And with that thought, he took the chance. He let the nearest monster lean into the attack, then Simon dove completely to the side. He rolled with the movement then jumped up the second he—
Bam! Bam! Bambam!
Damn, she was good. The other two went down, bullets in their brain. Even better, Vic was starting to stand. His face was set—still in its monster form—but his eyes were clear and his claws were clenched into fists. A man fought with closed fists. An animal fought with paws spread wide. That showed clear as day that Vic was keeping control of his beast. He was stronger than Nanook, at least psychically, and Simon couldn’t be more proud.
But one look at the alpha showed that the bastard wasn’t used to losing.
Simon tried to break the psychic stare down. “We didn’t come to fight, Nanook. Or to enlist. We just want to talk.” No effect. Only one other way to appeal to his rationality. “We acknowledge your dominance, Nanook.”
That caught the man’s attention. He broke off his attack on Vic who visibly stumbled but remained upright.
Nanook’s lips peeled back. “You attacked my men.”
Alyssa’s voice rang out loud and clear. “They attacked us!”
Nanook’s eyes didn’t even flicker. The air was getting cooler as he drew in energy for a shift. Those soft sweatpants wouldn’t restrict him and the bastard was already barefoot.Hell.
Simon quickly started toeing off his boots. “We didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“You brought that thing in here! You attacked my men!”
Not logical. Not rational. Damn it, Nanook had lost his thinking mind, which meant there was only one way this could go: bad.
All around the room the others were stripping out of jeans, pulling off shirts, and kicking off flip-fops. Damn it, he was the only shifter moron in boots.
Then Vic spoke, his words clear despite his misshapen mouth. “Shoot him!”
“Don’t shoot!” Simon ordered. “They’ll mob us if you do.” And in a shifter mob, everybody got hurt. Angry bears swiped at anything that moved and Alyssa, as the only plain human, wouldn’t stand a chance. Especially since there was no way the three of them—four if he counted the wounded bear—could manage the ten…no eleven shifters in the room. Which meant they had one chance. One horrible, irrational, stupid chance. But it was the only hope he had of keeping Alyssa alive.
He shoved down his jeans.
Alyssa gasped. “What are you doing?”
“I challenge you, Nanook. It’s clear you’re crazy.” He glanced at the others. “How can you follow someone that irrational?”
He knew the answer to that. Intimidation and brute force worked wonders. Especially since Nanook had that whole psychic blast thing. Fortunately, the bastard had burned that skill out on Vic. He hoped.
Nanook’s mouth curled into a cold smile. “And when you’re dead, I’ll enjoy your woman.”
Alyssa’s voice rang out. “Fat chance, bastard.”
Simon pulled off his shirt. “Vic, get her out of here.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Vic said. His speech was getting clearer.
“I can’t win,” he growled as he tossed the last bit of clothing aside. “He’s a fucking grolar.”
“What?”
A grolar was a grizzly–polar bear mix. That meant that shifted, the bastard had at least a 150 pounds on Simon. But it didn’t matter. It was too late. A naked Nanook gestured to his people. Four of them moved to block the exit, which meant that now no one was going anywhere. Not until the battle was done.
One last thing to do before shifting. He turned and looked at Alyssa. It was stupid, illogical, and there was no time. He should be focused on Nanook, but he needed to see her face one last time.
God, she looked so beautiful. It was the fierceness he admired the most. Her eyes were wide with fear, but her stand was solid and her pistol remained steady in her hand. She was not a woman who lost her head. And definitely not a woman who ran.
“Simon,” she began.
“Save your bullets for the ones on you. I’ll do the rest.” It was a wild claim. He had no chance here. He’d never been a smart fighter, just a full-out wild one. And raw strength never won out against intelligence. Not in a fight to the death.
