I prayed to God that my flippant remarks would wedge some doubt between the hunters, and I smiled when it seemed to work. Behind James, the whispers grew into a dull roar as hunters faced their neighbors, questioning if it was all for nothing.
“He’s gotten her pregnant,” James snarled in disgust.
Quick gasps from every direction ceased the murmurs with an embarrassing retribution.
“Fuck you, James.”
Where I expected to see pain etched onto James’s face was instead a cold nothingness. His lips formed a thin line. His blue eyes were as dark as the ocean’s Abyss. “You’re no longer walking toward me, Joanna.” James whipped out his gun and fired above my shoulder.
I spun in time to see Marcus had dodged the bullet.
“Warriors!” Maya yelled.
The werewolves shifted into their beast forms, their muscles rippling beneath their skin—bodies contorting with raw power. They sprinted forward, jumping through the large windows, teeth snapping and ready to draw blood.
Marcus’s amber eyes burned with anticipation.
Look at me,I begged silently.
His gaze cut to me, and I gasped in disbelief. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. I composed myself and shook my head, begging him to spare the humans crashing into me as they charged toward his pack. He read the plea on my face, saw it in my eyes… but then he smirked and let his wolf take over.
Shit. He’d given his wolf complete control. He was going to make good on his threat to kill my comrades… this family that I’d built with James.
Unless I stopped them all.
I stuck out my arm, and a hunter crashed into it, falling to the ground. “Sorry,” I mumbled when she glanced up at me, stunned. I took out my knife and hit her hard upside the head with the handle, knocking her out.
Another hunter had seen what I’d done. He lunged at me with his knife in the air. I side-stepped as he swung down, jumping onto his back and pulling my bow against his throat.
He flailed his arms as his lungs screamed for air, and while I focused on keeping the blade of his knife from my face, he caught me in the leg. I clenched my teeth but refused to let up, and soon he fell to the ground unconscious.
The sound of a gunshot echoed through the air. I scanned the chaos for the source of the following yelp and saw a hunter looming over a werewolf, about to go for the kill. I sprinted to the hunter and slid to the ground, kicking his feet from beneath him. He landed hard on the concrete while I caught the gun that flew from his hand. I slammed the butt of the gun against his head. Lights out.
Another shot cut through the noise, and a werewolf dropped to his knees. Two more, and another werewolf tried to crawl away, leaves clinging to her wet fur.
Another shot.
This had to stop. I stared at the gun in my hands and inhaled, filling my lungs until my head grew light and I heardmy heartbeat in my ears. Like butterflies, tiny orbs of my aura swirled around me, awaiting their command.
Siste.Stop.
I focused hard on the metal, squeezing until my palms turned red.
Siste.Stop.
Another shot. Another yelp.
I took the risk and closed my eyes, diverting all my strength to the words swimming in my mind.Siste.
Click… Click. Click.
“What the hell?” a hunter cried out.
“Yours too?” another replied.
I opened my eyes and smiled.
I threw the useless gun on the ground and scanned the area for Marcus, James, and Malik. Thankfully, they hadn’t reached each other yet. That meant I still had time to end this.
