17. Isaac
ISAAC
I watched Kyle disappear through the trailer door, the cold mountain air rushing inside for a split second before the door slammed shut behind him.
"No!" I bellowed, every instinct I possessed exploding into life.
I threw myself forward against the restraints.
"Tony! Nico!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "He's got a gun! Be careful! He's got a gun!"
My voice echoed off the metal walls of the trailer before being swallowed by the forest outside. I had no idea if either of them heard me. Please hear me.
My pulse thundered in my ears. The silence lasted less than a heartbeat before voices erupted outside. Kyle was saying something I couldn't make out.
Tony answered, then Nico. The words blurred together into an indistinguishable argument.
I couldn't sit here. I jerked violently against the silver cuffs. Agony ripped through both wrists. The metal hissed where it touched my skin. The scent of burning flesh filled my nose again.
My vision blurred, but I kept pulling. Every muscle in my shoulders screamed. My elbows felt as though they were being ripped from their sockets.
The cuffs bit deeper into already blackened skin. My wolf howled inside my head, telling me to move. I planted both feet against the trailer floor and threw my entire weight backward.
The chair screeched several inches before the welded rings held firm.
"Damn it!" Another yank led to a wave of searing pain.
Skin tore, warm blood slid down my forearms beneath the cuffs, but I barely noticed. Outside, the shouting grew louder. I pulled again, the silver burned deeper.
Something in my right wrist shifted painfully. The restraint didn't give. I tried again. I gritted my teeth until my jaw ached. A gunshot cracked through the mountain air.
Everything inside me stopped. A heartbeat later came a scream, followed by another yell.
"Nico, no!” The name tore itself from my throat.
Something inside me snapped. Instinct overrode reason with brutal efficiency. The wolf surged forward. Normally I held the shift in careful balance, but this time there was no control.
Desperation ate at me. The cuffs flared with unbearable heat as my bones began to shift beneath them. My fingers lengthened, knuckles cracked, and dark fur burst through the backs of my hands.
The silver sliced into changing flesh. Pain unlike anything I'd ever experienced ripped through my arms. I roared and realized the cry was no longer entirely human.
My shoulders widened violently, and muscles swelled. The cuffs suddenly became too small. Bone ground against metal. My wrists compressed unnaturally, and something cracked.
I wasn't sure whether it was bone or steel, either way I didn’t care. The wolf wanted out. With another deafening roar, I threw every ounce of strength into the restraints.
Metal groaned, and the welded ring embedded in the chair bent. The silver cut deeper, nearly reaching bone. Then the right restraint finally ripped free from the chair.
The force sent me crashing sideways, dragging half the chair with me. I didn't pause. My left arm jerked upward with savage force. The second restraint gave way.
I hit the trailer floor on all fours, half shifted and barely recognizable as human anymore. The chair clattered behind me, chains dangling uselessly from my ankles.
I ripped those free next. Steel links snapped beneath enlarged claws. My heartbeat had become a war drum. Get outside, save Nico!
I lunged toward the trailer door, and it burst open beneath my shoulder. Fresh mountain air flooded my lungs. The world sharpened instantly.
The scent of pine, blood, and gunpowder crashed into me all at once. My clothes shredded as the rest of the shift overtook me. My spine lengthened, my ribs expanded, and my bones cracked and reformed.
The familiar agony lasted only seconds before instinct smoothed everything into place. Dark fur covered me completely, and massive paws slammed into the earth.
The world became scent and sound. I exploded out of the trailer. The clearing spread before me. A battered pickup truck sat crooked beside the trailer.
Tony stood several yards away, gripping a pistol in both hands. His arms trembled. Sweat poured down the sides of his face despite the cool mountain air.
His eyes darted between the two bodies rolling across the ground.
He couldn't shoot, and I understood immediately why. Nico and Kyle were tangled together so tightly they might as well have been one person.
"Nico!" Tony shouted.
"I'm trying!"
The two men slammed into the dirt again. Kyle still had the handgun. No, wait. Nico managed to knock it loose, sending it flying several feet away.
Nico drove his elbow into Kyle's ribs. Kyle retaliated by smashing his forehead into Nico's face. Nico reeled backward, and blood sprayed from his nose.
Kyle twisted with frightening speed. In one smooth motion he rolled on top of Nico, and pinned him. My blood froze. Kyle's hand disappeared inside his jacket. I let out a growl.
He pulled out a knife. The blade flashed in the sunlight. Nico saw it a heartbeat too late. Kyle raised it, and I moved.
The ground disappeared beneath my paws. I hit Kyle like a freight train. The impact launched him sideways off Nico. The knife slashed wildly through the air.
Kyle crashed across the dirt. I landed directly on top of him. He screamed.
“No one else can have you!” he shrieked. “You’re mine!"
He drove the knife upward. Pain exploded across my side. The blade carved through fur and flesh in one savage stroke. Heat poured down my ribs. The cut was far deeper than I'd expected.
I staggered, but Kyle didn't hesitate. He yanked the knife free. Fresh agony ripped through me. He slashed again, and this time the blade caught my shoulder, opening another long gash.
Blood splattered across the dirt. My vision flashed white.
Kyle laughed. "I knew you'd protect that one!” His eyes gleamed with manic triumph. "That's exactly what the king would do! Doesn’t matter. You’re mine. Mine!”
He lunged again, aiming for my throat. I twisted, and the blade glanced off my neck, cutting through thick fur instead of flesh. Before Kyle could recover, I struck.
My jaws closed around his forearm. Bone crunched, and Kyle screamed. The knife fell from numb fingers. He punched wildly at my muzzle with his free hand, but I barely felt it.
He tried to scramble backward, but it was too late.
Weeks of fear and hours of helplessness erupted all at once, every instinct screaming at me to protect my mate. I lunged again, and this time my teeth found his throat.
For one terrible second, everything became still. Kyle's eyes widened. Shock replaced fanatic devotion. His hands grasped weakly at my fur. Then my jaws tightened, and the fight ended.
Silence settled over the clearing, broken only by my ragged breathing. My heart hammered painfully against my ribs. Blood dripped steadily from my side onto the forest floor.
The metallic scent hung thick in the air. Slowly, I released him.
Kyle didn't move again. It was finally over. I stood there trembling, chest heaving, unable to look away for several long seconds. A familiar scent approached cautiously.
"Isaac, thank God,” Nico said.
I turned. His nose was bleeding, and one cheek had already begun swelling. His jacket hung half open where Kyle had nearly reached him with the knife.
He looked exhausted and terrified, but he was alive. Nico crossed the remaining distance without hesitation.
He dropped to both knees in front of me, then wrapped both arms around my neck. He held me as though letting go might somehow make me disappear again.
“I’m so glad it’s all over,” he whispered shakily into my fur.
I leaned into him before I could stop myself. The wolf melted beneath his touch. My eyes closed. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my chest grounded me in a way nothing else could.
He was alive and the wonderful scent of him surrounded me. My own tail gave one involuntary thump against the dirt. Nico let out a watery laugh that sounded suspiciously close to a sob.
"You idiot," he murmured. "You scared the hell out of me."
I huffed softly against his shoulder. Footsteps approached. Several engines rumbled into the clearing one after another. Car doors slammed, and multiple scents reached me.
Pecan Pines wolves.
Cooper stepped out of the lead SUV. Three enforcers poured out behind him, immediately spreading through the clearing with practiced efficiency, weapons drawn as they assessed the scene.
Tony slowly lowered his pistol, looking as though every ounce of strength had left his body.
"I told you we should've waited," Tony muttered, still breathing hard.
Nico didn't move, and neither did I. His arms remained locked around my neck. Cooper marched toward us, his expression thunderous.
"Nico," he barked. "You disobeyed my direct orders and..."
The words died abruptly. His eyes dropped to where Nico still knelt in the dirt, still hugging me. Neither of us made any attempt to separate.
Understanding dawned across Cooper's face with almost comical speed. His irritation vanished, and he frowned, studying the two of us intently.
"You're mates." It wasn't really a question. It sounded more like he'd finally solved a puzzle that had been driving him insane.
Nico slowly looked up, and nodded, as if he didn’t trust himself to speak just yet.
Cooper let out a long breath before rubbing both hands over his face. "Why didn't either of you tell me earlier?"