And then some. You’ve had your eye on Wilkers. A little payback, perhaps.
Oh, baby, you do know how to get my blood pumping.
He could hear her laughter as she jumped down into the fray and singled out Trey from the others.
He clicked his com. “We’re a go. Everybody into the deep end.” Marigold, Brandon, Rick, and Sonya all shifted. The twins were black bears, Rick was a brown bear, and Sonya was a Kodiak like his Quinn. Three more Kodiak females jumped into the fight.
Luke’s wolf wrestled inside him, eager to be let out. He ditched his clothing and turned into his snowy arctic wolf. He howled, his bays reaching above the roaring bears.
Little bear, little bear,he sent out to Wilkers,let me in.
A black bear bounded out of the fight and charged Luke.
There you are. Luke leaped when the black bear stood on its hind legs and clamped down on his throat, rejoicing as his teeth passed fur and drank down blood.The blood of our enemies.Wilkers tried to shake Luke loose. He twisted, turned, his sharp bear claws brutalizing Luke’s body, but he didn’t let go. Not until Wilkers’ bear went down and stayed down. Nothing can live for very long without the ability to breathe, but damn, Luke had taken his share of damage in the process.
Luke! Quinn cried out. She must have seen him fall with the bear. He shook himself off and stood up, his white fur red with both his own and Wilkers’ blood.
I’m okay. Did you get Steele?
The jerk won’t hold still long enough for me to kill him.
Her presence in his head abruptly ceased.Quinn?She didn’t answer.Quinn!Panic filled Luke. His wolf scrambled to find their mate. He found her on the far side of the fight. Three black bears were attacking her at once. Her fur was matted with blood, including a gnarly gash over her eye. Quinn was batting them away, but with three of them, one always seemed to get in a hit before she could counter.
Luke called out to his team, and soon he was joined by the two black bears, one brown, and three Kodiaks. This was not going to be Steele’s lucky day.
When they all charged, he heard Quinn’s voice again.Trey is mine!
Quit playing with him then, woman, and end it.
The two black bears who’d helped Steele attack Quinn were dead in seconds. Seven against two was lousy odds. The fighting stopped as all of Trey’s men were either defeated, or they surrendered. The only battle left was the one that mattered.
Quinn swiped the black bear, flinging him sideways into Artie’s rock. Unlike, breasts, it did not provide a soft landing. She swung her large arm like a club and pounded his head into the ground. After a third blow, Trey shifted back to his human form.
“I give up,” he said. He used his bloodied, mangled arms as shields. “I surrender.”
Quinn half shifted, her body covered in fur, his claws wicked sharp and long. “You can’t surrender a challenge, Trey.” Her voice held no mercy. “But I will gladly put you out of your misery.” And with a hard downward thrust, she shoved her hand in his chest and crushed his heart. When life left their enemy’s eyes, Quinn changed back into her human form.
She looked up at Luke, her expression sober. Luke ran to her, shifting on the way. He wrapped his arms around Quinn and held his brave mate close to him. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”
Quinn sighed. Her tone resigned. “I’m sorry that killing him didn’t make me feel bad. He was a person, and I should have felt bad.”
“He was a psychopath.”
“Yeah,” she said. “He was that too.”
Marigold strolled over to them. “Well, Chief. What next?”
Luke felt Quinn’s smile against his skin. She leaned back and said, “You still want to be my second?”
“Hellz yeah.” She looked a Luke. “Sorry, boss. I’m giving you my two weeks’ notice.”
Luke laughed. “Noted.” He smoothed back Quinn’s wild hair so could see the warmth in her eyes. “I love you, Quinn. Marry me.”
“Oh, now that I got a big title you want to marry me,” she teased.
Luke leaned down, grabbed a handful of her ass, and gave it a light squeeze. “It’s not your big title I’m interested in.”
Quinn giggled. “In that case, yes, and hell yes.”
