Sunset Valley “no pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous”

Raider’s shoulder struck Riley’s chest as he stepped between her and Dagur. She slotted into that familiar space just like always, though she swiftly destroyed any impression of a lovers’ embrace with a vicious snarl. She violently shoved at him, though he stood rock-ribbed against her fading vitality.

Gently he tried to maneuver her to the ground. Some part of Raider understood that once she was down there, she would never get up again. Instincts vying for survival, she fought back with her whole body. Teeth snapped. Legs flailed. She snarled, terrible in her wrath.

Riley surely suffered damage as he tried to protect her from herself. But still he overpowered Raider, folding his implacable mate beneath him. His forelegs caged her struggling body, holding her still until Raider’s heart stopped and she went limp beneath him.

Riley had always been her rock. Now, he was her tombstone.