Of course, he’d done the drawing and watched me make an ass of myself with Rosemary. The memory of the wolf in the woods triggered-he’d been in the shadows, and I hadn’t noticed that his fur had a red hue to it, but thinking back, it was pretty damn clear.
The crow flew off the branch, crying, “Caw! Caw! Caw!”
That was when the noise of multiple feet pounded on the ground, heading in our direction.
“They have backup.” One of the lanky guys in the back called as he stood, pulling out a machine gun.
Dear, sweet Jesus. This wasn’t going to end well, and not enough guards were heading this way. Maybe more were coming, but Goatee’s men would try to pick them off one at a time, which meant a fight was inevitable. We’d have to distract as many as possible so the guards wouldn’t end up like these other five.
Doing the only thing I could think of in this moment, I called my wolf forward. I had no weapon because I foolishly hadn’t planned to come outside, so my animal was the only option I had.
I was born for battle. I had to trust my instincts.
My skin tingled as my silver fur sprouted all over my body, and my bones cracked, contorting me to my animal form. My clothes ripped away as my four paws hit the ground.
“Dammit, she shifted.” The scrawny shifter swung the gun in my direction. “What do we do?” His voice held a slight tremor.
Good, at least, they weren’t comfortable with me.
Goatee spun around and knocked the gun away from my direction. “You do not shoot her unless there is absolutely no other choice. Got it? If we don’t get her there alive, you’ll be taking the blame.”
That little bit of information was music to my ears. They didn’t want to kill me, which meant I had a little leeway before they’d be willing to do it.
Deciding to use their distraction to my advantage, I ran through Killian and Griffin and locked on the scrawny guy who’d been foolish enough to show weakness. That would make the others pause around me.
What I wanted was to attack Goatee, but he was in control of this little pack, which meant I had to be smart.
A few of the men froze as I ran past them. It was clear that they’d never been around a silver wolf in wolf form before. Since we were close to a full moon, I was larger than all of them. My pack called a full moon a silver moon, in celebration of the strength of our connection.
Killian and Griffin followed my lead and shifted behind me while the others stayed focused on me. I hated that they were here with me, but I knew they wouldn’t leave.
Even though time seemed to move slowly, only a few seconds had passed. I lunged at the lanky guy and sank my teeth into his neck, jerked my head to the side, and killed him on the spot. Blood dripped down my mouth, covering my fur as the taste of copper stuck to my tongue and the metallic scent hit my nose.
My stomach churned. I hated death and being the one to cause it, but I had to hold it together. It was us or them, and there were twenty-three enemies in human form, four wolves, and a crow to go. I’d seen what they were capable of and refused to let anyone else I loved die because of a moment’s hesitation.
Dad had told me that we should never celebrate killing others and do it only when absolutely necessary.
I’d challenged him, asking how you would know whether it was necessary or not. And he’d patted my arm and replied that I would know. That our wolves would guide us because they were good and thus made of pure light as well. That we were a reflection of the power inside us.
I never believed him until now, but there was no question in my mind that these assholes had to die. They got off on hurting others and asserting their dominance, and I refused to let the cycle continue. The cost of their sins was their lives.
“What are you standing around for?” Goatee yelled. “Attack to incapacitate. Don’t kill the girl.”
Dark fur rushed past me as Killian went into battle mode. He jumped on one of the closer men, sinking his teeth into the arm that had been going for his gun.
Killian made decisions like a fighter, so that was one less person to worry about.
An arm wrapped around my neck, cutting off some of my oxygen. The man who had me jerked me upright, pulling me up to my hind legs. I turned my head, trying to bite some part of his arm, but the enemy had me in an iron-clad hold. I dug my front claws into his arm, which made him groan. But no matter how deep I dug into his skin, his hold didn’t slacken.
“You’re not getting out that easily,” the guy cackled. “You aren’t the only one who knows how to fight.”
I loved having an arrogant opponent. There was nothing quite as motivating as proving their asses wrong and watching them squirm when they realized they were outmatched.
The enemy chuckled as if he’d gotten the upper hand. That was my cue to push backward and let my entire weight fall on his chest. He wasn’t prepared for it, so he fell on his back with me right on top. I rolled off him quickly and stood on him.
His soulless eyes widened as he realized I’d outsmarted him. Not giving him a chance to react, I clawed his neck deep, letting the blood pour to the ground. At least, I didn’t have to taste it this time.
I glanced in Griffin’s direction and almost cried in relief when I realized he was holding his own against three guards. His wolf was very strong and knew what to do. So fighting was a weakness only in his human form. I could work with that.