The knife never came.
A growl tore through the air instead, raw and savage, and it was followed by a scream that cut off with a wet, horrible crack. Lyralei's eyes snapped open just in time to see a half-shifted female wolf grappling with the elder, her claws buried deep in his chest. The woman's jaws clamped around his throat and she twisted sharply, bones snapping like dry branches.
The elder's body hit the ground with a dull thud, his eyes still wide with shock.
The Crimson Fang warriors shrank back, and their faces twisted with pure terror. Lyralei stared at her savior through the haze of exhaustion, confusion flooding her mind. Who in the name of the goddess could inspire such fear in the warriors?
Then the stench hit her.
That wrong, rotting smell she'd come to recognize over th
