Chapter 22 GRANT
GRANT
Leena, where are you?
I look up at the moon for an answer, but none comes. I practically stare at it, begging silently for an answer. I can smell her all around me, but it's almost like I'm chasing a dream.
The moon isn't anywhere near its full power, but in my eyes, it shines a little brighter. A sharp feeling moves through my body, coming from inside out.
All my senses have been pushed to the max, with the main one being anything that brings me closer to Leena. I close my eyes and feel something pulling me in a particular direction.
“I'll find her.”
I howl into the night, sending her reassurance and hoping she hears me as I run towards her. All the other scents take a back seat to my mate.
I can already picture having her in my arms again. I can picture how happy we'll finally be once this is all behind us.
The smell of her blood grows as well, scaring me. Soon, I spot a fresh trail and follow it, seeing the signs of claw marks in the dirt. The bad news is that the footsteps of heavy boots are also present.
I let the pull take me where my mate is, running tirelessly. The wolf pack is around, probably still hunting me, but I'm much faster than they are.
Leena's scent gets so strong that it's almost intoxicating. I scramble to a stop when I hear voices ahead of me. Neither one belongs to Leena.
“Let me do it, Carrie,” a male voice says. He cocks his gun, ready to fire.
“Calm down, Jimmy,” Carrie laughs. “We can all get a taste of her suffering. She has nowhere to run.”
My eyes go to the spot in front of them and I realize that the black heap on the ground is my mate.
Her breathing is shallow, and she's clearly struggling, but the faint rising and falling of her fur shows me that she's alive. That's all I can ask for.
“I say we shoot off all her limbs and see if she can still run around,” Carrie grins sinisterly.
“You got her in the leg, let me shoot her paws off.”
They aim their guns, and everything in me kicks into overdrive. I jump out of my hiding spot and attack the two. I slash the man across the face, sending him into a frenzy as he falls to the ground.
Carrie is much faster than her counterpart. While the man yells in pain, she keeps a firm grip on her gun, ready to fire.
“You're the other one, aren't you?” she chuckles. “I knew you'd come and find her eventually. It's why we've been waiting. Two for the price of one.”
Jimmy continues to writhe in pain, unable to do anything else. I stalk him, keeping my eyes on Carrie. She moves her gun away from me and points it at Leena just as I open my jaws near his neck.
“Don't you fucking dare,” she growls. “Get away from him or I'll shoot her head off.” I can tell she feels the same thing I do—the uncontrollable urge to protect your partner. Our standoff is only a couple of feet apart.
I can get to her in time.
“Step away from him,” she says. “I won't kill your girl if you step away.”
I have no reason to trust her, so I dig my legs into the ground, ready to jump. As soon as the grip on Carrie's gun shifts, I leap on her immediately.
We struggle as I try to aim for her neck. I dig my claws into her sides, but the clothes offer too much protection. The gun goes off, sending me flying back. Leena manages to crawl away in the commotion.
I do my best to recover quickly, but the damage is massive. There's a large wound in my side, exposing my insides to the harsh air.
Every breath is excruciating as healing does its best to occur, but the silver burns. I dig my claws into my body and pull out the bullet, dropping it to the bed of pine needles before I fall too.
“Imagine being so powerful and still having a weakness,” Carrie says, getting up. She spits on the ground. “Pathetic.”
She tries to shoot me, but I dodge out of the way. Her second shot is blocked when I duck behind a tree. She approaches me in frustration.
“Stay fucking still!”
I jump out as soon as she gets close to the tree, slashing her hands with my razor-sharp claws. The gun falls to the packed earth, and I grip her neck before she can scream in pain.
Just before I can crush it, I hear Jimmy rising to his feet. He tries to shoot me, but I move Carrie in his path.
The bullet flies through her head and still finds its way into my fur, but this injury isn't as deep. I drop the hunter's lifeless body and assess the injury in my chest.
The bullet is too close to my heart not to get out. I reach in, stabbing the entry wound before digging the bullet out from inside me.
“Carrie!” Jimmy's voice is filled with pain. He rushes to Carrie's body, holding her in disbelief. “You! I'll kill you!” He lets her go and unsheathes a glistening silver knife.
Jimmy immediately goes on the offensive, trying to attack. I'm weak enough for him to send me to the ground again. I block the first stab with my front paw, but the metal glides through my skin like I'm made of butter.
“You killed her!” he screams as tears fill his eyes. Jimmy lifts the knife again, but I dig my claws into his head through his chin.
The man's eyes roll into the back of his head, and the knife falls to the side. I move even deeper before retracting my claws and letting him drop to the ground.
I end up lying there, completely exhausted. It takes a while to regain my strength, but once I hear Leena moving, I get up and rush to her side.
Both of us slowly revert to our human form. Leena starts crying immediately when she feels my body next to her. “I never thought I'd see you again,” she sobs.
“I was never going to let anything happen to you,” I promise her.
“You're—” she coughs. “You're injured.”
I sense something in the air, getting closer by the second. Leena notices this shift, too. “What's going on?” she whispers.
“There's a wolf pack around,” I warn her. “We have to get out of here. I'm sure they can smell all this blood. They know we're weak. Can you run?”
“I think so. Can you?”
“We don't have a choice,” I reply.
Both of us get up and start running. I guide her toward our land, making sure I don't move too far ahead and chance losing her.
We keep moving through the night as the darkness increases. Thankfully, our eyes are already accustomed to the pitch black of night.
“We'll be at the house soon,” I promise her. “Keep moving, make sure you don't stop.” The words feel like they're encouraging me, too. Leena continues to stumble and that's when I realize her leg is banged up.
Shit.
I pause, and once she reaches me, I lift her onto my back.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“You're injured,” I reply, already running again.
“So are you. I'll try to run on my own, I don't want to slow you down.”
“It's either we go together or no one does, but I'm not leaving you.”
I smell the wolves, knowing they're closing in. The sound of them running through the forest feels like rainfall. It's like we're being chased by a very angry thunderstorm.
We're too slow to outrun the wolves. They catch up to us in no time, surrounding us. Leena and I are trapped in their center as they form a circle of death.
“What do we do?” Leena’s voice shakes.
“They want blood,” I grunt. “I'll have to fight. The second you see an opening, I want you to run. Do you hear me?”
“What? I'm not going to—”
“Leena, I need you to do as I say. Don't argue. Run!”
The first wolf attacks, but I intercept it. Our tussle happens as the other wolves watch on. They wait to see if they need to attack as a unit or one at a time.
The second the wolf's dead body reaches the ground, I become fair game. Most of the pack ignore Leena and come after me.
“Leena, get out of here.” The wolves block my view of her, coming at me from all sides. I do my best to stay in the fight, but it's clear that I'm being overwhelmed.
I throw my heavy fists around, bludgeoning them, but I'm under too much pressure to transform freely.
Some wolves get close enough to breach my skin, sinking their fangs into me as deep as they can go. I try my best to break free, but the number of wolves that keep coming is too much.
Suddenly, I'm hit with a force that sends the wolves around me to the dirt. Leena appears, baring her claws. I watch as her eyes glow. She begins to attack the wolves as best as she can.
“What are you doing?”
“I'm not going to leave you,” she promises, rushing to my side. We stand facing opposite directions as the wolves that are still alive gather themselves.
The adrenaline pumping through my veins doesn't feel like it's enough to keep me going fully, but I don't have a choice. “Leena, if things end here, I want you to know that—”
“No, don't do that. Tell me when we're out of here—safely.”
“It's a promise.”
The fight is absolutely brutal. The wolves take advantage of my multiple injuries, attacking where I'm weakest. I yell in pain as blood begins to blur my vision.
Leena stays close to me, but also begins to get overwhelmed by the continuous attacks that come our way.
I drop to the ground, turning to see Leena already in a heap. A wolf tries to go for her throat, but I growl at it, jumping forward to scare it.
I'm hit in the side, landing me on the ground. I crawl toward my mate, longing for the warmth of her body. She doesn't move, but I can still hear her breathing gently as she tries her best to cling to life.
A painful yell explodes from my throat, driving the wolves back a little. They pause, confused by the sudden outburst, but this is the sort of surprise that they get over quickly.
They circle us again, but just as the first one attacks, it's sent flying into a tree. Graham appears in his human form, towering over the wolves. They hardly have time to recover before Nate enters the fray.
Both of them make short work of the wolves that are still brave enough to try and have a taste. The ones who aren't that courageous live to fight another day.
Graham and Nate rush to my side. “Are you okay?” Nate asks. “Shit, we should have come sooner.”
“Get us out of here,” I instruct. The pair obeys immediately, with Nate helping me to my feet while Graham picks Leena up from the ground. I fight the urge to take her from him, but that'll only slow us down.
“Wait—the hunters,” I state.
“Hunters?” Graham asks. “You fought hunters?”
I walk toward Leena, who collapses right into my arms. My eyes are on her when I speak. “I killed them.”
We hear more voices coming from the direction of the pack house. Jackson and the twins appear, rushing to help as well.
I try to carry Leena, but only end up stumbling again. The twins move to support me on either side while Jackson takes over and carries my mate.
“Get the bodies,” I tell Graham and Nate. “They may be useful.”
Both men nod and head into the woods while the rest of us finally make our way back to safety.