Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
"What's wrong?" Goatee chuckled darkly. "Does this remind you of something?"
The asshole was gloating. He knew exactly what this was doing to me. That was probably why he’d had these five guards slaughtered this way. He wanted to break me and flaunt what they’d done to my pack. He had no remorse. "You had twenty guards on these five guards. From my standpoint, it was a small-dick move like the guns you used on my pack."
"Instead of insulting me, you should be thanking me. After all, we didn't kill you or your two boyfriends." Goatee tsk ed. "And these five deaths, well, they’re on you."
"How so?" I wanted to understand his delusional justification. The next thing he would tell me was that I was to blame for my pack's death too, but I wasn't some weak-minded wolf. None of this was my fault, and I wouldn't let some self-absorbed asshole tell me otherwise.
"Because you ran away." The guy sneered and took a few steps in my direction. "Do you know how damn hard it was to find you?”
Killian and Griffin moved in front of me as if they could actually protect me. A laugh almost bubbled out of me, mainly due to what I'd seen of Griffin's fighting skills. I would need to train him if we did make it out of here alive.
Here I was, doubting myself. I had to believe that we would come out of this breathing, all three of us, or I might as well lie down and give up. But we needed backup, so I had to stall.
"I'm pretty sure you found me that second day." That had to have been him exiting the diner that morning when I had my meltdown. "Granted, you made me doubt it when you walked off without a second glance."
"We had been at a loss until that moment." Goatee scowled. "We actually were passing through the city and didn't think you'd run here of all places with the number of people here that could identify a silver wolf. It was a good strategy, but this was obviously fate. By the way, what did you think of the little calling-card we left for you?"
Of course. That explains seeing the wolf right after I found the painting on the wall. “Fuck you,” I spat.
“Gladly,” Auburn Goatee chuckled. “But we can get to that part as soon as we get you settled in your new home.”
My skin crawled at the insinuation.
"She is not yours," Griffin said with menace. "She’s mine, and you won't be taking her anywhere."
"You have no influence over me, alpha boy." Goatee rubbed his hands together and gestured to the five dead guards.
"If you hurt Sterlyn or injure another one of my people, you will have made an enemy out of Shadow City." Griffin straightened his shoulders, standing tall. "If you stand down now, we can come to an agreement. I have the power to protect you from the punishment you deserve and will receive if you try to take Sterlyn or harm any of us. Tell us what you’re looking for. Entry to Shadow City? A place in a new pack?”
"Oh, no." Goatee placed a hand over his mouth and forced his body to shake. "What ever shall I do?" He glanced over his shoulder as ten more men slipped through the trees behind him and joined us. "We have no other choice than to leave right now. After all, the big powerful Shadow City alpha might not like us. Oh, wait. He already doesn't, and Shadow City only lets in wolves that can benefit them. So I guess that means I don't give two fucks about negotiating with you."
A few of his men chuckled, clearly enjoying watching the alpha wolf of the elusive city being made fun of.
Griffin had to see that this group of idiots wasn't afraid of consequences. Either their own alpha had commanded them to retrieve me, or they were getting paid big bucks. There was no negotiating with them because they didn't work in diplomatic ways, so I'd cut straight to the chase. "I'm not going with you. I refuse to be some dickwad's personal breeder."
A low growl escaped Griffin. "You'll have to kill me to take her."
The fact that they hadn’t killed Griffin both worried and relieved me. They obviously didn’t want him dead, but why? There had to be more going on than we even guessed originally.
"We can arrange that," Goatee cooed. "Or we can walk away here as friends, and you get over your little-boy crush. Either way, she'll be coming with us."
"My sister isn't going to be some guy’s sex slave," Killian said. "Griffin is right; you'll have to kill both of us."
I couldn't let them sacrifice themselves for me. That would be something I couldn't live with. "If you don't hurt them, I'll willingly go with you." The fact that they hadn’t yet hurt or killed either guy made me think there was a reason, that maybe they had orders not to. If I went willingly and played the part for a while, they’d possibly let Killian and Griffin go, and I could determine a way to escape. It would no doubt be hard, but under the moon, I might be able to swing it.
"No." Griffin shook his head. "You aren't going with them. Absolutely not." He clenched his hands into fists, and some honey brown fur sprouted across his arms. He was dangerously close to shifting.
The time still wasn't right to start the fight. I couldn't hear any additional guards running in our direction. And that stupid crow would probably know they were coming long before we did, what with being perched on that damn tall tree not ten yards away.
"See, this is why I tried to leave last night." If I got Griffin to focus on me, that should hold him back. "I didn't want you and Killian to get hurt foolishly for me."
"Well, then, a thank you is in order." Goatee rubbed his hands together. “She would've gotten the slip on us since I was gathering the troops after confirming it was her at the university yesterday."
Of course, he’d done the drawing and watched me make an ass of myself with Rosemary. The memory of the wolf in the woods triggered—he'd been in the shadows, and I hadn't noticed that his fur had a red hue to it, but thinking back, it was pretty damn clear.
The crow flew off the branch, crying, "Caw! Caw! Caw!"
That was when the noise of multiple feet pounded on the ground, heading in our direction.
"They have backup." One of the lanky guys in the back called as he stood, pulling out a machine gun.
Dear, sweet Jesus. This wasn't going to end well, and not enough guards were heading this way. Maybe more were coming, but Goatee’s men would try to pick them off one at a time, which meant a fight was inevitable. We'd have to distract as many as possible so the guards wouldn't end up like these other five.
Doing the only thing I could think of in this moment, I called my wolf forward. I had no weapon because I foolishly hadn't planned to come outside, so my animal was the only option I had.
I was born for battle. I had to trust my instincts.
My skin tingled as my silver fur sprouted all over my body, and my bones cracked, contorting me to my animal form. My clothes ripped away as my four paws hit the ground.
"Dammit, she shifted." The scrawny shifter swung the gun in my direction. “What do we do?” His voice held a slight tremor.
Good, at least, they weren’t comfortable with me.
Goatee spun around and knocked the gun away from my direction. "You do not shoot her unless there is absolutely no other choice. Got it? If we don't get her there alive, you'll be taking the blame."
That little bit of information was music to my ears. They didn’t want to kill me, which meant I had a little leeway before they’d be willing to do it.
Deciding to use their distraction to my advantage, I ran through Killian and Griffin and locked on the scrawny guy who’d been foolish enough to show weakness. That would make the others pause around me.
What I wanted was to attack Goatee, but he was in control of this little pack, which meant I had to be smart.
A few of the men froze as I ran past them. It was clear that they'd never been around a silver wolf in wolf form before. Since we were close to a full moon, I was larger than all of them. My pack called a full moon a silver moon, in celebration of the strength of our connection.
Killian and Griffin followed my lead and shifted behind me while the others stayed focused on me. I hated that they were here with me, but I knew they wouldn't leave.
Even though time seemed to move slowly, only a few seconds had passed. I lunged at the lanky guy and sank my teeth into his neck, jerked my head to the side, and killed him on the spot. Blood dripped down my mouth, covering my fur as the taste of copper stuck to my tongue and the metallic scent hit my nose.
My stomach churned. I hated death and being the one to cause it, but I had to hold it together. It was us or them, and there were twenty-three enemies in human form, four wolves, and a crow to go. I’d seen what they were capable of and refused to let anyone else I loved die because of a moment's hesitation.
Dad had told me that we should never celebrate killing others and do it only when absolutely necessary.
I'd challenged him, asking how you would know whether it was necessary or not. And he’d patted my arm and replied that I would know. That our wolves would guide us because they were good and thus made of pure light as well. That we were a reflection of the power inside us.
I never believed him until now, but there was no question in my mind that these assholes had to die. They got off on hurting others and asserting their dominance, and I refused to let the cycle continue. The cost of their sins was their lives.
"What are you standing around for?" Goatee yelled. "Attack to incapacitate. Don't kill the girl."
Dark fur rushed past me as Killian went into battle mode. He jumped on one of the closer men, sinking his teeth into the arm that had been going for his gun.
Killian made decisions like a fighter, so that was one less person to worry about.
An arm wrapped around my neck, cutting off some of my oxygen. The man who had me jerked me upright, pulling me up to my hind legs. I turned my head, trying to bite some part of his arm, but the enemy had me in an iron-clad hold. I dug my front claws into his arm, which made him groan. But no matter how deep I dug into his skin, his hold didn't slacken.
"You're not getting out that easily," the guy cackled. "You aren't the only one who knows how to fight."
I loved having an arrogant opponent. There was nothing quite as motivating as proving their asses wrong and watching them squirm when they realized they were outmatched.
The enemy chuckled as if he’d gotten the upper hand. That was my cue to push backward and let my entire weight fall on his chest. He wasn’t prepared for it, so he fell on his back with me right on top. I rolled off him quickly and stood on him.
His soulless eyes widened as he realized I'd outsmarted him. Not giving him a chance to react, I clawed his neck deep, letting the blood pour to the ground. At least, I didn't have to taste it this time.
I glanced in Griffin's direction and almost cried in relief when I realized he was holding his own against three guards. His wolf was very strong and knew what to do. So fighting was a weakness only in his human form. I could work with that.
A guard squatting between two trees five feet away lifted his gun in Griffin's direction. My wolf howled, and we ran with blinding speed toward the guy as his finger tightened on the trigger. I lowered my head and rammed it between his legs, lifting him up like he was riding a bull.
He fell forward as the gun fired, and the bullet missed its mark—short by three feet, and the guy landed on his face.
A rustling forced my attention back to Goatee. He loaded some kind of tranquilizer dart into a gun and pointed it at me. “This has gone on far too long.”
Shit. I had to time my movement, or my fight would be over. I inched toward a tree, as he aimed right at me.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to remain calm and act scared, like I’d given up. I lowered my head, but not enough that I couldn’t see what he was doing. His finger pulled the trigger, and I channeled every ounce of speed into racing behind the tree.
The breeze of the dart hit my tail as I narrowly escaped impact.
"Fuck!” Goatee screamed as his face turned red. “The tranq missed the mark, so all of you need to get your asses in gear."
Goatee charged Killian, who was fighting off a man with a knife.
It was clear these were all shifters who were more comfortable using their weapons than their animals, which boded well for us in a way. No matter how bad things got, they would shift only if that was their last option.
My animal knew that Goatee was trying to trick me. She took note that he wasn't moving as fast as he could, and he had his head turned slightly in my direction as if waiting for me to charge. All of that told me he had no intention of attacking Killian.
I couldn't let him know that I was on to his plan. I rushed toward him like he was expecting, but as I reached him, I spun out of the way.
He turned on his heel and swung a knife where my shoulder would've been. However, all he did was hit air as he turned in a complete circle, expecting an impact. He sneered at me as his breathing increased.
"You stupid bitch," he growled. "You won't get away this time, no matter what kind of game you try to play."
Game? That was what he called this? This game was not only about the fact that my life was at risk, but it involved the lives of the two people left that I cared dearly for. I risked losing everything. This was about survival.
I hunkered down and bared my teeth at him. Our guards were getting closer, at least, giving us some more backup. I glanced around and noted that all four wolves and eight enemy shifters were now missing, probably gone to stop our guards. I hated that the guards were being ambushed, but for the moment, that helped Killian, Griffin, and me. With Killian and Griffin pack linking with the guards, they should be somewhat prepared for what they were walking into.
Gunshots fired, and a sharp pain pierced my hind leg. I staggered back a few steps, trying to keep my balance, but placing weight on the injured leg caused me to collapse. The sharp pain morphed into fire as if my leg were being burned. I turned to find blood trickling down my silver fur.
I'd been shot.
"We tried to do it the nice way." Goatee squatted beside me and held his knife in front of my face. "But you wouldn't have that. So you're forcing our hand... again."
My heart hammered. Maybe they didn't have to bring me in alive after all.