Chapter 71

Amanda was taking in all the new things she was able to do since Hudson marked her. Did this mean they were fully mated now?

Willow chuckled softly inside her.

We’re not fully mated to Hudson and Artemis just yet. There’s more to completing the mate bond than just receiving a bite from our mate, Willow explained.

Then why did the bite help her connect to Willow?

Willow softly answered her question: You allowed it to happen. When you were ready to accept Hudson as your mate. You accepted me as your wolf and allowed the connection to form between us and your magic.

Amanda nodded; things were starting to make better sense. But there was one question that was still lingering inside her. When would they finish completing the bond?

I think now is not the time for that to happen. It’s a little more intimate, Willow said.

Amanda’s eyes widened at the information that her wolf just revealed and made her blush. She was glad that Hudson was in front of her and couldn’t see her burning cheeks.

Amanda froze for a moment and started to sniff the air. She looked up at the dirt ceiling above her.

“Packs just above us, they’ve shifted into their wolves and are scattered about,” Amanda told them.

Hudson’s hand tightened around Amanda’s; he needed to get her out of here and somewhere safe so that he could go and help his pack. Up ahead, Hudson saw a clearing. They were close to the surface. Hudson and the group slowly walked out of the tunnel. They looked around and smelled the air to get a sense of bearing on where they were.

Amanda's eyes narrowed as she saw Ophelia in the distance with Tristan. Amanda let out a growl and took off in a run.

“Go find the rest of the pack and help them. I’m going after Amanda,” Hudson instructed.

Tabitha and Marco nodded as they shifted quickly into their wolves and ran.

Hudson turned and Amanda was already far ahead of him. He was surprised at how quickly she was connecting with her wolf.

“Amanda, wait!” Hudson yelled as he started to run after her.

Amanda jumped and kicked Ophelia, causing her to tumble over but Ophelia was able to jump back on her feet.

When Ophelia got up she didn’t know who had attacked her from behind. She dusted her hands to wipe away the dirt before saying, “Ooh, you’re messing with the wrong wolf.” Ophelia turned to look at the wolf she’d be hurting and her heart nearly stopped beating from the site in front of her.

Amanda was standing there with Hudson right behind her.

“How did you...” she started to ask, but she shook her question off. “It doesn’t matter, how you got free. I’m going to enjoy killing you.”

Amanda laughed.

Ophelia growled, “You think that’s funny? Honey, you don’t know who you’re dealing with. There is all sorts of craziness up in this head of mine.”

Amanda tilted her neck from side to side and heard the delicious sound of her neck popping, releasing the tension that it was holding.

“I can’t wait,” Amanda said in response.

“Ophelia, we had a deal,” Tristan said as he tried to intervene and stop her.

“Deal’s off, Tristan.” She pushed her sleeves up and lifted her hand to watch her claws grow. “I’m going to enjoy tearing you up,” Ophelia purred.

Tristan started to walk forward to put his touch on Ophelia; nobody was going to mess with his chance of getting that power.

Amanda flung her hand in the air and Tristan flew back, hitting some shrubbery and losing his balance.

“Stay out of this, Tristan,” Amanda demanded.

“Amanda,” Hudson said with a hint of warning in his tone.

Amanda was glaring at Ophelia and didn’t want to give her the advantage by getting distracted with Hudson.

“I’ve got this, Hudson. Trust me. Go deal with Tristan, but don’t let him touch you. He’s can shock you with just the touch of his hands.”

“Don’t underestimate Ophelia. She can fight, and she fights dirty,” Hudson advised her.

She nodded her head and started to walk toward Ophelia.

“You’re a coward if use magic to defeat me,” Ophelia taunted.

“I don’t need magic to deal with you,” Amanda said with confidence. Willow growled from her chest giving her the stamp of approval. Amanda enjoyed feeling the connection between her and Willow. They were completely synced just as they should be.

Ophelia screamed as she came running at Amanda. Amanda growled as she prepared herself for the impact. Ophelia started to scratch and claw at Amanda. Amanda deflected the hits as quickly as she could, her reflexes were getting better with each shot, her mind was working faster, and was able to see the hit before Ophelia gave them. Amanda started to get in a few kicks and hits of her own, her speed picking up, faster and faster. Ophelia was getting frustrated and her hits were getting sloppy. Ophelia stepped back as she regained her breath and took a minute to get her bearing straight. Amanda let her rest for a moment but then regretted letting her have that little break.

***

Hudson walked toward Tristan, his fist clenching as his wolf was getting angry. Tristan had put his hands on our mate and hurt her. He needed to be punished.

“You shouldn’t put your hands on other people’s mates,” Hudson spat out. He was ready for a fight, he had a lot of pent-up aggression and needed to let it out.

Tristan just laughed. “You think I’m scared of you.”

Hudson heard a loud howl in the distance and recognized who it was from. He smiled as he shook his head. “It’s not me, you should be scared of.”

In the distance, Hudson could see the Lycan making his way quickly toward them.

“That’s who you should be afraid of.” Hudson pointed in the direction of where the howl was coming from.

Tristan turned in the direction Hudson was pointing, and his face drained of all confidence. Fear quickly took its place.

Deak stormed through still in his Lycan form and swatted Tristan across the field. He shifted back into his human form.

“Go stay with small girl. I’ve got him,” Deak ordered as he walked away from Hudson.

Tristan felt something wet on the side of his lip, he lifted his hand to touch it and saw that it was blood.

Tristan just chuckled.

“I’m going to enjoy taking your Vita away from you,” Tristan threatened.

Deak snarled and shifted back into his Lycan form.

***

Hudson turned to check on Amanda and nearly paled. He started to run, then leaped into the air, shifting into his wolf and head butting the wolf that was about to attack Amanda from behind.

Hudson growled at the large wolf that was in front of him. If he wanted Amanda, then he was going to have to go through Hudson first to get to her.