Authors: Marisa Chenery
IceSurrender (8 page)
Ryder chanted louder, his hands glowing even brighter.
Instead of tendrils of a black, smokelike mass, billows of it left Tanner and
flowed toward the sentinels’ shaman. As with the other two dark wolves, the
darkness sank into Ryder’s hands.
Once the last of it had left Tanner, he screamed, his body
turning to dust. The rest of the dark wolves stood in place, looking
bewildered. Wren noticed their scents had changed to that of regular
werewolves, except for the other two males, who were once again mortal.
It was over, they’d won. The dark wolves were no more.
Losing his dark magic had ended Tanner’s life, and with him gone, there was no
one else who was capable of creating more of the enemy.
Wren shifted to human form and turned to Ryder, ready to throw
herself into his arms. But one look at him and she knew something wasn’t right.
He had his eyes closed while he smiled in a maniacal sort of way.
She stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder. Ryder’s
eyes snapped open and she sucked in a sharp breath. His normally brown eyes
were pure black, just as Tanner’s and the other dark wolves’ had been. He even
had the scent of dark magic about him. This was what she’d “seen” in one of her
visions of him. This was why he’d appeared dark.
“Ryder? You have to get rid of it.”
He laughed without humor. “Get rid of it? No way. You have
no idea how good this feels. I can do anything, and there’s no one strong
enough to stop me.”
“It’s not you. It will poison you just as it did Tanner. You
can’t let it win.” She touched his arm. “This isn’t the true Ryder talking, the
one I love.”
Ryder shoved her away, using some of his powers to throw her
across the room and slam hard into the wall. As Wren pulled her wits about her,
the wolf brothers and Brice charged Ryder. They propelled him backward, pushing
him into one of the cells where they locked him inside. Ryder grabbed the bars,
shaking them with all his might. Concrete powder rained down from the top of
the cell’s door.
“He’s full of Tanner’s dark magic,” Wachei said.
“Yeah, but how do we get it out of him?” Ketah asked. “We
aren’t shamans. Ryder is. And that cell isn’t going to hold him for long.”
Wren slowly pushed herself up to stand as she listened to
Brice and the wolf brothers discuss what to do with Ryder. Eryn and Haven
gathered up all the ex-dark wolves and took them outside.
She watched Ryder as he swore at them all, promising to kill
them. Wren had no idea what to do to save him. The way the bars were slowly
pulling away from the concrete, there wasn’t a lot of time to do much of
anything to control him.
“Help,” she said quietly. “You’re his ancestor, the
sentinels’ first shaman. Ryder needs your help. You have to do something. I
won’t lose him like this.”
Ryder’s ancestor appeared before her, ethereal, shimmering
slightly. All conversation ceased and Wren saw she wasn’t the only one able to
see him.
He smiled at her. “You
are
my grandson’s mate. You
will save him.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Bite him in your wolf form.”
“I can’t turn him. I’m not a male sentinel. Plus, Ryder said
he’s immune.”
Ryder’s ancestor reached out and placed his hand high up on
the left side of her chest. It glowed, sending a jolt of energy through her.
Wren sucked in a breath. He nodded. “Now you bite him. With it, you’ll tie your
souls and life forces together. He won’t be a werewolf, but he will be as
immortal as you. And once your new mating bond forms, the dark magic will leave
him.” He stepped closer and kissed her forehead before disappearing.
Wren walked toward the cell. “You heard him. I have to bite
Ryder.”
Ketah nodded. “We’ll hold him for you and you do the
biting.”
Brice unlocked the cage and the men rushed inside to subdue
him. With many threats on Ryder’s part, they grappled him to the floor. Knowing
they wouldn’t be able to hold him for long, Wren shifted to her hybrid dire
wolf form and ran to Ryder. She put her front paws on his chest, bent her head,
opened her jaws, then bit him where his shoulder and neck met. She tasted blood
on her tongue when she pulled away.
Ryder bellowed in pain, his back arching. Wren jumped off
him and shifted to human form as the others released him. On her knees next to
him, she felt a bit of her soul reach out for his, wrap around it and become
one. The instant it did, their mating bond formed. And with it the dark magic
flowed out of Ryder’s hands. It disappeared to nothing once it hit the air.
Once the last of it was gone Ryder lay on the floor,
panting. He turned his head and looked at her. Wren smiled at the sight of his
beautiful brown eyes. He opened his arms and she threw herself into them.
“I guess everything is all right,” Ketah said. “We should go
help the girls with Tanner’s ex-pack.”
The men left. Wren kissed Ryder’s chin. “You do anything
like that again and I’m going to kick your butt.”
Ryder cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.
After he released her mouth, he said, “I love you. And now thanks to your bite,
I’ll never have to say goodbye to you.”
“I love you too. Now let’s get the hell out of here, my
mate. I think a private celebration is in order.”
They stood and Ryder put his arm around her shoulders after
they walked out of the cell. “There is nothing I’d rather do.”
As they walked arm in arm toward the building’s entrance,
Wren sent a silent thank you to wherever Ryder’s ancestor was. In return she
heard,
Love him well, my new granddaughter
.
The End
Marisa Chenery was always a lover of books, but after
reading her first historical romance novel she found herself hooked. Having
inherited a love for the written word, she soon started writing her own novels.
After trying her hand at writing historicals, she now writes
paranormals.
Marisa lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and four
children. She would love to hear from you, so drop her an email.
Marisa welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Marisa
Chenery
Big City Pack 1: The
Canuck Werewolf
Big City Pack 2:
A Werewolf at the Falls
Big City Pack 3:
Werewolf’s Treasure
Big City Pack 4:
Werewolf Claimed
Big City Pack 5:
Loved by a Werewolf
Goddess Revealed 1:
Bast’s Perfume
Goddess Revealed 2:
Love’s Fiery Arrow
Goddess Revealed 3:
The Goddess’ Girdle
Goddess Revealed 4: His
Sea Goddess
Ra’s Chosen 3:
Longed-For Hunger
Ra’s Chosen 4:
Embrace the Hunger
Ra’s Chosen 5:
Reincarnated Hunger
Ra’s Chosen 6: Foreseen Hunger
Warrior Hunger 1:
Embraced by a Warrior
Warrior Hunger 2:
Her Eternal Warrior
Warrior Hunger 3:
Warrior’s Surrender
Warrior Hunger 4: A
Warrior to Love
Werewolf Sentinels 1:
Awakened from Ice
Werewolf Sentinels 2:
Ice Hunter’s Mate
Werewolf Sentinels 3:
Love Bound in Ice
Werewolf Sentinels 4: Ice
Age Lover
Werewolf Sentinels 5: Ice
Claimed
Werewolf Sentinels 6:
Burning Ice
Werewolf Sentinels 7:
Love on the Ice
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Ice Surrender
ISBN 9781419947261
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Ice Surrender Copyright © 2013 Marisa Chenery
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by Michelle B.
Cover photography by Carolosdelacalle, PRESNIAKOV OLEKSANDR,
Zuerijeta/Shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication June 2013
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