The one in the center scurried forward, leaving a small trail behind him in the sand. “Celia Wird,” it screeched.

My eyes widened as the shape-shifter posing as a dove lunged at me. Aric hauled me behind him, but the form the shifter took as it lunged was large and strong enough to tackle us to the ground.

I was crushed beneath the weight of Aric and the shifter. My lungs burned as the air was forced out. Aric yelped in pain before snarling and taking out a chunk of whatever was on top of us. A horrible crunching sound filled my ears as I fought to take a breath, but before I could panic from the lack of oxygen, the weight was abruptly lifted.

I scrambled into a crouch, my tigress eyes replacing my own as the rest of my beast demanded out. Aric guarded me with his massive gray wolf form. Blood dripped from his jowls, coating the dead tiger at his feet.

Aric had torn the tiger’s throat out, killing the shifter almost instantly. My fingers gripped his fur. I was stunned. It had taken me, my three unique sisters, and a swarm of vampires to kill the last shape-shifter we’d encountered. Either Aric got lucky or his strength as a pureblood werewolf continued to grow.

Aric curled his body around mine and howled, calling all nearby weres to his aid as chaos erupted around us.

Two horses lay dead, victims of the remaining two shifters. One shifter had transformed into a giant eagle and was circling above us, a screaming horse writhing in its grip. The other shifter had turned into a black panther the size of a minivan. All the werewolves, including Heidi, attacked as beasts, leaping onto the panther’s back and trying to force it down.

My sister Shayna wasn’t a were, but had inherited a touch of werewolf essence from her mate, Koda. His magic gave her a burst of speed. Not as fast as the weres’, but enough to join the fight. She lifted a knight’s discarded sword, manipulating and sharpening the metal until it elongated into a deadly blade. She swung as she spun, slicing off a chunk of the panther’s paw when it tried to slash her.

My remaining sisters hid behind the cluster of boulders. Emme stayed perfectly still, waiting for the right moment to use her telekinetic power. Taran wasn’t as patient and attempted to stir flame from her hands. But her newly regenerated limb affected her command. The funnel of fire she built dwindled to flecks of embers within moments of summoning her power.

Her waning strength and control scared me, but now wasn’t the time to show fear. I caught my breath and changed into a golden tigress, only to have Aric block my launch forward and growl. He didn’t want me to fight. He wanted me safe. I couldn’t blame him. He knew I hadn’t fully recovered from my last fight and had permanent scars to prove it.

He growled once more before leaving me and ramming the panther at full velocity. The panther’s ribs cracked when Aric connected, the force dragging him across the sand. But as tough as Aric was, the shifters still reigned as the deadliest preternaturals on earth. Injured or not, I wouldn’t allow my chosen pack to fight without me.

I charged, my large form grinding to a halt as I sensed something descending toward me like a bomb. The eagle shifter had released the horse. Good grief, Pegasus he wasn’t. The horse crashed down, narrowly missing me and splattering into a million pieces. Something, possibly his stomach, smacked me between the eyes and temporarily blinded me with its fluid.

Emme screamed, “Celia!”

I bounded toward the sound of her voice. I still couldn’t see and hoped I was going in the right direction. While I moved fast, it wasn’t enough. The eagle’s talons punctured my hide. Despite the jolt of pain, I stretched out my claws to the earth and shifted him into the ground with me.

My body and his broke apart into tiny molecules that passed through the sand. My intent was to bury him and leave him to suffocate. He must have been familiar with my unique gift because he released me before I could take him far.

When I surfaced several yards away, he was already breaking his partially buried body free and propelling toward me. Damn, he was fast. His powerful wings tilted, easily dodging the boulder Emme flung at him. I shot in the direction of the forest; if he wanted me, he’d have to work for it.

I raced across the road, luring the shape-shifter away from my group. If I could buy them enough time to kill the other shifter, the one chasing me would be easier to take on.

My ideas were always better in theory. I’d barely felt the forest floor beneath my paws when razor-sharp talons dug into my back legs and I was wrenched into the air.

Shit.

The damn shifter screeched, loud enough to stab at my sensitive eardrums. But that pain didn’t compare with the pain I felt when his talons cut into my muscles and scraped at my bones.

Agony claimed my entire being, each pull to my muscles growing worse and more torturous as I swung upside down. Beneath me the earth spun. I made out brief images: a river, the thickening stretch of forest, and the tops of its swiftly approaching trees.

Trees! Shit, shit, shit.

The momentum I used to avoid the pines added to my torment. I roared as the shifter jerked and dipped in awkward motions. This evil bastard wanted me to suffer before he sacrificed me to his deity. So despite the mounting pain, I swung my body hard, grabbing onto my back legs and curling into a ball.

He screeched again, soaring with erratic flaps of his wings.

The treetops smacked at my underside. It hurt, but it beat decapitation. I tried to use my free claws as weapons. It wasn’t until I pulled myself into a better position that I realized why the shifter kept screeching and why we were flying so unsteadily.

Aric, my beloved wolf, must have managed to fasten his jaws to one of the shifter’s wings before he took flight.

His presence gave me the strength I needed to act fast. I dug my claws into the underbelly and took a massive bite. The shape-shifter screeched again, but still wouldn’t release me. So I snapped my fangs repeatedly until his blood poured into my mouth.

In a rather daring move Aric changed back to human and used his hands to scale up the shifter’s back. Chunks of feathers rained down as Aric ripped the shifter’s wing apart with his hands. I clawed and bit harder, knowing the shifter would use his powerful beak against Aric if I didn’t distract him.

The shifter’s screeches grew more pained when Aric snapped the bones of his wing like rotting bark. But instead of diving toward the earth, the shifter soared higher.

That’s when I panicked. If he thought he would die, he’d take us with him. He tucked his broken wing and dove, sending us spiraling out of control.