying to end the fight in one swift move.

It was the wrong move. He was too strong. His jaws came around in a flash, and hot pain erupted down our side as his teeth sank deep. We yelped and rolled, paws coming up and tearing at his side as we fought to break free. It didn’t help. Johnathan’s grip was too strong.

With a blinding display of power, he hauled us around and let go, tossing us back down the hallway until our rump bumped up against the barrier. We got to our feet, blood dripping down our right flank.

Johnathan was done playing. He came toward us, step by step, waiting for us to attack. We did, darting to our right, shielding our wounded side, and going for the empty space in an attempt to get past him.

We went down in a heap together, the pair of us rolling, yipping, and snarling. Blood flowed from a dozen cuts on us, and our fur was rapidly becoming drenched in our lifeforce.

At one point, we took a paw to the snout, ripping part of it open. Retreating in pain, we returned to the barrier, breathing hard, exhausted from the fighting, our flanks heaving, foam dripping from our mouth. We were beaten. We could barely stand up, the blinding agony and pain rendering us nearly unconscious.

Our right paw gave way, and we leaned on the barrier, pressing our side to it–

And we fell right through it, landing in a heap, rolling to our feet.

Johnathan snarled and charged, and we backed away, rock crunching underfoot, only to watch as he slammed face-first into the invisible, impenetrable barrier.

The barrier through which we just passed.