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My heart pounds in my ears, the sound muffling the pain-filled howls and enraged roars as the battle continues. I start forward, seeing my opening, but Zeke rushes in front of me, charging towards the bear with its flank open, with the blonde, now tan wolf following behind him.Fucking asshole.
I unload a few rounds into the bear, making sure to stop firing as Zeke nears him. His powerful muscles bunch as he jumps for the bear, teeth ripping into his flesh. Silas takes the other side, both of us searching for open targets as wolves swarm the bears, not wanting to hit one of our own while attempting to help. My annoyance ratchets at the feeling of inadequacy; I should be out there too, sinking my teeth into their necks, but I can’t. My wolf prowls just beneath the surface, howling for me to let her free, but the trust isn’t there. Our bond has grown frayed over the years, and even though we have our instincts, we have no training, no experience.
My eyes move back to the black wolf, needing to make sure he’s safe. To my relief, he stands over the bear, his and his betas teeth shredding into the thick flesh. I watch their backs and fire off a few shots as a bear moves to help their friend. I land two bullets to their head, taking them down and their agonized roars split through the night, drawing Zeke’s attention from his prey. He glances from the bear and back to me, giving me a nod of thanks before launching himself at his next target.
Scanning the distance, I fire a few rounds off when I can. But the wolves move so quickly, darting around the bears, their agility working against the brute force. Silas takes aim and pulls the trigger, both of us focused on the battle slowly dying off around us. Half of the bears are already on the ground, overpowered by our weapons and numbers. On the darkest edge of the battleground I catch one bear pull away from the fight, slipping onto one of the paths.
“Let’s fall out,” I call out, not wanting to get overrun again. We need to retrieve our dead and injured before they bring in reinforcements.
Silas sees the same thing I do and edges into the path to organize with the wolves and pull our injured and dead into vehicles, not that we could spare a few fighters. I move forward, about to do the same, when sharp pain slashes across my back. Liquid pools in my clothes, and I shiver in the biting cold. No, not liquid ... blood.
Before I can turn to face my attacker, I’m knocked to the side, my rifle slipping out of my hands and clattering against the pavement. I shoot my hands out to catch me just in time, absorbing the impact rather than my hitting face. Pain radiates through my wrists, and they groan under my weight. My vision blurs, and blood gushes from my injury.
On instinct I roll just in time to avoid the bear’s next swipe, its claws gouging into the dirt path where my face had just been. I bite back the scream that rakes its way up my throat, my nerves revolting as agony racks my body with my tattered back flat against the ground.
The bear rears back, readying for their next blow, my blood glistening off their razor-sharp claws. I grasp for a blade, the heavy weight settling in my palm just in time—I’ll only have one shot at this. I brace myself for the pain as their claw nears my side. I know I’ll have to drive my dagger as deep as I can in its eye, anything else will mean my death. Hell, this may even be my final moments right here.
At the last second a desperate pained growl splits through the din as a black wolf streaks towards us, his powerful jaw clamping around the bear’s arm mere inches from my flesh. I roll again to get out of the way as the force of Zeke crashing against the bear sends them both tumbling towards the ground.
Adrenaline pumps through my body, helping me to ignore the still seeping blood and block out the pain. I snatch the gun from my hip, aiming for the bear, but their movements are too fast, Zeke and the bear wrestling violently for control. Fuck, I have to help him. My heart beats wildly, my panic spiking. The cool calm from moments ago is gone now that my mate is the one in danger.
Finally, Zeke gains control, pinning the bear, his teeth ripping at his flesh and piercing through the thick coat. The bear roars in pain, his head bucking back desperately, but it’s no use. Zeke tears into him with more ferocity than I’ve ever seen.
Taking aim for the bear’s head, I unload my clip. Each shot hits its mark. The force of the bullets sprays blood across the path, onto my legs, and across Zeke’s face—his human face. I fire until the clip is empty, my brain not registering what I’ve done at first, the lack of gunfire finally bringing me out of my rage induced haze.
My vision is drawn back to Zeke, only now truly registering that he’d shifted. He stares back at me, his eyes soft, all traces of the ferocity I’d sensed earlier gone. That sight tears me from my focus, and I place the now useless gun back in its holder.
Zeke stands from his position, still perched over the bear. Judging by the amount of damage we both inflicted, he won’t be a threat anymore.
I pull in deep, ragged breaths, my lungs desperate for air. Had I even remembered to breathe? My hands shake at my side, and I numbly register Zeke moving towards me, my vision blurring as a wave of cold washes over me.
“You’re okay,” he says in a soothing tone, but my body is already going into shock. I can’t even piece together if it’s from the panic slicing through my chest still, making each breath feel like needles stuck in my lungs, or from the blood loss.
“Fuck,” Zeke curses, his hands clasping my shoulders. Even the light contact forces a pained whimper to leave my lips, red fiery agony blooming from the wounds in my back.
“Dammit, Sky,” he breathes, a slight hitch to his voice. “You’re going to be okay, I promise.”
“The pack,” I breathe, leaning towards where the fighting had been happening just moments before and attempting to break free of his hold, but his hands only tighten on me.
“They’re safe,” he assures me. “They began falling back when you instructed, we loaded the injured into the cars. But we need to be quiet, the bears have reinforcements on the way.”
I nod, keeping quiet as shadows move along the path. Zeke crouches, picking up the rifle and tucking it into his side.
“You saved their lives, babe,” he whispers, the words causing me to still. I hadn’t even realized the tremors running over my body. Hadn’t known that I needed that reassurance till now.
“We need to leave. Now,” Silas murmurs, darting a look around the corner. My face whips to him in shock, thankful for the surprise as it gives me another boost of adrenaline.
“Sorry, babe,” Zeke says, crouching before me. Carefully, he hoists me over his shoulder and I have to brace myself, biting back the pained scream that begs to bubble up past my lips. “Lead the way.”
The tan wolf, Elise, huffs out a breath and circles around Zeke before taking the lead, scouting out the way while Silas takes the back. Zeke holds on to me tightly, one hand clasping my thighs to his bare muscled chest, the other crooking the rifle against his opposite shoulder, preparing to eliminate any threat in front of us. My back throbs in time with each step, my body jostled as they head tentatively back to the entrance. I bite down on my bottom lip and swallow my cries. I refuse to be the reason we get caught.
“There are five more bears by my count. They’re focused on retrieving their injured, though,” Silas says as we pause behind a shipping container. One more to go, then it will be a straight shot to the cars. Headlights flash nearby, signaling that our team is leaving. Good, they need to get the injured looked after. How many wolves had laid on the ground? Writhing in pain, sprawled out, unmoving.
Elise in her wolf form, peers around the corner, pausing for a moment before gesturing forward with her head. Zeke creeps after her, and I clamp my lips shut, caught off guard by the sudden sharp pain slicing through my back. He bolts across the open pathway and behind the cover of the last.
I glance back, lifting my head despite the agony the slight movement sends shooting down my spine, needing to make sure that Silas makes it across. To my relief, he darts across the opening unscathed, closing the distance between us. I catch his grimace as he checks over my back. The cool air seeps in through the ripped shreds. I really didn’t shoot that damn bear enough, this was my favorite jacket.
The tan wolf checks around the last corner. Silas finally turns to guard our rear, but not without giving me a final sympathetic look. I grit my teeth, hating the way he looked at me, the pain in his brown eyes. My responding guilt reminds me I have to do something about my wolf because tonight was way too close. I don’t need my pack thinking my wolf is too weak to fight alongside them.
