“I see now why people ask for the bite.” Blake cracked his neck from side to side, grip on Michael never loosening. “All that power…”
“Being a shifter isn’t all about power.” Aaron melted out of the tree line and walked towards them, dark brown hair a tousled mess, eyes wild.
“Isn’t it?” Blake held a hand out, the one not currently wrapped around Michael’s neck, and admired his claws. “We’re stronger than everyone else, faster. Our senses are fucking amazing.” He laughed and tightened his hold on Michael’s throat, claw tips digging in further, making Michael gasp. “I heard them coming ages before they got here. With all that going on, what else do you need?”
Aaron took a step closer. “Let him go. The police are all over your house. They’ll be out here any second.”
“That’s why he’s coming with me. They’re not going to shoot me while I have him.”
At first Michael thought the low, rumbling growl came from Blake, but it was Aaron. Michael watched, fascinated, as Aaron’s teeth extended and his claws came out.
“Let him go. I won’t ask you again.”
Blake’s mocking laughter filled the night air. “Fuck off.” He took a step to the side, pulling Michael with him. “Come any closer and I’ll kill him.”
Michael struggled to gain his footing, heart pounding against his ribs and mind racing with some way to get out of this.
“I don’t think so,” Aaron said softly.
It seemed like the next few seconds happened in slow motion.
Blake let out an anguished howl, his claws suddenly gone from Michael’s neck, sending Michael stumbling backwards into a rock-hard chest. Only Isaac’s quickly whispered, “It’s me,” stopped him from panicking.
An angry roar pierced the air, and Michael glanced to the side to see Blake picking himself up off the ground, one arm badly mauled and hanging limply by his side.
He took a step towards Michael.
Aaron’s answering howl of rage was louder, scarier, and Michael watched in awe as he leapt through the air, shifting on the fly into a beautiful grey wolf.
He hit Blake full force, knocking him onto his back and out cold. Aaron had his teeth around Blake’s throat in an instant.
“Aaron,” Isaac urged. “Leave him for the council.”
Aaron growled and remained in place a few long moments more before finally stepping away from him.
Blake started to moan, obviously regaining consciousness.
“Change back and come over here,” Isaac said, voice calm, coaxing. He gently eased Michael onto the ground so he could lie down. “I’ll keep an eye on Blake and you see to Detective Archer.”
That seemed to snap Aaron out of it. He changed back in a flash, and Isaac handed him his shirt to cover his nakedness.
The next moment Aaron’s arms were around him—one hand on his shoulder, the other pressed to the wounds on his neck as he peered down at him.
Glancing to the side, Michael saw Isaac—half-shifted—pinning a now fully conscious Blake to the ground.
Aaron snarled as he looked over at them. “Being a shifter meanspack—first and foremost. Someonealwayshas your back.” When he turned to face Michael again, his expression softened. His gaze flicked from Michael’s neck to his arm. “He shot you too?” Panic laced his voice, but Michael waved his good arm.
“’S just a graze.” He met Aaron’s gaze. The intensity in his eyes was more than he’d expected to see. Reaching up he cupped Aaron’s cheek. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Michael huffed out a laugh, wincing when it pulled at his wounds. “You saved my life.”
“Nah, that was all Isaac. I was just the distraction.”
Despite everything that had happened and the pain currently running through his body in a steady throb, his lips curled into a smile. “You are very distracting. Especially half-naked.” Aaron smiled back and turned to place a kiss on Michael’s palm. The voices inside got louder, and Michael suddenly remembered. “Shit, Miller. Is he—?” He tried to sit up, but Aaron gently pushed him back down.
“The paramedics are with him now.” He cocked his head to the side, listening. “He’s lost a lot of blood, but they’ve stabilised him.”
