Page 75 of Nico

I couldn't sit here. I jerked violently against the silver cuffs. Agony ripped through both wrists. The metal hissed where it touched my skin. The scent of burning flesh filled my nose again.

My vision blurred, but I kept pulling. Every muscle in my shoulders screamed. My elbows felt as though they were being ripped from their sockets.

The cuffs bit deeper into already blackened skin. My wolf howled inside my head, telling me to move. I planted both feet against the trailer floor and threw my entire weight backward.

The chair screeched several inches before the welded rings held firm.

"Damn it!" Another yank led to a wave of searing pain.

Skin tore, warm blood slid down my forearms beneath the cuffs, but I barely noticed. Outside, the shouting grew louder. I pulled again, the silver burned deeper.

Something in my right wrist shifted painfully. The restraint didn't give. I tried again. I gritted my teeth until my jaw ached. A gunshot cracked through the mountain air.

Everything inside me stopped. A heartbeat later came a scream, followed by another yell.

"Nico, no!” The name tore itself from my throat.

Something inside me snapped. Instinct overrode reason with brutal efficiency. The wolf surged forward. Normally I held the shift in careful balance, but this time there was no control.

Desperation ate at me. The cuffs flared with unbearable heat as my bones began to shift beneath them. My fingers lengthened, knuckles cracked, and dark fur burst through the backs of my hands.

The silver sliced into changing flesh. Pain unlike anything I'd ever experienced ripped through my arms. I roared and realized the cry was no longer entirely human.

My shoulders widened violently, and muscles swelled. The cuffs suddenly became too small. Bone ground against metal. My wrists compressed unnaturally, and something cracked.

I wasn't sure whether it was bone or steel, either way I didn’t care. The wolf wanted out. With another deafening roar, I threw every ounce of strength into the restraints.

Metal groaned, and the welded ring embedded in the chair bent. The silver cut deeper, nearly reaching bone. Then the right restraint finally ripped free from the chair.

The force sent me crashing sideways, dragging half the chair with me. I didn't pause. My left arm jerked upward with savage force. The second restraint gave way.

I hit the trailer floor on all fours, half shifted and barely recognizable as human anymore. The chair clattered behind me, chains dangling uselessly from my ankles.

I ripped those free next. Steel links snapped beneath enlarged claws. My heartbeat had become a war drum. Get outside, save Nico!

I lunged toward the trailer door, and it burst open beneath my shoulder. Fresh mountain air flooded my lungs. The world sharpened instantly.

The scent of pine, blood, and gunpowder crashed into me all at once. My clothes shredded as the rest of the shift overtook me. My spine lengthened, my ribs expanded, and my bones cracked and reformed.

The familiar agony lasted only seconds before instinct smoothed everything into place. Dark fur covered me completely, and massive paws slammed into the earth.

The world became scent and sound. I exploded out of the trailer. The clearing spread before me. A battered pickup truck sat crooked beside the trailer.

Tony stood several yards away, gripping a pistol in both hands. His arms trembled. Sweat poured down the sides of his face despite the cool mountain air.

His eyes darted between the two bodies rolling across the ground.

He couldn't shoot, and I understood immediately why. Nico and Kyle were tangled together so tightly they might as well have been one person.

"Nico!" Tony shouted.

"I'm trying!"

The two men slammed into the dirt again. Kyle still had the handgun. No, wait. Nico managed to knock it loose, sending it flying several feet away.

Nico drove his elbow into Kyle's ribs. Kyle retaliated by smashing his forehead into Nico's face. Nico reeled backward, and blood sprayed from his nose.

Kyle twisted with frightening speed. In one smooth motion he rolled on top of Nico, and pinned him. My blood froze. Kyle's hand disappeared inside his jacket. I let out a growl.