* * *
Stepping out into the clearing, it was the first time I could breathe properly since setting foot in that hellhole of a bunker. The whole room stank of dead shifters. The scents strangled me, making me want to tear into the humans who’d done this, to track down each rich, demented asshole one by one and let my bear loose on them.Let’s see how they like to be hunted.
Jolyn scanned the area around us, her eyes level above the gun’s sight. Ever since Mahn forced me to shift, my bear had been howling a constant tune: mate.
He’d always wanted me to claim her, but until today, I hadn’t understood that my connection with her went deeper than love. In my bear form, we both knew. I’d never been around her as my animal to recognize that truth. Now he wouldn’t shut up about claiming her.
Need her! Now!
I reined him in again. What weneededwas to get out of this clearing, kill the people hunting us, and get the hell home.ThenI could process all of this. I chuffed, grabbing her attention, and lowered my body so she could climb on. Her touch calmed me. As soon as she settled, the length of her newly acquired weapon pressing against my hump, I took off, heading south.
I ran for a few minutes before slowing, and stopped in a darkened patch of bushes.
“Why here?” she whispered as she hunkered down beside me.
Inappropriate amusement shuddered through me. She kept asking questions like I could answer her, revealing just how much she accepted this version of me. I responded the only way I could, nudging her shoulder, licking her cheek, then perking my ears to the south where the pair of men we’d heard earlier were returning. I’d watched them double back on their route on the TV monitors, and predicted this would be close to where they’d walk again.
Jolyn pressed a hand to her damp cheek. “Kissed by a bear,” she murmured.
Affection bloomed in my chest. I didn’t have time to repeat the gesture, because feet tromped through the woods toward us. I tensed, bracing my paws against the needle-covered ground.
“Dicky isn’t answering.” This was the laughing, hat-backwards guy, his tone now nervous.It should be.
“Probably wants to make it more challenging for us.” They emerged from the trees side by side, each holding an assault rifle in front of them. “Lasts longer that way.”
“Or he followed through on his threat early and went Rambo on us, but I don’t know, man. Something coulda gone wrong.” The volume of their voices increased with each step.
“Look, this is our one chance to do this.” They were right in line with us now, not ten feet away. “It’s always the rich pricks who get the privilege. Shut up and enjoy the ride.”
More grumbles followed. I waited until they’d passed us by before moving, creeping out of the shadows to follow, Jolyn right beside me. Adrenaline sharpened my senses. I made sure to take each step with care, being as quiet as possible.
“You’re scared of some girl and a beast that could be zapped to death if Mr. Mahn presses the right button?” The one guy adjusted his black cap. “Come on, dude, keep going. If they don’t turn up soon, he’ll use the locator beacon on the collar.”
I’d been prepared for that, had seen the tracker on Brooke’s collar when she’d given it to me. But hearing these assholes talk about a kill switch so casually…I bared my teeth.
We stalked the pair until we were right behind them. I glanced at Jolyn, waiting for her to fire. Even though her feet moved forward with each step, the rest of her seemed in a trance.She won’t shoot someone in the back.
Conflicted emotions tumbled through me. This was a life-and-death situation, but I was proud of my girl for having a conscience, unlike her brother.
No help for it.I chuffed a loud breath.
The pair jerked, then spun around. I pounced on hat-backwards guy before he could lift his gun. My teeth sank into his throat, blood rushing into my mouth. He got off some shots, but they went wide. His scream turned into a gurgle.
More bullets sprayed toward me, hitting the dirt first, then piercing my flank. I roared, turning to face the threat. Beside the guy wearing tactical gear, Jolyn appeared to have frozen, her eyes glued to the remains of my gruesome attack.
I couldn’t help her accept what I’d done right now. Diving forward, I swiped my paw, knocking the gun out of the man’s hands, then struck again, clawing a fistful of skin off his face. A scream ripped through the air as I followed him to the ground, the sound cut short as I tore out his jugular. More blood shot into my mouth.
Silence echoed around us. Not even the wind moved, as though we were suspended in the eye of a storm. I let go of the dead body, his head thudding against the ground. Ambling to a nearby bush, I wiped some of the blood off my face.
When I looked up, Jolyn’s eyes were transfixed on the men at her feet. “The couple in the forest,” she murmured. “They screamed like that.”
My heart lurched in my chest. I’d been there that day too. I’d seen what Tom Akins had done to those two hikers up close. They’d been innocents and didn’t deserve their fate. But these two on the ground didn’t deserve her sympathy.
I chuffed, trying to get her attention.
She flinched, snapping out of her daze, but avoided looking at me. Crouching, she picked up the gun the one man had dropped. “More weapons are always good,” she murmured, checking it for ammunition. Then she paused, staring down at her hands. Blood speckled her skin. She wiped them on her pants.
I huffed another breath.
