Violet
My heart jumped.
The serpent.
I hadn't sensed it at all, and now it was too close.
Its jaws were open wide, fangs dripping with venom, and aiming straight for my throat. There was no time to dodge and no time to even raise my hands to defend it.
I immediately kicked into action that split second, about to seize the serpent with my syzygy when a blur of dark fur slammed into me from the side.
Rowan knocked me out of the serpent's path, and his massive wolf frame shielded me as the serpent's fangs sank deep into his side instead.
"No!" I yelled.
Rowan twisted and clamped his jaws around the creature's fat body and pulled.
The serpent's scales split apart with a wet, tearing sound. Its body thrashed violently, whipping against Rowan's side and anything it could reach. Thick, dark blood sprayed across the forest floor.
