Unleashed by Abby Gordon Page A

riders, then they took off through the trees. The black-robed man on his horse arrived and gasped.
    “Bane,” he cried, bringing his small derringer up.
    A shot rang out and a fourth man jerked and fell forward as a hole appeared in his forehead. There were five men left, all on foot. They stood between the young woman and the priest who was frantically reloading his gun.
    “Bane,” Amanda called.
    Bane turned and retraced his path to her. Amanda sobbed in relief as the wolf reached her. Sinking to her knees, she hugged his neck.
    A howl came from the forest that froze everyone. A huge black stallion charged into the middle of the thicket and its rider flew toward the three men aiming at the wolf. He somersaulted in the air, landing on his feet. The others moved quickly. She gasped, terrified to see Wulfgar surrounded by all five men. The stallion quickly backed to the edge of the trees.
    “She was promised to us.”
    “She is mine,” Wulfgar told him.
    “Who are you?”
    “The Beast of Socton Manor.”
    “That’s nothin’ but a fairy tale to scare children,” one man scoffed.
    Amanda tightened her arms around Bane as he whined.
    “Shh,” she crooned.
    “I’m no fairy tale,” the baron taunted. “But are you children?”
    The man aimed his gun at her head.
    Raising his arm, the forgotten stranger stepped forward and brought the butt of his gun down on the man’s head. Panicking, the other men leaped at Wulfgar. Amanda muffled a scream as he was swarmed. Bane bared his teeth and crouched.
    Then the growl came again. One of the men screamed in pain and flew in the air.
    Amanda gasped, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes widened in shock.
    A large beast that looked like a wolf but was more than twice the size tore into the remaining two outlaws. She saw the flash of silver as one man drew his blade. But the beast easily knocked it away and finished the pair.
    Trembling, Amanda watched the dark-furred form collapse in the blood-soaked snow amidst the bodies. In the time it had taken her to draw three breaths, the battle was over.
    Bane whined in her grasp, trying to go to the… Amanda trembled, struggling to reconcile what she’d just witnessed with what he had told her in the library.
    “Wulfgar?” she whispered.
    Beloved.
    The heavy head turned toward her and ice-blue eyes tried to focus on her. Grabbing her skirt, she leveraged up enough to get her feet under her and stumbled over to where the man she loved was recovering his human form. As the last of his claws, fangs, and fur faded, she fell to her knees besides him, sobbing, arms going around his body.
    Slowly, he sat up and pulled her to him, rocking gently as he realized she was safe.
    “Wulfgar, Wulfgar,” she murmured, burrowing against his chest.
    “My lord,” Jordan rode into the thicket, dismounted, and removed his cloak, handing it to his baron.
    “Thank you, Jordan,” he breathed, taking the cloak and quickly wrapping her in its warmth. “Beloved,” he whispered in her ear. “I didn’t think I’d reach you in time.”
    “Bane saved me. He…he saved me.”
    The wolf butted his head against her back. Amanda lifted her head and met the gold eyes so like her own.
    “He appears to like you,” Wulfgar observed with humor. “He likes people who fight back the way you did.”
    “All I did was throw pinecones and sticks.”
    Bane’s mouth opened slightly. Wulfgar looked around and saw the dark-cloaked man.
    “Father Wenceslas, your return was perfectly timed.”
    The man’s gaze took in his liege and the young lady huddled in his embrace. “Lord Socton, just what has happened in my absence during the storm?”
    Wulfgar looked down at Amanda’s pale face. Already a bruise colored her right temple.
    “I found my destiny, Father.”
    A gust of wind left Amanda trembling as snowflakes drifted down.
    “Another storm, milord,” Jordan observed.
    With his beloved in his arms, Wulfgar stood and mounted Dervish.
    “Your destiny,