Chapter 2 #2
We trade a few blows and blocks, countering and attacking until he makes a mistake, assuming I’m too slow and weak to deal with the right hook he throws.
It’s a fundamental error and I move fast, slipping inside his reach and slamming my fist into his chest. Ribs crack and I don’t let up, punching harder and faster until he’s forced back, buckling under the strain and unable to do more than try to block my attacks.
I wait until he’s barely clinging on and slam my fist into his skull, throwing every ounce of force I can into the punch.
“Turn, now.”
I spin, instantly obeying Lyall and seeing the fist moving toward me just in time to move out of its way.
I drop my center and throw my leg forward, slamming my foot into the next man.
He’s also caught off guard and his chest falls as his core collapses and I step forward, bringing my elbow down onto the back of his shoulder.
His knees hit the ground and I finish him quickly, rendering him unconscious with a punch to the back of his head.
“Three down.”
My feet move toward the man rolling on the floor and I stamp down on his head. He cries and his eyes close, and I bring my heel down two or three times more for good measure.
“One more, Nia.”
The wind cuts across me as I lift my head, irritated by the strands of dirt blond hair that blow across my face.
The last man standing is, quite literally, standing back, watching the action play out.
He’s not an idiot and he’s not impatient.
He’s watching me, learning my strengths and weaknesses in case he needs to step in.
“Nicely done, sweetheart.”
My head tilts and Lyall growls.
“It’ll be less painful if you give up now.” His arms uncross themselves and his biceps are still huge. His forearms too and my opponent is carrying a significant weight advantage. “I’ll take care of you. As long as you behave.”
Lyall snarls and another wave of fury breaks through me.
I adjust my position and watch him stepping toward me, aware that time is not on my side.
I’ll move first if necessary, but I’d prefer he throws the first punch and pray he makes a mistake.
He’s cocky enough to make an unforced error and when he charges forward, I’m certain his anger’s got the better of him.
I’ve not submitted and it’s riled him, and that’s made him make his first mistake.
I slip out of his path, moving faster than before and his eyes shoot wide as he realizes his second.
He assumed I was fighting to the best of my ability and he screams in pain when I slam my fist into one of his kidneys.
The sheer damn white-hot fury burning through me heats and I keep fighting, punching harder and faster until there’s nothing left but a pulverized mass of muscle on the floor.
“Protect the pack, Nia,” Lyall says, barking another order to my consciousness. “This isn’t over. Get the fuck inside.”
I turn and run, racing back to the doors of the mansion. The windows have been battened down and Carrie still stands guard, relieved I’m returning to somewhere relative safety. She sighs as I sprint past her and then slams the door shut, securing it with more latches and bolts than I care to count.
“We’ll be needed in the basement,” she says, ignoring my panting as she pulls me behind her.
My feet move on habit and I breathe hard, trying to replenish the air in my lungs and quench the fire burning in my chest and muscles. My hands hurt and I stare down, unsurprised to see blood oozing from the grazes on my knuckles.
“You’re not supposed to do stupid shit like that,” Carrie says, pulling me through another doorway. I wait as she locks it behind us and my heart rate begins to ease back down to something tolerable. “You could have just locked the doors and we’d have been no worse off.”
Technically, she’s right. But I also took down five men intent on harming the pack, and that’ll send a clear message to whoever’s leading this attack. It says I’m not an easy target. It says we’re not as weak and vulnerable as he thinks we are, and it screams that we won’t go down without a fight.
It improved our position and I won’t apologize. Instead, I smirk and Carrie shakes her head as she turns back around. The familiar portraits stare down at me with disapproval and delicate, elegant furnishings only make her disapproval more striking.
“Honestly, Nia, you’re a total nightmare.”
“Takes one to know one.”
We move towards the basement and my heart skips a beat as Carrie pulls the handle toward her, opening the door. It restarts with a judder, startled back to life by the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway.
Carrie and I turn in unison, and the men approaching us are pissed. They’re vicious too, dressed in black and with wolves at their side. They shouldn’t be here but they are and their threat is absolute.
“That’s her.”
“You’re sure she’s the one?”
There are too many of them for both of us to take, and it doesn’t sound like they’re interested in Carrie.
They’re only interested in me and for now, that might be good enough to save my friend.
To save the pack too, if they have plans other than using me for immediate leverage.
It buys us time but there’s not enough of it now.
There’s never enough time, not at moments like this. Not even for goodbye.
I shove Carrie through the doorway and pull the door shut.
My eyes close as I blink and scream at her and anyone I can reach to lock the goddamn door through the pack bond. I pray they hear me, I pray they obey me. There’s no time for derision or disobedience, not if the pack is going to survive.
Not when we’re under threat like this and my eyes open in time to focus on the fist that’s coming towards my face. I throw my hands up and block a punch, managing to slow down the inevitable for long enough to hear the locks and bolts click into place as someone secures the door behind me.
Pain erupts through my chest and my hands sit uselessly over my chest. I’m taking too many hits and sustaining too much damage, and even Lyall can’t find it in her to stay awake. I sway and take a staggered step to one side, lifting my head to see the smirk on the face of the man in front of me.
It’s unbecoming—and it’s the last thing I see before pain explodes through my skull and darkness overwhelms me.