Chapter 17 #2
That was when I saw them.
Jaguars.
There were five. My stomach flipped as I recognised each of them. All deadly warriors. Some of them related to me.
I doubted that would save me.
The wolf didn’t wait for them to get close. He attacked with a snarl, his haunches bunching as he launched himself towards them.
A jaguar fell almost immediately, blood spraying liberally.
Problem was, there were still four more. Four more who immediately circled him.
I cried out as he disappeared under them. More blood was flying, whimpers proving that the jaguars’ teeth and claws were finding their marks.
Then, a desperate howl pierced the night. It came from my guard; the brave soul who was sacrificing himself for me. It drove me forwards, stumbling through puddles of blood as I raced for the mass of shifters.
“Stop,” I cried out desperately. “I’m here. I’m right here! You don’t need to hurt him. Stop, please.”
Were those more howls in the distance? Or was it just my wishful thinking?
Three jaguars split away from the wolf and shifted. As they did so, my eyes fell on the body on the floor. On the wolf who wasn’t moving.
My heart leaped into my throat. Please don’t be dead.
I forced my eyes away from him to the approaching shifters. I knew them all. Neil, Martha, and Gavin.
None of them had liked me when we were kids. I doubted anything had changed since then.
“Hullo, Reid,” Neil said, shooting me a sinister grin. “Long time no see.”
“It’s very rude,” Gavin said as they drew nearer. “Running out on your family like that.”
Martha gave me a patronising smile. “It’s a good thing we’re here to take you home.”
I backed up fast, my shoulders colliding with my car. Tears filled my eyes as my worst nightmare came true. “Please. Neil, you don’t want to do this.”
He snarled, malice in his eyes. “Yes. I do.”
Desperate, I turned to Martha, trying to appeal to her better nature. “Martha, please. I’m your cousin. Please don’t take me back there.”
Saliva hit my face. “You’re nothing to me other than an embarrassing aberration.”
Welp. Guess she didn’t have a better nature.
I raised my hand automatically to wipe her spit away. I’d just lowered it when another wave of liquid hit me.
Blood.
I wiped it away to see a massive brown wolf spat what remained of Martha’s throat onto the ground before leaping on Neil.
Evan came.
Neil suffered the same fate as Martha before Gavin even registered what was happening. Then, he was shifting and throwing himself at Evan.
Terror gripped me as Gavin’s claws tore into Evan’s shoulder. No. Please no.
Evan didn’t let the attack slow him down, pivoting to crush Gavin between his back and my car.
It worked, Gavin’s inert form falling to the ground.
But, in doing so, Evan had left himself vulnerable.
My eyes bugged wide as I watched the final shifter, the one I didn’t know, hurl himself at Evan. “Ev, look out!”
My warning had him spinning to intercept the jaguar. His paw swung through the air, colliding with the jaguar’s jaw. The move sent him flying backwards several feet.
Yes.
The victory was short-lived as the jaguar leapt up with a deadly snarl.
But his wasn’t the only one sounding.
I jerked my head around to look at the tree line in time to see several wolves break through. Finn and Logan were at the helm, the smaller wolf leaping on the jaguar.
I hadn’t seen Logan fight before, but nothing about the ruthless way he attacked a shifter a third bigger than him surprised me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the wolf from the start reincarnate. He got to his feet, shaking off the blood before rejoining the fray. Not that there was much to join. The one remaining jaguar shifter was officially overwhelmed and outmatched.
Thank fuck.
The terror ebbed, the familiar numbness sweeping in to take its place. Marvellous. Of course it fucking is.
I just couldn’t catch a break. See, this right here was why I isolated myself. Leaving the house wasn’t worth the risk. Letting others be injured or killed because of me wasn’t worth it.
I wasn’t worth it.
The darkness was surrounding me, a fog that stifled everything else. I couldn’t see. Couldn’t break past it. Couldn’t lift it. Couldn’t breathe through it. I can’t…
A voice punctured the fog. It was a beacon. A siren song. I grabbed onto it. He was asking me a question, but what?
Then he was before me, speaking again. “Are ye okay?”
I blinked up at Evan in his human form. Droplets of blood covered his calves. Oh. There were puddles of it all over the place. I hugged myself a little tighter.
“I’m so sorry, Reid,” Evan was saying, his gaze sweeping over me like he was checking for injuries. “I got here as fast as I could—”
An emotion welled up in me, pushing aside the fog. The safe harbour was in sight. I didn’t need to be lost anymore. I could do this. I could hold on to this feeling and let it guide me home.
Hope.
I collided with Evan, cutting him off mid-sentence. He caught me automatically, holding me close.
The request erupted from me before I could stop it, fuelled by the fear. The numbness. The hope. “Keep me safe, Ev. Take me away from here and keep me safe.”
Evan’s arms tugged me even closer, holding me securely. I was right. It was everything I’d needed. The fog lifted a little, allowing me to take a full breath.
And with his next words, it vanished entirely. “I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you safe, Reid, if it’s the last thing I do.”
Somehow, I knew that this time would be different.