Tea, Lycanthropy and Other Virtues

Chapter Forty-Nine

As they drew closer, the noise grew, and then he saw a faint glow in the sky.

"Is it snowing?" Simon asked, holding his hand out.

Hugh caught a flake and rubbed it between his fingers. "It's ash."

They kept moving; the noise growing and then it hit Hugh as if he'd walked into a brick wall.

Rage.

He stumbled to a halt, the wolf snarling inside him.

"What?" Simon asked.

This was nothing like the sadness or fear that had trapped Constance before. When that had happened on the hilltop, he'd been able to shift back to human form. He'd whispered in her ear to help her find her way back. This wasn't even like the fear laced nightmares that had tormented everyone back at Carnsley.

This was so much more. It was white hot and all he could feel was anger and the wolf straining at the leash.

"The witch may have been right," he said through gritted teeth.

Simon walked to the nearest intersection and gasped. Hugh followed cautiously, anger rising in his chest.

Buildings were on fire all along the street. Hundreds of people were running toward the palace. It took him a moment to realize that there were wolves among them, some mid-change as they bolted toward the guards, saliva thick on their faces.

"Mother!" Simon said, pointing.

A woman stood before the castle gates, guards spread out on either side of her. She had her feet braced, her fists raised, waiting for the first wave of supernatural creatures to reach her.

She and the handful of guards were all that stood between a writhing mass of monsters and the royal family.

Hugh growled low in his throat. He shook his head.

"Simon, I can't go any further." It was suddenly hard to form coherent words. The beast was lurching inside, mad with his mate's anger.

"I knew you would need me," Simon said, his eyes big in his pale face.

Hugh looked around, forcing his rational mind to hold on. "Get to Constance and stop her. This feels—" he groaned as anger beat through his veins. He'd explode if he didn't give in soon. "She gets lost sometimes and she can't find her way out."

Simon nodded. "Like when she's dreaming. Where is she?"

"In her mind—"

"No," he said impatiently. "Where is her body right now?"

Hugh had been scanning and sniffing. There were too many other scents hiding hers, but there was one building that made the most sense. He pointed to the abandoned church.

"I think there," he slurred, backing away from the wall of fury as it expanded toward him.

"Be careful, we are not in our right mi—" his words cut off. He doubled over in pain, the wolf taking over his body. "Get away!" He hissed.

Simon was already running back down the street.

Distantly Hugh heard his shirt seams rip. He saw Mrs. Allen intercept the first wave of monsters, bones crunching, and then he was tearing through the streets to protect his brethren, anger beating through his veins.

He was an animal now.

He registered a look of surprise on the woman's face as he launched himself into her. She was almost hesitant to engage with him, but he knew she was the real threat, not the soldiers arranged behind her or even the very distant sound of sirens and bells that were just ringing through the city.

His paws hit her in the chest and she fell backward, but she kept rolling, kicking him off of her with her legs. He slid on his side into an iron lamppost with a yelp. It surprised Hugh. He was not used to prey being so difficult. Of course, she was not prey. She was a huntress, and that was why she had to be stopped.

"Remember who you are, Hugh!" she yelled. "You don't want to hurt the royal family!"

He was back on his feet. He wasn't Hugh, not right now. There were other supernaturals converging on the woman, but they were no match for her.

As a warrior, there was a place in his heart where he could appreciate the skill with which she fought. She did not back down. But there was too much rage beating through his veins for the respect to stop him.

The other supers parted, as if they could sense he had a better chance.

"We can not let Baines win. I don't want to hurt you, but I will defend this city." She grabbed him by the muzzle and lifted him over her head. But this time he was ready, twisting in the air so that when she let him go, he landed on his feet. He crouched low, his hackles raised, dodging out of the way of her jabs.

"I don't want to hurt you!"

He didn't believe her.

Someone grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side. It smelled like a vampire. Her head cracked into the vampire with a sickening crunch, but before the vampire had even crumpled to the ground, the wolf had the Huntress's arm in his powerful jaws. Blood leaked over his tongue. There was something about the way she tasted, something familiar...

Her other fist connected with his skull again and again.

He let go and dodged out of her way. A small voice in the back of his mind telling him that her blood tasted the way his mate smelled, wildflowers.

But rage beat through his veins, beat through his head. It drowned out all the other shapes, all the other senses.

The Huntress was distracted, fighting off several of them at the same time. He crouched low, ready to pounce again. This time, he'd have her throat in his jaws.