I let the change take me, morphing in his arms.My body grew taller and bulkier, my girth expanding as I turned into a flavor of ugly only a mate could appreciate.With my fangs in the way, I pressed a kiss to his massive maw.
My radio crackled to life.“The artillery on the ships is keeping our planes back, but they’ve crippled one of the Federation’s vessels.I’m changing the plan, if my alpha approves.I’m tracking the sub and want to take it out,” Labyrinth said.
“Go for it!”I shouted, just as another explosion shook the ground even closer to us.
The radio went silent.
Finally, the Federation’s sacrificial lambs, aka red stripes, rounded the corner.I glanced at King, who flashed me his Warrior grin, the one that promised death.
I returned it with one of my own.“It’s time to rock 'n' roll!”I bellowed to the Shadow Warriors.
With a ferocious battle cry tearing from my throat, I charged forward.My body hummed with adrenaline and rage as we surged into the fight.
My powerful legs carried me straight into the middle of the first group of red stripes before they even had a chance to fire.They went down like dominoes, stumbling into each other, scrambling to make sense of the bedlam.The air filled with gunfire and screams as Shadow Warriors tore through them, a broken neck here, a disemboweled stomach there.
Blood splattered across my face as I wrenched a soldier’s gun from his hands and drove it through his jaw.The vicious crack barely registered over the roar of the battle.I didn’t have time to search for King, but I felt his presence.Ms.Beast’s bloodlust was sharper than it had ever been.
I turned, taking out another soldier with a brutal swipe.He was young, too young.The pain and terror on his face stayed with me for a fraction of a second before I spun to kill the next soldier, then another.
Three red stripes charged me at once.One managed to bury his knife into my side, the blade slicing through muscle and igniting a fire of pain.My jaws clamped down on his neck, crushing gristle and bone.His head landed twenty feet away.
The wound burned, but I knew it wasn’t life-threatening.At least, I hoped it wasn’t.There was no time to check.I grabbed the other two soldiers and hurled them in the same direction as the severed head.I didn’t watch them land; the sickening sound of bodies hitting cement told me broken bones would keep them from causing further trouble if they managed to survive.
More Federation soldiers poured into the street, wave after wave.The third and fourth groups were more organized, coming in with guns blazing.We fell back, taking cover while our archers and snipers rained destruction from above.
Breathing hard, I scanned the area, searching for King.Before I could locate him, a high-pitched voice cut through the noise.
“Take that, you big pile of Federation poop!”
I turned toward the sound, disbelief washing over me.Ruth.How had she escaped the locked metal cage?
I lifted my head and gazed toward the entrance of the side street circling the citadel.A group of red stripes stood frozen just a few feet from Ruth, clearly unsure what to do.She was facing them with the short sword I’d given her, and to make things worse, her sidekick, Che, had his own sword raised.
Relief surged through me when King leapt into the fray.The befuddled soldiers flew in every direction, no match for his brute strength.I had no time to celebrate my mate saving the day before a massive mortar bomb exploded a few feet away.
The blast stole the wind from my lungs, and my head spun.Everything went fuzzy as my brain tried to process the impact.When the dust began to settle, I realized I was still alive.My ears rang as another mortar round whistled through the air.
The next blast tore through the ranks, taking out several Federation soldiers.At first, I thought it was a mistake, but then another round hit, and I realized the truth.The Federation was firing on their own soldiers along with my Warriors.
The soldiers near me scattered, running for cover.They didn’t get far.Shadow Warriors intercepted them, and screams cut through the early morning light as they fell to both us and their own artillery.
My senses snapped back, stabilizing me just in time to spot a young female soldier sprinting past.I reached out, grabbed her leg and dragged her to the ground.Her body hit the cement with a sickening thud, but she was still alive.
I raised a clawed hand, prepared to strike, but her horrified expression stopped me cold.
So young.She couldn’t have been more than eighteen.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
For a moment, I hesitated.
“I won’t fight anymore,” she pleaded, her entire body shaking.“I surrender.”
Even with her desperate words, I could see she didn’t believe they would save her.Fear radiated from her as tears streaked her dirt-smeared face.
Without thinking, I grabbed her arms in one clawed hand and brought my forearm down, snapping both her wrists with a sickening crunch.Her scream pierced the air as I hoisted her up and ran toward the last place I’d seen Ruth and Che.
King was about eight feet in front of them, his massive form a wall of protection.The kids, however, stood with their swords raised, as if ready to defend him.
