Read Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) for Free Online Page B

movie. Their eyes glowed gold in the scattered light around us. The wolf at the front shifted, her body emerging from her wolf shape in a smooth wave as she stood in the fog.
    Buck naked, she’d obviously never been taught to shift with her clothes. Straight black hair and porcelain skin accentuated her ballerina body.
    Alex was suddenly there, putting himself between me and the woman. “Beauty bad,” he snarled, snapping his teeth, his tail stiff in the air.
    She laughed and put a hand to her throat. “Oh my, is this Alex? You escaped us many times.” She sneered. “Impressive. For a submissive.”
    From my hip, I took my coiled whip and slowly let it unwind. “Who the fuck are you?”
    She flicked her hair back so her body was totally exposed; her nipples didn’t even pucker bad in the cold air. Bitch. Her eyes flashed gold as her wolf rose for a brief second.
    Yeah, she really was a bitch.
    “You may call me Beauty. I am the leader of this pack.” Her eyes narrowed. “I do believe you have thwarted me in the past, when I tried to kill the submissive.” Her golden eyes flicked to Alex suspiciously, but he didn’t cower, instead stiffening even more as a growl trickled from his lips. “But, he does not seem so submissive now.”
    “Aren’t you supposed to be out there, helping Liam?” I was guessing as I pointed with my whip; I’d assumed the howls earlier had been because Liam had called them. Beauty casually looked over her shoulder and then shrugged.
    “He sent us to wait for him here. Which means we will wait until he comes.”
    Alex didn’t seem convinced of her sincerity. “Bad. She is bad.”
    I Tracked demons and evil spirits, just to be safe. The pack was clear—there was nothing coming off them that worried me. But the sudden clatter of hooves steered my mind away from the werewolves.
    Nikko came snorting up behind us, his crush strung out in a ‘v’ formation.
    What is wrong? The wolf sent us away in a hurry and I sensed there was more than your wish for us to move.
    “The ogres are not our friends.” I tried to think of a way to say it so nothing would be given away to Beauty and her pack. “They are friends of Orion.”
    Nikko reared up, sending me back a few steps. He came down so hard he cracked the tile at his feet. They meant to take us by surprise? To come down on us as we slept?
    “Most likely.”
    “Who is this Orion? I have heard his name,” Beauty said, her eyes narrowing.
    There was no chance for me to answer. A howl ripped through the night air and there was only one wolf who wasn’t standing in the courtyard.
    Liam.
    The wolves turned as a pack, bolting into the darkness. I started to follow, knowing there was no way I could keep up to them.
    I will carry you; he saved us. Nikko went to one knee and I didn’t think, just leapt on his back. A second unicorn with a coat so red it looked liked fresh spilled blood joined us and Erik leapt astride as though it were nothing.
    “Niece, where you go, I go.”
    My heart twanged a little, but I had no time to think on it, other than a fleeting thought of, ‘this was what it meant to have blood relatives stand by you’.
    “Faris, get people out of here!” I yelled as Nikko leapt forward into the fog Doran created, toward the sounds of ogres roaring. The wolf pack ran at our side, their howls answering Liam’s.
    My hands curled tight into Nikko’s mane as he galloped toward the fight. But his steps faltered as we came across a green ogre running toward us, Calliope in her arms.
    I Tracked demons and evil spirits again, and got nothing back, and by then I could see who it was. “She’s clean! Mer, get to the house!”
    Mer nodded and continued to run.
    Be careful, the demons have a cursed knife. Calliope’s voice was soft, but there was no fear in her, only confidence.
    Nikko picked up the pace again, catching up with the rear guard of the werewolves, the red unicorn and Erik at our heels. The wolves slammed into the first