Miles sent more thorns into the air, and Rowan realized he wasn’t doing it so much to kill the werewolves as to protect the house. Even so, one of the wolves—the largest of the pack, which Rowan assumed was the alpha—sent a blast of magic through the vine wall. The thorns shattered.
This was the one who’d broken through the gates. He was at least seven feet tall when he stood straight, fur bristling and claws gleaming. Definitely a werewolf, but he was something else, too.
The wolf crashed through the thorns, followed by another.
Miles gaped though his hands still glowed with geomantic energy. He plunged his magic into the ground again, causing a rumble that should have knocked the wolves off their feet. A few were, but not the alpha.
Rowan approached him, intent on driving his sword through the pack leader’s neck. He couldn’t get there because another wolf flew from the shadows to his right. His sword collided with claws. The snarling werewolf didn’t seem to care that the sword was cutting through his hand.
He sliced through and out, then brought the blade down, lopping off the wolf’s hand. The creature howled and staggered. This gave him a chance to push the sword into the wolf’s chest. Six dead.
And one barreling for the front door.
Rowan shouted something, adrenaline burning through his veins. Miles couldn’t bring up enough thorns to stop the alpha from bounding onto the porch. Rowan ran, but he wouldn’t make it in time.
The wolf on the porch shattered the door and leaped into the house.
CHAPTER SIX
I liked that door, and now you’ve fucking ruined it, Stacy thought as her front door splintered from the impact of the creature coming in.
She nearly rolled her eyes at the seven-foot werewolf with gleaming red eyes. He was crazed, bloodthirsty. Are you shitting me? She was sick of fighting werewolves. Couldn’t Victor get creative and send something else for once?
Her shield of protective magic flared around her body despite knowing her armor would keep her unharmed. However, it would be a shame to dent or scratch it when she could use magic. She was at the end of the hallway when the werewolf crashed through her front door. Kiera was closer.
Stacy soon understood why the sidhe fae woman’s last name was “Swiftshadow.”
As soon as the werewolf appeared, Kiera disappeared, then reemerged from the shadows she had folded herself into. Stacy gasped. Ethan had told her about this. Illusion magic where its user could fool their opponent by showing something that wasn’t there or obscuring themselves from view.
The latter was what Kiera had done. She appeared at the werewolf’s side a second later, surprising him with a swift stab to his side. As soon as her blade made contact, she yanked it out. Blood dribbled onto the floor.
The werewolf howled, and Stacy lunged for a second attack. The wolf blasted a gesture, and Stacy flew through the hallway. She crashed into another door with a groan.
The werewolf had fucking magic? Other than shifting?
This had to be a hybrid creature. The magic had sent Kiera staggering as well. The red-eyed werewolf turned and bounded into another room as if searching for something. Kiera would have given pursuit, but two more wolves raced into the front hall, snarling enough to rattle the frames along the walls.
Kiera unleashed herself with the twin blades, a dance of lethal grace, stabbing through one wolf in seconds. Shadows rippled around her, the manifestation of whatever magic she held. The blades gleamed bright and golden, and the sigils flared each time Kiera swung and sliced. Stacy realized the woman could fend off the second wolf without a problem, so she turned to chase the one who’d come through first.
Her dining room was in shambles. It looked like the werewolf had cannonballed into the center of the table, breaking it in two. He wasn’t in the room. Her fury boiled as she hurtled into the kitchen.
He wasn’t there either, but she didn’t have time to run out before the window exploded and another wolf flew in. He landed on the kitchen table with a low growl. Stacy’s enraged scream bounced off the walls. Glass was everywhere, and the brownies Kiera made were ruined!
She shot out with her magic. The wolf howled but wasn’t daunted. He lurched for her, and Stacy dropped, rolling under the table. It broke in half, and she rolled again, escaping the wolf’s massive weight.
The loud commotion of dishes clattering followed. Stacy looked up, gaping. “What the fuck?”
Something else had entered through the window. A life-sized garden gnome with burning red cheeks and small, flying fists. The gnome landed on the wolf and pummeled it with its porcelain hands. Stacy had never seen anything like it, and the sight rendered her motionless.
She heard the grunt of a wolf dying in the hallway and tearing sounds from the living room. Her rage toward the alpha wolf who’d first broken into her home returned. She would ask Rowan about the guardian gnome later. She bolted from the kitchen into the living room to find the alpha wolf tearing through upholstery. He swung his body, toppling an antique vase.
Stacy’s dragon eyes flashed, more gold than green. “You fucking bastard! That was my favorite vase!”
The alpha wolf whirled, baring his teeth, and stalked toward her.
Stacy poured more magic into her shield. “Who sent you?” she thundered.
The wolf released a bitter laugh. “Won’t matter, bitch. Soon, your blood will stain this pretty little rug.”
Stacy imagined her mother or Rowan had picked out the rug. “You’ve ripped my home apart.”
The wolf shrugged as if he’d done this sort of thing before.
“What are you?” Stacy demanded. He was taller than most werewolves, and that blast of magic…
That was how he’d gotten through the rune wards, she realized.
Pure hatred filled the werewolf’s eyes.
“I don’t like witches,” he snarled. “Except for how they taste.” He licked his chops and lunged.
Stacy evaded him with two easy steps, whirled, and kept her shield intact. She blasted a shot of magic, but he’d seen it coming. The wolf released a low laugh that trembled the picture frames.
Far off, Stacy heard the sounds of struggle on the grounds. Where the fuck was Kiera?
She side-stepped another attack from the wolf, a blast of magic that hit a wall, melting several frames. He lunged once more, claws raking across her shield. She cried out and spun, nearly stumbling over the arm of a sofa.
“You should never have come here,” she seethed as she pulled all her power together. She spotted a window. One more broken wouldn’t matter. She flung out her magic, and the wolf’s eyes widened. He didn’t have time to block it. The orb collided with him, and he flew. The window shattered, and the wolf landed in her garden.
