Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
My focus locked on the knife Goatee wielded in my face as my training kicked in. This guy was insane, and there was a glint in his eyes, informing me he loved the hold he had on me. He placed the knife against my throat, letting it cut through my fur and slice my skin.
My skin burned, but that was the wake-up call I needed. He would hurt me little by little, which would lead to me losing my mind.
Fear could paralyze and make someone irrational, which meant if I didn't get a hold of myself, I would be playing right into his hands.
I refused to do that.
To make it easier for him.
I had to make them pay for what they'd done. Being smarter than them shouldn't have been hard. They relied on terror, weapons, and surprise attacks.
In my peripheral vision, I could see both Killian and Griffin holding their own, but we were each fighting multiple enemies. Goatee’s men outnumbered us by eleven, and the enemies were attacking Griffin and Killian in groups of five while four were locked on me. But that was both good and bad. Good because they thought we’d have backup imminently, so they wanted to end the fight quickly, and bad because they'd do whatever it took to end it as quickly as possible.
Goatee had to be my first priority. I needed to get out of his clutches to help my guys and the other guards who were on their way.
The other three men on me circled, watching their leader subdue me. Or so they thought.
"Don't worry." Goatee leaned forward like he was telling me a secret. "They won't see us take you. We’ll knock them out before we drag you away. And we will kill them if we have to—if you don’t cooperate."
Like hell that would ever happen. I refused to be a puppet in this sick game. But that was the problem. I had no damn clue what game they were playing, which put us at a disadvantage. Who was the man behind all of this who desperately wanted me as his own?
The knife slackened against my neck as Goatee turned his head to watch what was going on with Griffin and Killian.
This was the distraction I needed. Going with pure instinct, I clamped down on the wrist of Goatee's hand that was holding the knife until my teeth hit the bone. This was my opportunity to even out the fight.
He hissed as his blood dripped down my chin, mixing with that of the lanky guy I’d killed only minutes earlier and my own blood where Goatee had cut me. My mouth tensed as I waited for him to yank in desperation to free his hand, but his face only contorted into rage.
Shit. I'd miscalculated. Maybe he had some brains after all.
His free arm moved toward my body as he aimed for my bullet wound, but since I was in wolf form, I was a little faster.
I released my hold on him and rolled out of the way as his hand only skimmed my fur. I stood on all fours, placing most of my weight on the three uninjured legs.
The three other men began to move toward me, but Goatee yelled, “Stop! This bitch is mine.”
He wanted to make a statement, not only with me but with his men too. He could take down a silver wolf all by himself.
"You got lucky." Goatee clutched his injured hand close to his body as he bent down and grabbed the knife. "But don't worry. I can use my left hand just as well."
I had a feeling he wasn't bluffing, which meant I had to injure that hand too.
Game on.
I snarled, wanting him to know that he didn't scare me. We were on even ground, even though I didn't like to admit that my hind leg was as much of a strategic liability as his injured hand.
He swung his knife at me, making it clear that he wasn't scared. This wasn’t only a battle of skill but of proving something to each other.
Breaking me was his end goal, whereas mine was proving that he couldn't.
I stumbled back, avoiding the blow, but that had been his real intent. I placed more weight than I could handle on my back leg and almost fell.
Goatee scowled when I managed to stay on all four legs.
My silver wolf healing abilities worked faster than other wolves, which worked in my favor. My leg still hurt like a son of a bitch, but I could already feel it knitting together and was able to put more weight on it. Unfortunately, the bullet was still lodged inside, which meant that I'd have to reopen the wound to get it out, but that was yet another problem for later.
Needing to strike first, I charged his right side. He would be weakest there and not able to counter as well. Before I connected with him, I noticed a tree with a low-hanging branch a few feet away and changed my plan mid-stride. At this point, I didn't care about making him suffer, I only wanted this entire thing over so I could help the others.
I lowered my head and bulldozed him into the branch. The sound of ripping skin and a groan of pain told me that I'd hit the mark. I took a few steps back and saw the end of the branch sticking through his shoulder. My intent had been to skewer his heart, but at least, he was worse off than me now. Even though the wound seemed to have missed the main artery, there was so much blood his subclavian may have been nicked.
"Attack her!" Goatee demanded. "She can't get away. As long as she can survive, do whatever is necessary to make her leave with us. Take them down and kill them if she doesn’t yield.”
The three enemy guards sprang into action like they’d been waiting for this moment. Additionally, one guard from both Killian and Griffin spun in my direction with hunger in their own eyes. Each one wanted to have a claim on taking down the almost extinct silver wolf line. At least, that helped both Griffin and Killian with their own battles.
One pointed his gun at the side of my body that wasn't injured. They were going to try to weaken both sides.
Shit, I didn't know how to get out of this. I scanned the woods desperately for an idea, but there wasn't a damn thing I could think of. My best bet was to run and make them chase me. It might hurt like hell, but as long as I survived, that was okay.
I took off running toward the water as more gunfire echoed farther away from where Griffin’s and Killian’s additional guards were coming in.
Someone fired at me, missing by mere inches. The bullet lodged in the dirt, making it splatter.
I had to run faster.
Trees blurred by as I pushed harder. With each step, my leg grew a little stronger, which was a blessing in this hellish situation.
When an opening between two trees came into view, I made a sharp left, planning to double back to where Killian and Griffin were. The five men chasing me were falling behind.
As I rushed toward Griffin and Killian, one of the enemies yelled, "I'm going to shift. Otherwise, she'll outrun us."
Even though that sucked, at least, it would be one less person with a gun or knife.
When I broke through the clearing, an enemy had a gun to Killian's head while two others were laughing despite one of their own being dead at their feet. It was as if their friend’s life had meant nothing.
My world wanted to stop, but I pushed through the mental block, racing toward the enemy. I growled low and threatening, making him pause and glance in my direction. His mouth dropped in shock like he hadn't expected to see me, and the other two stumbled back a few feet.
They weren’t so cocky when they were the ones being surprised.
That was the distraction Killian needed in order to spin around and pounce on his attacker. The man screamed in agony as Killian ripped him apart while his two friends stood there and watched the gruesome attack with open mouths.
My heart hurt to see so much death and destruction, but this was the cruel necessity of war. I blew past Killian, heading toward Griffin and the others. We had to level the odds as fast as possible. The longer they outnumbered us, the more deaths there would be on our end.
Three feet away, Griffin was fighting two men who had knives instead of guns. He’d managed to take down two during my run, which meant our numbers were getting more favorable by the minute.
Gunshots were still firing not too far away. The fact that the enemy fighters hadn't returned meant that Killian’s and Griffin’s guards weren't being decimated as I feared.
My eyes flicked to where Goatee had been to find him gone. The branch remained covered in his blood and pieces of muscle and skin. The bastard had been determined to get free, I had to give him that.
But right then, I needed to help Griffin. I struck at the enemy nearest me, biting into his leg. The guy screamed as he turned his attention to me. He swung his knife toward my side, but Griffin attacked, sinking his teeth into the guy's jugular. The man’s eyes widened as he dropped the knife and grasped his throat as if that was going to prevent the fatality of his injury.
The other man used our distraction to pick up his friend’s discarded knife. I released my hold, allowing Griffin to finish the job, and turned my attention to the uninjured guy, taking advantage of the angle and biting deep into his side. The wound reminded me of the one they’d given my father.
Poetic justice.
Griffin sniffed me over, focusing on my wound. His hazel eyes filled with concern as he nuzzled his head against me. His closeness centered me, bringing me back from the horrible memory. The comforting tug of our connection made me feel whole.
"Aw, how cute. You think you might actually win, but my men and I have been holding back." Goatee croaked and waved to his men to come toward him as he stepped into view along with the remaining four men in human form and the lone wolf. "But this is over." Blood trickled down his shirt, soaking it.
Killian growled and stepped in front of me, sides heaving. Griffin flanked my injured side, baring his teeth through the blood coating his muzzle. Those two were showing that they would protect me no matter the cost.
The two men that had been fighting Killian joined Goatee as they regrouped and stared us down. Each one tensed and poised, waiting for their instructions.
"Fuck the orders. Kill them." Goatee glanced down at his fatal wound, and his nostrils flared. Pure hatred reflected as he locked eyes with me. "I want her to watch them die."
At this moment, there were seven of them and only one wolf against our three. At the rate we were going, we could have kept chipping away at their numbers as long as we continued to hold on. But we’d foolishly given them time to regroup, and they circled us with weapons.
I shook my head no. I would do anything to be sure Griffin and Killian lived. At least, they would have a chance at happiness, and I'd figure out a way to escape. It might take days or months, but eventually, these people would let down their guard.
"No?" Goatee walked to me and grabbed my snout. "You going to behave then?"
Griffin growled as he inched toward the prick.
"Don't come another step closer or you'll regret it," Goatee threatened.
Griffin ignored him, but I bumped him away.
"I tried to warn you." Goatee sighed as he wrapped his uninjured hand around my leg, jabbing a finger into the healing bullet hole.
Intense pain coursed through my body, and even in animal form, my stomach revolted from the intensity. A whimper wanted to escape, but I clamped it down, refusing to show weakness.
"I gotta say, I do enjoy that you force me to do these things." Goatee smirked as the engine of a boat purred toward us. "You gave me a plausible excuse for my alpha when he demands to know why I had to do this to you."
Dammit, the getaway vehicle was on its way. If we didn't figure out something fast, then I'd be going with them.
Goatee dug his finger deeper into my wound, determined to make me cry out. He wanted these two guys to hear my pain. He was messing with me, trying to make me believe that they might get out alive if I cooperated.
Gathering all of my strength, I pushed back the pain and focused. That was when I realized that he’d actually opened himself up to an attack. He’d been banking on me being too overcome with pain to try to attack him.
Arrogance was a blessing.
I bit into the shoulder of the arm he had wrapped around me and shredded his skin, biting as deep as possible. This time, he couldn't ignore it, and his hand slipped out of my wound as he yelled and jerked forward, trying to stick the bloody finger into my eye.
"Jimmy," one of his men called out. "What do we do?"
Their uncertainty fueled my adrenaline, and I bulldozed him over onto his back, knocking the breath out of him.
A loud howl hurt my ears as I watched Griffin attack one of the enemies who was holding a gun. The weapon fell, and when the guy reached down to get it, Griffin lunged, slashing his teeth through the back of the guy's neck with a sickening cracking noise. The guy crumbled.
Goatee used my distraction against me as his finger connected with my eye. As the pressure increased, my heart sank, and I realized that I could lose my eye.
Killian attacked another man with a gun while Griffin ran toward me.
I hated that he was running to me instead of attacking the other guard, but right now, I was at a huge disadvantage, and the guard seemed confused as to whether he should help Goatee or fight Griffin.
The boat motor grew louder, and the pungent smell of gas wafted around us. It was that damn close.
"Shoot her other leg before she kills me." Goatee cried as his voice began to slur from blood loss. His finger’s pressure reduced on my eye as his strength finally began to fade. "Now!"
The gun clicked as it was cocked, and I braced for the pain. I only hoped that the guy missed his mark and killed me.
Death would be more welcome than living through whatever they planned to do to me.
A loud, heartbreaking howl pummeled my ears as Griffin jumped in front of me.
No, what was he doing? The guy was going to shoot!
As the gun fired, I jerked away from Goatee, desperate to get Griffin out of the way. Considering the angle at which the enemy guard was trying to shoot me and the way Griffin landed in front of me, it would be a kill shot for him.
But my legs fell out from under me, and Griffin's wolfish body took the bullet in his chest. The momentum knocked him backward, and he fell hard next to my legs.