The part of the change where his fingers blurred together and became part of his extremely large front paws had always amazed him, but this time he wished the transformation would hurry the hell up.
He took off running while his fur was still settling in. It was uncomfortable as all get out to move while his skin was spasming and sprouting the thick, furry stuff, but he didn’t want to waste any more time. He realized absently that he was leaving the rusted length of metal behind—the only weapon he knew for sure would hurt a ghoul. But there was nothing to be done for it now. He only prayed it wasn’t the worst mistake of his life.
Trevor still had a few hundred feet of tunnel ahead of him when he first caught sight of the huge crowd of ghouls around Jenna and his friends. As he watched, they charged forward, ready to kill.
He howled in anger, rage, and fear as he raced forward, eager to take out every single creature between him and his soul mate. The ghouls frozeat the sound, but it didn’t change anything. They’d been half a second away from killing the woman he loved.
Trevor howled again in a subconscious challenge to all of them.
He was running so fast that by the time he reached the outer ring of ghouls, stopping wasn’t even a consideration. So instead, he simply lowered his head and slammed into them at full speed. Claws dug into his chest and shoulders, but his thick fur turned them away for the most part.
After bowling through a half dozen ghouls and sending them flying, Trevor snapped out left and right with his huge jaws, chomping down on anything he could reach. He had very little faith that he would be able to actually damage the ghoul’s stone-hard skin, so he was kind of shocked when his fangs sank in a couple of inches and then gouged a path as he flung away one ghoul and moved to the next target.
The creatures grunted and shrieked in alarm, pulling back in pain. But then they charged at him again, attacking him over and over, no matter how many times he knocked them back.
Shit, there were so damn many of them.
One of the ghouls jumped on his back, sharp claws digging in deep. Trevor snarled at the pain, but before he could even think about shaking it off, a second one joined it, and then a third. His legsbegan to buckle from both the weight as well as the agony of their claws burrowing into his flesh.
Right as he was about to go down, Hale and Mike jumped in the middle of the cluster of ghouls, swinging their rusted metal weapons. Creatures went flying, including the three on his back.
Hale and Mike were pushing the crowd of creatures back, leaving some unmoving on the floor of the tunnel. Three other ghouls with pieces of red material tied around their upper arms were helping, and Trevor could almost sense the battle turning in their favor. Given a moment to catch his breath, he turned to scan the rest of the area, his nose leading his eyes right where they needed to go.
Jenna was standing with her back to the wall of the tunnel—Maya and Owen to her left—and she was swinging a rusty length of bicycle chain to hold off a determined ghoul that kept trying to edge around her defenses. She was yelling at the creature, daring it to come at her. If Trevor hadn’t been so terrified at the sight, he would have cheered.
Damn, Jenna was such a badass!
But even as he finished that thought, Trevor caught sight of three other ghouls skirting along the wall in Jenna’s direction, heading straight for her. Based on the numbers of necklaces the creatures had bouncing against their chests, something told him they were older than their brethren. Maybe they were the ghouls in charge of the clan.Regardless, from the way they were moving, it seemed clear they were targeting Jenna for something specific.
Trevor surged forward, slamming his way through the few remaining ghouls that seemed willing to put up a fight. But even as he slashed and snapped, creating a clear path, he knew he was taking too long. He glanced in Jenna’s direction again, letting out a howl of rage as the three older ghouls reached his soul mate and quickly overwhelmed her.
His worst fear was realized when two of the creatures dragged Jenna off her feet and yanked her kicking and screaming into the darkness. The third ghoul trailed behind, obviously there to keep anyone from following.
Snapping his jaws closed on the shoulder of another one of the creatures trying to block his path, Trevor bit down hard, giving the thing a savage shake before tossing it aside. That violent move, as well as the shriek the creature let out, discouraged the last few ghouls from attacking him, and the path ahead of him quickly cleared.
Trevor took off running at full speed, letting his nose lead him through a maze of twists and turns that had him wondering where the hell the three ghouls were taking Jenna.
He caught up with the creatures just as they were dragging her across a small cavern with aneven smaller fire burning in the center. The flames provided enough illumination to allow him to see Jenna clearly fighting and kicking to get away from the creatures holding her.
Trevor didn’t even slow as he approached, momentarily bunching his four legs under him and then bounding over the third ghoul—the one still lagging behind the others like some kind of rear guard. He covered a good fifteen feet, his forelegs slamming into the two creatures holding Jenna, sending all of them sprawling across the floor.
Trevor was on his feet in a flash, but the third ghoul moved in even faster, heading straight for Jenna. Whether the thing wanted to use her as a hostage to get away or kill her outright, Trevor didn’t know. But he wasn’t going to let either of those things happen.
He shouldered Jenna aside as gently as he could, then quickly turned to face the ghoul that had been coming her way. The creature slashed at his face, claws moving so fast they were little more than a blur. He immediately jerked back but still felt two deep scratches across his muzzle.
Trevor ignored the pain, lunging forward to snap down on the junction of the ghouls’ neck and shoulder, giving a few hard, savage shakes before dropping the unmoving creature.
He spun, keeping himself between Jenna and danger, expecting to find the other two ghoulspoised to attack. Instead, both were standing there, staring at the one he’d killed. After a few seconds, they turned their gazes to him, their big eyes flat and expressionless.
Time froze as Trevor stood there in his wolf form, staring at the two ghouls who remained completely still. It took him a moment to realize that they were waiting for him to deal with them the same way he’d dealt with the first ghoul.
He glanced down at the dead creature to see an inordinate number of necklaces lying on its chest…a mix of bones, teeth, and roughly polished stones. Based purely on the quantity of the things, he assumed the ghoul had been important to the clan.
Now it was dead, and the two remaining ghouls seemed to be leaving their own fates up to Trevor.
Not understanding any of this, nor having the time to worry about it, Trevor simply turned his back on the two creatures and padded over to Jenna. She was regarding him wide-eyed, her wondrous gaze taking in his huge fur-covered body and fang-filled mouth.
“Trevor?” she asked softly. Taking a step toward him, she slid her fingers through the ruff of fur around his neck. “Is that really you?”
