Chapter 33 A Warrior Unleashed
After what they’d seen that afternoon, no one questioned Ryan.
They closed ranks and grabbed whatever was within reach.
Jason scrambled toward Marcus’s tent. Marcus snatched up his crossbow and loaded a bolt.
Wolves burst from the trees.
They checked their charge when they saw the humans clustered together, then spread into a wide arc around them.
Chloe stood behind Ryan, white-faced.
“Ryan…”
He handed her a folding chair.
“Stay on your feet,” he told the group. “Watch them. If one jumps, hit it and shout. Keep the chairs between you and their teeth.”
His gaze moved around the circle.
“Stay together. Nobody runs.”
He touched Chloe’s shoulder and gave her a small smile.
“I’m here. You’ll be all right.”
His calm steadied her enough to speak.
“What do we do? Wait for them to leave?”
“We could. But they may be more patient than we are.”
He scanned the pack.
“If I take down the leader, the others should scatter.”
A larger male stood behind the rest, watching with a stillness that caught Ryan’s attention.
He picked up two steel grilling forks, each about a foot long, with dark wooden handles and sharp twin prongs.
“Remember. Hold your ground.”
Then he walked toward the large wolf.
The animals lowered themselves and bared their teeth. A growl rolled from the leader’s throat.
The pack charged.
The first wolf sprang at Ryan. He turned aside and drove the fork in his left hand through its eye. It dropped without a sound.
The others kept coming.
About a dozen rushed him. Several broke toward Marcus and Jason, and the rest attacked the circle.
Marcus shot the nearest one. Before he could reload, another was on him. He drew his knife.
Beside him, a wolf lunged at Jason’s face. His knees gave way. He collapsed, and a dark patch spread across the front of his pants.
Ryan struck with both hands. The forks buried themselves in the skulls of two wolves.
Another landed on his back and clamped its jaws over his shoulder.
He couldn’t wrench his right-hand fork free in time. He let it go, reached behind him, caught the animal by a hind leg, and tore it away.
Its teeth held the fabric. His shirt ripped open across his back.
Still gripping the leg, Ryan swung the wolf into the animals rushing him.
Bodies collided. Yelps cut through the snarling. The pack recoiled.
He lifted the wolf overhead and slammed it into the ground. Bones cracked, and it went limp.
Ryan dropped it and stripped away the remains of his shirt.
Blood streaked his torso. Planting a foot on the wolf that still held his abandoned fork, he tore the weapon free.
He faced the pack with a fork in each hand.
“Come on!”
His roar stopped them. Tails lowered, the animals backed away several paces.
He used the opening at once.
Chloe was struggling with a wolf that had its jaws locked around her chair. It shook its head, trying to wrench the barrier away.
Ryan reached her and drove a fork through its skull.
She stared at him, tears trembling in her eyes.
Before he could speak, a scream came from behind him.