He struck out at me and sliced my side, almost exactly where I'd stabbed him. The pain didn't register until the blood flowed, and I doubled over onto the porch steps.

Stride didn't even have time to gloat, to prance in a triumphant circle.

With an apex predator's growl, my wolf burst forward, charging straight for Stride.

He went down fast and hard, the two of them rolling over and over down the porch steps before my wolf ended up on top. She pinned him to the ground ...