I turn to retreat from the path when something large slams into my side, throwing my wolf into the air. My wolf slams into the forest floor. Bruised, but not broken, I begin to rise… until two white wolves close in, circling me.
The one with the missing tip of his right ear shifts. “What do we have here? A trespasser.”
The second wolf shifts into a massive male, larger than the first. “Haven’t smelled a female that good in a long time.” He kicks me lightly in my side. “Shift.”
Slowly, I rise on all four legs, subtly stretching all limbs, preparing to bolt at the first opportunity. But every part of me is sluggish. My wolf’s poured all her energy into running.
The larger male bends down and pushes his hand through my wolf’s fur, at my shoulder. “The wound’s minor. Won’t keep us from having some fun, will it, female? Shift, now. I’m losing my patience.”
I make the mistake of glancing away from him, seeking a path to escape. He backhands me across the face. “Shift!”
With one snap of my jaws, my incisor scrapes his hand. Blood fills my mouth.
The scarred male laughs. “She’s a challenge.”
Anger filling his face, the larger male grabs me by my wounded shoulder. “Shift or suffer.” He squeezes harder and harder. Pain shoots through my shoulder until my growls transform into yelps.
The pressure increases and I’m not sure how long I can hold out. Passing out is the worst thing I can do. Nothing would leave me more vulnerable.
“Keep going,” the scarred male says, his hand going towards his dick. “She’ll break any second and then we’ll have her.”
I’ve been in a similar position before. I may not escape, but I won’t give in either.
I can almost feel Garrett smiling at me, his pride and belief in me giving me the strength to endure the pain, to find a way out no matter the odds. I take a chance, whipping my head to the side and fully sinking my teeth into the hand squeezing my wound.
“Fuck!” His fist flies toward my face, but I don’t release his arm.
A huge set of teeth comes down on that arm before it strikes me. Silver muzzle. One I know.
Ronin.
I release my hold and let Ronin drag the shifter to the ground. The white wolf shifts, even with his forearm in Ronin’s mouth.Behind us, snarls and growls fill the woods. Lars and the scarred white wolf. Has to be.
My wolf pushes just enough energy into calming the pain of my shoulder so I can escape before any of the males return their attention to me.
As I rise to leap into the wood, I see who’s fighting the scarred white wolf… a silver wolf with teal eyes. Garrett!
Sheer fear consumes me when the white wolf’s jaws snap dangerously close to Garrett’s neck. Garrett leaps to avoid, but the landing costs him as the wolf pins him down.
Only one thought enters my mind… sinking my teeth into that asshole.
I lean back on my haunches, ready to spring forward, when a hand grabs me by the scruff of my neck.
“Shift,” the male orders.
Even with the blood surging through my body, I recognize Hayden’s voice as he releases his hold on me. I shift. “He’s going to hurt Garrett!”
“You underestimate your mate.”
I almost say we’re not mates—because we’re not—but that doesn’t matter right now.
“Look,” Hayden says with a definite smirk.
Not only has Garrett escaped the white wolf, he’s clamped his jaws around the wolf’s throat.
“Everyone shift, now,” Hayden orders. “And don’t make me say it twice, Marks and Rusu. You’re in enough shit, given what I saw here.”
Ronin and the white wolf he was fighting both shift, but Garrett remains in wolf form, snarling and flashing his teeth at the three who shifted.
