Fated to Break Open

Chapter 17

VALIK POV

The building ahead of us erupted in flames.

I threw myself around Maethys, pulling her against my chest as heat tore across my back.

The force of it shoved us sideways.

Glass shattered. Wood cracked. Something heavy hit the ground nearby hard enough to make the dirt jump beneath my boots.

For one breath, she was all I felt.

Her hands locked in my shirt.

Her body shaking.

Her scent spiking with fear.

My jaw clenched.

I pulled back just enough to look at her.

Her eyes were wide. Too wide. Smoke already catching in them.

“Stay with me,” I said.

She nodded, but her breath came too fast, eyes darting around.

I caught her chin before I thought better of it, holding her focus on me while the fire roared behind us.

“Maethys. Stay with me.”

This time, she nodded like she heard me.

Good.

I turned.

Fire to the left.

Trees ahead.

Pack members scattered across the grounds—some running from the blast, some shifting, some trying to get others out of the open. There was no clean line. No formation. No warning.

This had not been a challenge.

It was an ambush.

My wolf rose hard under my skin, and I let him close enough to sharpen everything.

A human figure rounded the burning building, arm raised.

I didn’t think twice.

One step I was human, the next, wolf.

Threat mapped itself in my blood faster than thought—distance, movement, intent.

I broke his arm in my jaws as heat gathered in his hand.

He hit the ground screaming.

I felt another.

From the right.

I took his knee. Felt it give. Dropped him with my claws before he could fall into Maethys’s path.

I turned. Assessing.

Farther along the edges of the pack, more of these bastards were pressing forward.

I wouldn’t be able to hold them all myself.

The pack moved around us in pieces. Not together. Not yet. Some were still pulling civilians away from the flames. Others were trying to reach the attackers. Smoke twisted between everyone, thick enough to make even familiar scents smear together.

We needed order.

A woman emerged from the tree line beside us, both hands raised.

Something invisible slammed into me.

I dug my claws into the ground and held, my body blocking her from Maethys.

She was there.

Still there.

My wolf eased half a breath.

Zach’s wolf appeared out of the trees, taking another one down.

He approached, blood on his jaw and fury in his eyes.

We both shifted.

“They’re here for her,” he said.

“I know.” He was stating the obvious. “So stop them, Zach.”

His gaze flicked behind me.

To Maethys.

Then back.

“Just hand her over, Valik! They will leave once they have her.”

My body went still.

The fire snapped behind us.

The instinct that marked him as pack went quiet.

A growl rolled through my chest, low and ugly.

Zach’s face tightened.

“Mind your place, Beta.”

His eyes flashed. “Valik—”

The ground trembled beneath my voice.

“Mind. Your. Place.”

This time, he felt it.

His shoulders locked. His wolf buckled beneath mine, submission forced through his body even as resentment burned in his eyes.

Good.

Let it burn.

I stepped closer until he had to look up at me.

“She is not bait,” I said. “She is not payment. And if you suggest it again, I will remove you myself.”

His jaw worked.

No answer.

“Go,” I ordered.

For a second, I thought he might argue.

But his fear showed in his eyes.

He shifted, disappeared into smoke.

I didn’t follow.

I turned back to Maethys.

She was watching me, shoulders drawn in. Her eyes locked onto mine like the rest of the world had gone too loud to understand.

I softened my voice. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Her throat moved.

I didn’t know if she believed me.

I stepped closer, lowering my hand slowly so she saw it coming. My palm settled at the side of her neck, steadying. Not holding her down. Not forcing her still.

Just there.

“I’ll protect you,” I said.

The words were not a promise I should have made in the middle of an ambush.

I made it anyway.

Something moved behind her.

Fast.

I felt the trajectory before I saw it.

I turned, fist already raised, as a slab of stone came hurtling through the smoke.

My knuckles met it hard.

The stone split apart, pieces flying around us.

Maethys flinched but stayed close.

Pain shot up my arm. The impact had caused damage. I couldn’t tell how much.

“Come on,” I said.

I could get her into the mountain. Into the stone walls that wouldn’t burn.

The only issue is it was across the pack.

But it was our best option.

I kept her at my side, close enough to feel the pull of her when she stumbled, close enough that every attack aimed at her had to pass through me first.

A man stepped out from between the buildings.

Mist gathered around his hands.

Cold.

Sharp.

Ice formed from thin air.

He aimed at her.

My wolf snapped forward under my skin.

“Down!”

Maethys dropped.

The first spear of ice passed over her shoulder.

I shifted, launched myself at him.

The second hit my front leg.

Pain tore up my thigh.

I ignored it.

My jaws closed on his throat, and I drove him into the ground hard enough to crack bone. His eyes went wide. Ice broke apart in the air around him, falling harmlessly into the dirt.

I ended him before he could lift his hands again.

Then I turned.

Maethys wasn’t where I had left her.

The space behind me was torn open—scorched earth, snapped branches, smoke rolling low across the ground.

No.

Too fast.

Too sudden.

I lunged back.

I saw her for half a breath through the smoke.

Someone had her shirt twisted in one fist, dragging her toward the trees.

She fought.

Small. Human. Terrified.

Mine.

I moved.

Impact hit me mid-stride.

Invisible.

Brutal.

The world flipped.

Sky where ground should be.

Smoke where Maethys had been.

Then pain detonated behind my eyes as I hit the ground.

I tried to rise and found hands in the dirt instead of paws.

When had I shifted?

My arms were shaking.

My head lifted, eyes searching.

A second blow came down hard against the back of my skull.

The bond flared once.

Bright.

Panicked.

Then everything went black.