The beast in me surfaces. And there’s nothing I can do.
Try not to kill anyone,I tell my wolf.
No promises, he replies.
Then she takes over.
They sense my wolf’s aura and my resistance as I squirm against his hold.
“Hey, hey! Stop. Relax!”
It’s too late. My wolf is in charge. EvenIcan’t stop me.
Grabby pushes on my shoulders to try to keep me on the ground, but I rise despite his force.
“Quit resisting!”
My resistance is a distraction. While he’s focused on making sure I don’t get up, he isn’t focused on making sure I can’t bring him down. When he’s not paying attention, I sweep his leg from beneath him, and he crashes to the ground. Bolting, I flop as heseizes my ankle. Then I roll onto my back and land a kick to his torso and another to his face, followed by acrack.
He clasps his nose and yelps.
Unhanded, I scramble to my feet and leap at Punchy. Fur ripples from my skin mid-air, and I land on my paws.
By the time he sees me coming, it’s too late. I clamp onto his shoulder. He shrieks when I toss him into a tree trunk.
He falls with athud.
I plant myself firmly in their path to Casey.
With puncture wounds, a torn shirt, and tender spots that’ll bruise by tomorrow—if he lives to see tomorrow—he recovers. Then he prepares for a second attempt at overtaking me. If he knew who I was, what I cando, he would stay down.
Unfortunately for us, my reputation doesn’t precede me in his world of privilege.
Punchy rolls out his neck. I blink, and he’s shifted into his wolf.
Alright, then. Round two. Here we go.
He charges me, and I’m ready for him. We clash, and I bite his paw, tearing out a chunk, causing him to howl.
Considering my lack of proper nutrition due to food scarcity, I’m doing pretty well holding my own. This guy is an amateur.
Thank you, muscle memory.
But it doesn’t make him any less of a threat to Casey.
I don’t need to win for me. I just want Casey to be safe.
But since I intend to protect her, he won’t stop. His hatred for me only incentivizes him to go after her.
He vigorously shakes his head.
My wolf and I come to the same conclusion.
He’s not going to stop unless we stop him.
I sigh. I didn’t want it to come to this.Do what you have to do, I tell her.Protect Casey.
I watch from the safety of my brain as my beast prepares to end this threat. I hate having to take a life. But if the ends justify the means...
