Guarding Mari by Ella Grey Page B

snarled.
    Ryback should have kept it between the two of them. She took another deep breath, tasting the air on her tongue. The bitterness seeped closer. Ryback watched her from somewhere. Her eyes adjusted to the growing darkness quickly; the cold knife pressed against her skin as she scanned her surroundings. There must have been some snowfall while she’d operated on Daniel, since there weren’t any footprints. He was close, though, watching her from the shadows. She knew it. She made her way up, higher into the mountains. Without any light up except for the moon, she relied on her exceptional shifter sight. There were lights in the distance, towns and cities far away, filled with people who didn’t know about their world, and who went blissfully about their lives. Mari used to envy them.
    “I know you’re here. You just plan on watching me like a coward?” Her voice sounded impossibly loud to her ears.
    “Did you follow our connection?” Ryback stepped out from behind some trees. He generally looked curious.
    “We don’t have a connection,” she growled at him. It wouldn’t take much to unleash the wolf, and she would have preferred it. She wanted to get his blood on her hands, to take vengeance for the murder of Malcolm, the girls before her, and the ones he’d killed after Daniel rescued her.
    “It’s not good to lie to yourself, not good for the soul.”
    “You don’t have a soul.”
    Ryback touched a hand to his chest and she noticed the gun in his hand. “Oh I have one, even the bad ones do. The way to deal with it, though, is to pretend it doesn’t exist. That little voice inside of you, the one who whispers that the things you’re doing are bad, well, you block the bitch out.”
    Mari gestured to the gun. “Are you planning on killing me with that? I didn’t think it was your style. You like it up close and personal. You like to taste the fear.”
    A smile touched his lips, as if she pleased him. “You remembered.”
    “How could I forget?” It was like they were old friends, shooting the breeze, instead of enemies, instead of murderer and his chosen victim. “You know I’m not going to make it easy for you.”
    “I didn’t think that you would, but I thought I should at least give you a sporting chance.”
    “That was your last mistake.” Her body shifted from human to wolf as raged flooded every part of her. She snarled at him as she leaped.

 
     
     
Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    A cool splash of water touched his lips, and Daniel opened his eyes. How long had he been unconscious, trapped in a dreamless sleep? The dying fire, the blankets around his naked body stuck to him…it could have been days instead of hours. The cabin wasn’t empty any longer; Katherine Moon leaned over him, holding the cup pressed to his lips. Daniel didn’t have to look around to know that Adam would be close. Katherine wouldn’t be without him. He reached out with his senses for the connection between him and Mari and came up empty. His wolf might have repaired the majority of the damage, but he would have to shift to heal the rest of it.
    “Where is she?”
    Adam clicked his phone shut. “We’re not sure. I’ve got some of the pack hunting the mountain in human form, paired with wolves. Ryback planted bombs around the area. It’s not making it easy.”
    “How are you feeling?” Katherine asked.
    A cool calmness traveled through him. “I’m alive. Why am I?”
    Kat ran her hand over his shoulder, her eyes closed. “You were hit with a silver bullet?” Daniel nodded; his head throbbed with the simple movement. “Mari removed it, wrapped you up in the blankets to help you sweat it out of your system. It took quick thinking on her part. Wolves have naturally high temperatures, being able to burn through drugs at a rapid pace. It worked on the silver as well. You’re going to be sick for a while, weak but alive. What are you doing?”
    As Kat talked Daniel pushed the blanket off. “I’ve got to