“Nah,” Colton said.“I think I’ll kill you in front of your little lady here, and then I’ll kill her.Eventually.”
Ford growled, deep and feral.Threaten his mate?He could fuck all the way off.
“Behind you!”Darcy shouted.
Ford ducked to the side as a crowbar sliced through the air where he’d been standing, narrowly missing his head.
He’d wasted enough time.
Launching himself toward Colton as something whizzed through the air once more, Ford let his fury take over.
Ford slammed into Colton and the momentum carried them through the open back door and outside.His only thought was keeping the fight away from Darcy because she was tied up and helpless.The two males crashed into the yard, rolling hard on the ground.They both leaped to their feet, fists swinging.
Colton laughed even as he was bleeding from a busted lip.“You can’t win.You’re outnumbered.”
Before Ford could reply, his cronies Levi and Asher burst from the cabin, weapons glinting in their hands.Ford braced himself for the fight, ready to face all three.
Then he heard it: engines.Doors slamming.Boots pounding on the ground.
His herd.
Relief filled him as Crew, Avi, Grey, and Khyle rushed around the side of the cabin and joined him.“You didn’t think he was alone, did you?”Crew shouted.“Give up.Get the hell out of New Jersey or die where you stand.”
Colton didn’t answer.He just attacked.As the battle raged, Colton shouted that the farm was rightfully his, that Crew and his herd were the ones who would die.
And Darcy and the other females too.
At the mention of the mates, every male in Ford’s herd went berserk, himself included.He and Crew moved as one, fists and feet landing blow after blow, and pushing Colton farther from the cabin and deeper into the woods.
Colton managed to get away, and in the few moments he had ducked from view, he shifted, his body contorting and his clothes ripping as he turned into a stallion.He reared up, hooves high, and screamed.
Ford didn’t hesitate.His stallion was ready to fight and put an end to Colton.He called for his shift, swiftly pulling off what clothes he could as his body transformed.
Colton charged and Ford met him head-on, the impact making the ground shake.They reared, clashing with hooves and teeth, a fight that was both primal and savage.Crew shifted and joined the battle, and the two of them drove Colton back.The air was filled with the sounds of the fight: the crack of splintering wood as they smashed against trees and the deadly blows of their hooves.
Colton lashed out, his hooves catching Ford in the side.He reared back at the sharp pain, but then surged forward, sinking his teeth into Colton’s neck.Crew kicked Colton from the other side, sending the male staggering away, blood pouring from the wound in his neck.
They didn’t let Colton recover.They both charged him again, slamming their weight into him.Colton hit the ground.Both Ford and Crew reared high into the air and brought their hooves down.
Once.Twice.
A final, crushing blow.
The fight ended in silence.
Ford, chest heaving, stood next to the body, watching for movement.Crew whinnied softly and Ford nodded.
It was done.Colton was dead.The male who had refused to leave their herd alone, had died at the hooves of the ones he’d wanted to destroy.
Energy spent, Ford and Crew trotted back to the cabin and were both able to shift back to human form.Normally, they would have needed to be in their shift for a few hours, but excessive stress like a fight for their lives, would allow them to return to human.
When they’d shifted, they found Grey, Khyle, and Avi with the males from Colton’s herd, lying sprawled and broken on the ground.
Three enemies, gone.
Ford grabbed his jeans and jerked them on, then hurried into the cabin.Darcy was still tied to the chair, eyes wide and cheeks wet with tears.
“Ford!”
