Out of the Shadows: Shadow Warriors, Book 1 by Gabriella Hewitt Page B

element of water. Her secretiveness. She was a guardian, protector of the water goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue , wife to Huitzilopochtli . Every last remaining shred of his humanity had believed she was his spirit mate. He had been wrong. Last night she had given her body completely over to him, but not her trust.
    “You were right. You cannot be my spirit mate. Spirit mates are a bond of body and of soul. It is a bond of complete trust.” He pushed her aside and stepped outside, ready to do battle. “I have to go kill the demon.”
    Caroline rushed behind him. “I’m coming with you.”
    “No!” he growled. The wolf stared her down. Tomás sensed the animal within him right at the surface, ready to break loose. Fury at his own foolish hope to reclaim his humanity overrode his judgment, allowing the beast to dominate. “C ihuatl , you have caused enough trouble. Had you trusted me, the goddess would never have been left unprotected.”
    Fur and flesh melded and rippled over his body, bones snapped and reshaped. He fell to the floor on all fours. He raised his nose to the air, dragging in the acrid smell of smoldering death.
    Tomás took one last look at Carolina. The wolf dragged his attention back to the desert. He howled and bounded off to the fiery hell ahead of him.
     
     
    Cihuatl. Woman. He hadn’t called her Carolina. She ran to her mare, Mariposa, and led her out of the corral. She swung herself atop the horse and, grabbing a handful of mane, took off bareback after Tomás.
    The tears she’d dried up trickled down again. She’d stupidly let herself fall into the fantasy of having it all. She’d known from the start that she and Tomás came from different worlds. She’d made such a mess of things. She’d failed Chica and herself. How could she call herself a guardian when she couldn’t even guard her own heart?
    Was Tomás right? Should she have trusted him despite her doubts, despite Chica’s warnings? She didn’t know anything anymore. Crying was useless. She wasn’t going to waste another precious drop of water. She would save Chica like she had always done, and then she would go back to being what she knew best—an ordinary woman.
     
     
    His wolf charged across the hot desert sand. Buried within his beast, Tomás’s rage poured through him like boiling lava. In the distance through the wolf’s eyes, he spotted another woman of exquisite beauty standing tall and proud. Quetzal feathers caught in the long, dark hair flowing down her back. A jade skirt flowed like ripples of water around her legs. She wore a peasant blouse of blues and greens that made him think of the ocean. Gold armbands in the shapes of snakes coiled around her arms.
    She was absolutely stunning, her beauty that of which ballads were written. He had seen her once from afar with her husband, his master. They had appeared glorious and filled with love and passion.
    When the water goddess had disappeared without explanation, her husband had sent his warriors out to search to no avail. With each negative report that came back, the light seemed to dim in Huitzilopochtli’s eyes.
    And to think Chalchiuhtlicue had been here, on this ranch, for all these centuries.
    Carolina should have told him. Anger continued to fuel his mind and he channeled it into ever greater speed. He had to protect Huitzilopochtli’s wife.
    Tomás was close enough that he could hear the demon Carolina had called Billy laugh wickedly as he blew rings of fire around the goddess, taunting her. She lashed out with whips of water, but her energy appeared to be ebbing and Tomás could see the water particles separating and falling uselessly on the ground.
    “Pathetic. And you call yourself a goddess! You are nothing compared to my master . When I am finished with you, old woman, I will destroy that little bitch, Carolina, and once again be human.”
    The mention of Carolina’s name drove Tomás forward. The wolf took a running leap and pounced on the demon. Rage,