Bumps In The Road / Paul Lahote

22. Breaking the Spell

"Maybe, maybe not." Ryder frowned and suddenly he cocked his head and put his hand over mine. 

"Show her," Ryder insisted glaring at Ryan. This time I turned to him in confusion. 

"How did you know?" Ryan laughed with a grin. Before I could further question, I noticed the colour of Ryan's eyes change so that the iris was so dark it appeared black, thus making his entire pupil look dark. And then gradually, each of his features shifted. His eyes grew slightly larger and morphed out of the almond shape. His full bottom lip became thin and his bone structure morphed into another face. 

"I can't stand your kind" Ryder sneered, shaking his head with irritation and glared at the warlock. A strange relief filled me, but was quickly replaced with worry. 

"Where's Ryan then? The real Ryan" I asked, turning to look at Ryder. Before he could answer the the terrifying sound of growling filled our surroundings. I looked over and saw half of the pack approach the clearing through the bushes on one side, and the other approached us from the left. The warlock suddenly looked over his shoulder sharply, only to be attacked by a Sam's big jet wolf. At the same time, the two closest wolves backed up Sam's kill and went for the warlocks  lower body, pulling him apart. 

"Wait!" Ryder took my shoulders in his hands and turned my attention to him.

"It's okay, I know where he is," he quietly told me. "I am the best tracker, you know?" With all the emotions that I had felt within the last minute, the only way I could express my gratitude was by throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug. 

"I really thought it was real for a moment there, god. How could I have been so stupid? How did I miss it?" He pulled away and locked eyes. 

"It wasn't your fault, they tricked you. He was a very good shape-shifter and played you. He had discipline and training, otherwise you would have known," Ryder assured me with a firm tone. 

"Thank you." I smiled softly. He smiled back a crooked grin. I turned my head to see two of the wolves approach us and laughed when one of them spat out black blood.

"Yeah, that wasn't a leech." I shook my head with a sigh. I turned over to look into the eyes of Sam's wolf and nodded with appreciation.  

"Thank you for the help."

"Kira, we have to go" Ryder said quietly in my ear and took my arm gently. I nodded and went to follow him without second thought.