Chapter 133. Craving Solitude

I clenched my fists. My lower lip trembled. I could not tear my gaze away, though every fiber of my being screamed at me to get out of there.

Then I felt it—a sudden, brutal force smashing me into the rough bark of a tree. Pain exploded across the back of my head and surged down to my neck as I collapsed in a heap. My vision swam; the world spun. Something hard bit into my flesh, and I screamed, the sound lost in the roar of flames and the monster’s triumphant snarls.

“No…” I croaked, fighting to push the creature off me. Its claws raked my shoulders, and the tips of its dripping fangs sank into my neck. Blood welled around the puncture wounds and trickled down my collarbone.

I thrashed, slamming my fists against its side, but my werewolf strength had deserted me. My arms felt like lead, my mind hazy. Darkness edged in at the corners of my vision.