Chapter 67

• Cullen's jaws closed on Rafe's throat. He heard a sickening crunch and he yanked his head back tearing Rafe's throat from his neck. Cullen fell back from Rafe's body, spitting the bloody mass of flesh out. Cullen sat there breathing heavily for a moment before he came to his senses and looked around for Aislinn. He let his wolf slip back and took on his human form, feeling some of the tension ebb.
• All around them the sounds of battle were coming to an end. Slowly the Arnauk and Tairneach left were gathering around the stone circle for orders. They stood uneasily together. Bodies riddled the ground. The smell of blood was so thick that the lycans couldn't scent the difference between each other. Mates sensing loss searched through the crowd for each other in fear crying out mentally for their missing half. There was a growing group of were-cats being herded together to be dealt with when Jenna and Cullen were able to give their joint attentions to the problem.
• Jenna appeared and stood over Rafe's mangled form. Her body apparently untouched amidst the battle. She kicked at the dead were-bear-lion with one foot as if to make sure he wasn't coming back. Then she looked over at Cullen with a relief that made Cullen start to wonder if he had misjudged her. But that moment was fleeting. She smiled at him with a weak evil, as if it was taking too much effort for her right then and she fiddled with a ring on a chain around her neck. Cullen recognized the large ruby signet that had been on Brennus Tairneach's hand for the whole of the time that Cullen had known him. The two alphas exchanged looks and without talking agreed that their fight would continue at a later date.