Page 60 of Captured By the Werewolf Highwaymen

Once she was sure they were all accompanying her, she opened another panel leading to the secret passage. If it was difficult to fit them as men into the passageway, now, in their massive wolf forms, it was nearly impossible. Their shoulders were too wide, and they had to bend down to keep from hitting their heads against the ceiling. They were forced to edge sideways as she darted down the narrow corridor, guiding them.

She emerged in an upstairs parlor. A pair of sofas flanked a small table, and a set of small windows looked out on the back garden. Once all the wolves had entered the room, she pointed to a large cabinet in the corner.

“Put that in front of the door,” she directed.

Gideon and Hugh did as she commanded, lifting the heavy piece of furniture with ease. They wedged it in front of the door.

“They won’t get through that,” Bram growled.

“We aren’t done,” Clara answered. She motioned them back into the hidden passageway.

Inside the corridor, she led them to another room. This one was a gentleman’s private salon, with substantial, dark furniture that Clara had always intended to replace, as it had no use in her household, but had never gotten around to doing so.

Once she and the wolves were in the chamber, she motioned to a weighty and ornate escritoire, which, fortunately, the Ballantines had never tried to take.

“That, too,” she said to the wolves. “In front of the door.”

“You’re giving us no way out,” Bram complained.

“I’m giving them no way out,” she corrected.

At her words, Des and Hugh grabbed the desk and shoved it in front of the door, the feet digging deep gouges in the floorboards. A moment later, the door shook as Guardians attempted to gain entry. They pounded on the door until it shuddered on its hinges, spreading fractures through the walls.

“Back in,” Clara said, pointing to the passageway. The wolves immediately complied. She took them through the cramped corridor, weaving through the house.

She pulled open a panel, and they now stood on the landing at the top of the front stairs.

Guardians appeared at either end of the landing, two on one side, two on the other. All four of the intruders had their swords out, and they readied to strike.

Without waiting for their enemies to attack, Gideon and Hugh hurled themselves at one of the Guardians. Gideon grabbed him, holding him in place. Hugh used his claws to strike. The man screamed as Hugh tore his chest open, blood spurting onto the whitewashed walls.

Another Guardian slashed his blade across Des’s thigh. Crimson welled from the wound, Des grunted in pain but lunged for his attacker. He sank his teeth into the man’s shoulder. There was another scream, more blood, and then the Guardian collapsed.

As they fought on the landing, five Guardians swept into the entryway below. Three drew their swords, a fourth held what appeared to be a long halberd, while the fifth carried a blunderbuss. Clara didn’t care for the odds.

Bram grabbed one of the remaining Guardians on the landing. He hefted the man over his head and threw him through the railing and down into the foyer. The flying Guardian knocked down several of the intruders standing there while debris from the railing fell onto them. The remaining enemy on the landing took one look at his fallen comrades, then ran down the stairs to join the others.

Led by Gideon, the wolves leapt over the broken railing.

They landed amidst the startled Guardians, the heft of their bodies cracking the entryway’s marble floor tiles. There was a moment’s stillness as the wolves crouched, growling at their enemies. The Guardians drew themselves up, preparing for battle.

The wolves launched themselves into combat.

From her place on the landing, it was a blur of motion below. Gideon slashed at a Guardian. He ripped a jagged tear in the intruder’s throat and there was a gurgling scream. The Guardian with the halberd charged Gideon from behind. Des yanked him back and cut his claws across the man’s chest. Hugh grappled with one enemy, and Bram and Liam circled around another.

The wolves and men hurled each other into the walls, crashing into side tables. Furniture broke apart, and paintings were knocked off their hooks. Chunks of plaster fell from the walls. It was a seething mass of fur and leather.

The intruder with the blunderbuss separated himself from the fight, searching for a target.

“Look out!” Clara called.

Yet the noise below was too great, and no one heard her.

The Guardian pointed his weapon at Hugh, who was distracted by his fight with another Guardian.

Clara snatched up a pistol from one of the nearby fallen Guardians. Running to the edge of the landing, she aimed the gun. Pulled the trigger.

The invader with the blunderbuss dropped to the ground, shot through the throat. His weapon fell from his hands, clattering on the marble tiles, which cracked even more from the force.