“He’s got to prove his dick is bigger than mine.” Rage shrugged and lifted his head. “Unfortunately, he’s already lost that one.”
“Bring it on.” The last word turned into a howl as Nate shifted into his wolf. His body cracked and began changing.
“Stay out of the way.” Rage leaned over and kissed my lips quickly before he allowed the shift to overtake him.
“If you don’t want Rage to get hurt, you need to get out of range now.” Damien grabbed my arm, pulling me back a few steps and out of the way.
“No, I need to fight beside him.” There was no way that I wouldn’t be next to him.
“You’ll distract him, Raven.” Damien raised his voice, which was something he never did.
It was enough to bring me back into the moment instead of panicking. “You’re right.”
“Stay here.” Damien turned and headed back to the fight.
Both of the guys were now in their wolf form. However, Nate’s dark gray wolf was twice the size of Rage’s pure white one.
Taking full advantage of the situation, Nate struck first. He went straight for Rage’s neck.
Thankfully, Rage lowered himself to the ground, making Nate miss his target.
Nate tumbled over and landed straight on his back. A loud howl filled the air as he scrambled back on his feet. He snarled, showing all of his teeth.
Rage lowered his wolf to the ground, ready to strike. As he charged, he jumped and targeted the gray wolf's neck. However, when he jumped, Nate stood on his back legs, making Rage miss his neck. Nate was able to bite him and throw him, making him hit a tree and slide down apparently unconscious.
“Shit, Rage isn’t used to being smaller. He doesn’t know how to fight.” Damien growled as the shift overtook him as well.
“Stay back, Damien. It’s my turn.” Cole used his vampire speed to smack the wolf’s side as he advanced on Rage. Nate flew across the clearing.
There was no way I could just stand here and watch this. “I’m going in.”
“No, you’re not,” Damien growled as his body began to contort. “Cole and I have this.”
I wanted to scream. I got that I was the least trained out of all of them, but it was like Nate was on steroids times four. I didn’t want them to be distracted by me.
The wolf howled as it got back on its feet and stared down Cole. It pawed at the ground as if daring Cole to attack.
“You’re going to regret that, mutt.” Cole flashed again as he sped toward him, but the wolf lowered itself to the ground and tore into the vampire’s leg.
“Ow.” Cole cried as he tugged on his leg trying to yank it free, but the wolf clung on tight.
A loud grizzly roar echoed in the area. Damien raced toward the wolf as he released Cole’s leg from his mouth.
Cole tried standing but fell to the ground. There was too much damage to his leg.
Within seconds, the wolf tore into the vampire’s neck. Blood was spilling everywhere. Cole tried to beat him off, but his strength began to fade.
As Damien got closer, he stood on his hind legs.
It was strange because I’d never seen a wolf the same height as a bear before.
Not wasting a second, Nate ran toward Damien. The wolf went straight for his neck as well, but Damien was strong enough to swat him down. Nate hit the ground hard.
Damien rushed over to Cole, smelling him. Even in his bear form, concern was evident throughout his body. He hovered over him, protecting him.
My stomach wanted to retch as Cole’s sweet smell grew stronger. The more he bled, the sweeter it became.
Despite the blood, Cole tried to stand. “I’m fine.” His voice was unrecognizable from the wound in this throat.
“No.” Jess cried as she climbed out of the car. “Cole.”
A cheesy wolf grin filled Nate’s face. His eyes were set on my best friend. He was in the middle of the circle where he could easily attack Cole or Jess.
At this point, I didn’t give a damn if the guys got mad at me or not. I began the shift into my wolf. I couldn’t let one of my favorite people die. My clothes tore as fur sprouted, and my bones broke and molded into my animal form.
The bear growled at me, not happy with what I’d done. However, at the moment, we had no other option.
Nate charged for my friend, and I pushed my legs to run as fast as they could. He was fucking unstoppable, because of that necklace. Wait … That was it. We needed to rip his necklace off. As I caught up to him, I could see the silver wolf’s head dangle slightly from his chest.
We were only a few feet away from Jess at the moment. I had to get the necklace and now. I lunged right toward it, but he spun around and knocked me to the ground.
I hit the ground on my left side with a loud thud. Pain throbbed so hard that I had tunnel vision, but I had to push through it. If we wanted to make it out of this alive, I had to stay strong.
The longer I laid on the ground, the harder it would be. I pushed myself back on all fours and turned to face him.
He was watching me.
Of course he was. I met his stare, refusing to back down. I needed him to get arrogant … careless … This was probably one of the worst ideas I’d ever had, but Cole needed help, and Rage was safe for now. At least until Nate finished with all the conscious ones. He was sick and sadistic, so he wanted to enjoy his prey.
Needing him to stay distracted from Jess and Cole, I pretended to limp with my front left paw. The more injured he thought I was, the less guarded he would be.
I needed to try to direct his attack. If he thought my left side hurt, he was going to try to use it to his advantage. I quickened my pace, making it appear that I was running as fast as I could.
His shoulders shook as if he was laughing in this form. He sat as he watched me race toward him.
When I was within striking distance, I jumped toward him as if I was protecting my hurt side.
He twisted around so his teeth sunk into my front left leg.
This time, I didn’t have to pretend, I whimpered as I dropped to the ground. Obviously, my plan hadn’t worked at all.
A loud roar filled the air as Damien left Cole and raced toward us. His eyes were locked on the blood pouring from my leg.
Nate dug in deeper as he kept his focus on Damien. As if he was trying to traumatize me with pain while Damien was watching not one but two of his friends bleed out.
This was my chance. Mustering all of my strength, I lifted my head, pretending to look at Damien. Thankfully, the moon hit the necklace for a quick second. It was only a few inches away since he was latched on to my leg. I jerked forward and caught the necklace between my teeth.
Nate jerked back, inadvertently helping me pull it off his neck, breaking the chain.
Nate tripped and howled as the magic began to leave his body. His wolf began to shrink right before our eyes. The whole time, he thrashed in pain, and sickening sounds of cartilage breaking filled the air.
I stumbled back, not wanting the chance of my injured paw getting hit. Blood was oozing from the bite, and my head began to spin. I needed to change into my human form so I could clean and bandage it.
A large nose nudged me on the side, and Damien’s signature pine and cypress smell filled my nose.
He was checking on me. Even through everything, Damien was worried about us all. I dropped the necklace and licked the side of his face letting him know I was okay.