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Chapter fourteen
‘The Hard Way’ Dominic Marsh
JAZ MONROE
Yells of men mingle with the cries of women and children, the sounds reaching my ears as I round the north side of the building where rows upon rows of log cabins sit. It’s almost like a hiking resort for the Cutthroats. I still don’t see the flames, but the smoke continues to darken the sky.
“It’s one of the back cabin’s, Alpha!” A man yells as he runs away.
“Where the fuck is he going?” I shout as I run after Roman.
“To get the firetruck!” He shouts before snatching up a child who stands in the middle of the pathway before handing her off to a woman corralling the other kids.
All around me, people run out of their homes with anything they can carry water in, but none of the buckets or barrels have water in them. I don’t need to ask though, because we come to a stop at the last row of cabins where only one is in a blaze. The people with their empty buckets, are running to the river being the cabins. Some people have already begun tossing water against the back door.
“Come on!” I yell before running off to help. As I run past a window on the cabin, I hear the faint cry of a child but ignore it because there’s a shit ton of children in these homes and they’re probably freaking out right now. I grab the nearest bucket and fill it, watching Roman do the same. More people show up including the twins, Case, and Atticus.
My breaths are coming in rough with the number of times I run up and down the riverbank, but I can’t stop. Where the hell is that firetruck? I call on my wolf to surface a little, to push her power into me to help me keep going. I’m sure to the human eye, we all look like a blur of motion with how fast we’re running. Hell, even Knix and Knox are almost invisible with their outrageous speed but even they look like they’re huffing and puffing. My wolf pushes her power into me just as I reach the blazing house, damn this water might as well be fucking gasoline for all the help it’s doing.
Wait, was this intentional, an arson job?
Suddenly, with the extra power boost of my wolf, I hear the cry again. It’s coming from inside!
I don’t think, I just shift, bursting through my clothing with newfound energy. As soon as I land on all four paws, I drop and roll in the mud before surging to my feet and charging for the door.
“JAZ!” Roman bellows but I’m already inside, having broken the heavy wooden door.
I come to a stop when I get inside, my wolf practically passing out in shock at the sight before me. There is no sign of a fire inside, no singed wood, not the scent of a fire, hell, there’s not even evidence of the damn river we just poured over the house.
Fuck this, I’m about to run back out but the door begins to slam shut. It almost closes until a massive black wolf slams into it so hard that it flies off the hinges, nearly hitting me in the process. Roman’s wolf charges me, biting my scruff and pulling me to the open door like I’m a naughty child.
I shift, ripping my skin from his jaws. I’m not worried though, I can already feel the skin stitch back together as I gesture to the room, “There’s no fire in here. This shit is all kinds of crazy—” my words cut off when a cloaked woman steps around the wall dividing the kitchen from the living room we’re standing in.
“Hello,little wolf,” The woman says with a voice that sounds melodic. My hair stands on end as she uses Roman’s nickname for me, “We’ve been trying to reach you.”
Roman growls stepping between her and me, but I scoff at the bitch, “Let me guess, you want to talk to me about my car’s extended warranty?” Stupid, I know but in the face of danger, I’ve been known to say stupid shit.
Roman shifts, standing on two feet as naked as the day he was born, and I almost want to cover his junk or gouge this broad’s eyes out, but I refrain. I mean, now’s definitely not the time for a fit of jealousy, right? Who am I kidding, I’m a jealous bitch no matter the situation? Surreptitiously, I move around him and cover my—I meanhis, dick with my thigh.
I don’t see it but somehow, I feel the smirk Roman has on his face at my not-so-casual move.
“I see life has at least treated you much more fairly than us,” The creepy woman says as the room grows deathly cold. I feel the sneer form on my face when I think of her eyes leering at the man behind my back,myman, “It’s too bad you’ll lose it all just as we have.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I growl as I try to ignore the flutter in my chest and the dread in my stomach. I have a feeling my life is about to be altered once more.
The woman steps forward, or floats forward, it’s difficult to tell when the shawl she’s wearing covers her from head to toe. It’s like she’s trying to be a black ghost for Halloween, a walking bed sheet.
Roman taps the small of my back before I feel his power push forward, changing his height as size while his glowing teal-green wolf outlines his shoulders and head. I jump to the right and grab the cast iron fire pokers and spin, landing one blow against the log wall, the woman having anticipated my move.Oh, she’s good.
Roman roars, making the pictures and decorations on the mantel fall to the floor and shatter as I continue my attack, “You come onto my lands and threaten my mate, now it’ll be my lands that soak up your blood!”
My heart flies with his words, even as I dodge the fucking spear this bitch suddenly swings outward.Did she just pull that from her ass?I land a kick to her thigh, but I can’t quite escape the next swing she gives me. As I roll away, her spear slaps across my back making me shriek in pain.
“You fucking bitch!” I scream as I feel my skin burn from the silver of her spear. The thing doesn’t look silver, which is why I wasn’t worried about it, but the burn tells me that fucker is pure as a nun.
My wolf, pissed as hell, pushes for the shift and I let her so I can heal faster. Through my shift, I watch Roman and the Witch fight like battle worn warriors. The woman fights like a damn Viking but when she sees me shift, she growls and jumps back, her cloak tumbles to the floor as a white wolf, identical to mine, slips from it.
I don’t give her a second to shake out the shift, I just charge and tackle the broad down to the floor. I bite onto her hind leg and twist as hard as I can, swinging her whole body around and slamming her against the wall. The grandfather clock near us tilts precariously with the vibration before falling and landing on top of me. My head and neck are left exposed but before the bitch can attack me, Roman and his glowing wolf snatch her up by her head, and repeatedly slam her against the wall.
