“It was the fever,” Nanook growled. “Most get better. Some died. Then there are a few…” His voice trailed away as he looked at Vic. “Come here, boy. I can keep you from killing your family.”
Simon felt Alyssa stiffen, but he didn’t have time to fight her. His attention was firmly fixed on Vic as the man visibly trembled. That huge psychic blast was a once-a-day kind of deal for Nanook, but there was still power in his words. A kind of subliminal compulsion akin to the “stay away” message. But this time, his order was all,Come here. Be part of my pack.
And Vic had to decide that on his own.
Vic straightened, still in his monster form, but he was soon standing on his two feet.
“Vic, no!” Alyssa cried, but before she could do more, Simon grabbed her arm and hauled her back.
“Don’t interfere,” he growled.
“He can’t—”
“He’s alone right now,” Simon said, stretching for the logic behind the decision. “He’s not shifter and he’s not human.” God, it hurt to say it and it would kill him to think of his best friend as part of Nanook’s brutal gang, but there was logic to this choice. “Sometimes being with your own kind is worth it.”
Despite his restraint, Alyssa managed to grab one of Vic’s furred arms. “Vic, don’t. We’ll figure—”
“Silence, bitch!” Nanook bellowed.
Alyssa rounded on the alpha, all flashing eyes and angry words. She would fight for her brother no matter what, and it would be the death of her. “My brother doesn’t neeee—” Her last word ended on a squeak of alarm. It wasn’t anything Simon or Nanook did. It was Vic rounding on her with a hiss.
Simon stepped in front of her. He would protect her.
Fortunately, Vic pulled himself back. And still in his monster form, he looked at Nanook. “I control myself.” His words were slightly slurred. He hadn’t mastered the technique of speaking while in this body. But the fact that he stood tall and faced off with a powerful alpha showed just how far the man had progressed.
Meanwhile, Nanook didn’t take kindly to being disobeyed. He pointed a finger at Vic and blasted the man. Over and over. Simon didn’t feel it. It wasn’t aimed at him. But he could see the strain on Nanook’s face, the throbbing in his temple, and everyone heard the alpha’s harsh breath. But while Vic visibly swayed under the assault, he stood firm. And he managed three words.
“Not. Joining. Gang.”
Which is when the four other monsters broke through their restraints. As one they leapt forward. Simon had been tracking them, knew the moment Nanook’s control of them shattered. But even so, it was four against one.
He jumped in between, blocking the nearest two with swift blows to the face. One of the bastard’s teeth cut the hell out of his hand, but that was the least of his problems. The other two were headed straight for Vic who was still doing the death stare with Nanook. He was completely defenseless.
Bam! Bam!
Alyssa had pulled out her gun and was using it to great effect. He had time to see that she’d gone for disabling shots to the legs, but he already knew that wasn’t going to work. These four were feral. There was no gleam of intelligence in their eyes, just pure animal fury. They needed to be put down and fast.
His grizzly strained to get out, but it was too soon for him. He couldn’t risk going mad himself, so he held it back. He used its fury to fight, but not its claws and mass. Two of the monsters had centered on him. They didn’t work together, but they were ferocious and oblivious to pain. He got one with a swift kick to the knee that took it to the floor, but it didn’t lay there and whimper like a normal man. Instead it just kept coming. It crawled forward using claws and tried to bite his feet. He kicked it back twice, and the second time got it hard in the face. Its head snapped back, but it still kept coming.
Fortunately, he had help. The wounded grizzly was doing what he could attacking from behind. But he was unsteady from that leg wound. And all the while, Simon was weaving and blocking the other monster. He couldn’t find an opening to take it down. Certainly not while dancing around the one on the floor.
Meanwhile, Alyssa kept shooting. She must have figured out that wounding shots weren’t going to work because a moment later, she fired and one of them flew backward, his face missing.
“Back off!” she screamed. “Or that’ll be you!”
Again, it didn’t work. Worse, Simon saw Vic go down on one knee as if crumpling under a great weight. Nanook was pressing him psychically, and there was nothing Simon could do to help. His friend just slowly bent down until first one then the other knee thudded to the floor. But all the while, he kept speaking. First it was, “No. Gang.” But eventually, it was just a whispered, “No, no, no, no,” repeated with every breath.
Simon felt fire blister across his chest and shoulder, and he cursed under his breath. He’d been too focused on the others and misjudged the monster in front of him. And while he was still recovering from the claw slice, the bastard on the floor got his shin.
Damn, damn, damn!His grizzly roared in his mind, and he considered letting it out. He’d loosened his boots before even coming in here, and it would take a second to pop his jeans, but it wasn’t worth the risk. He might save Vic and Alyssa only to force them to put him down when he forgot how to go back to human. It was just too soon.
So he pushed his grizzly back and tried to finish the fight in the fastest way possible. Hand to hand was too slow since it was two on one. Which meant he had to rely on Alyssa, especially since another shot rang out and the other monster went down. That left the two on him. Worse, the other grizzly went down. Blood loss, probably. He needed to shift back to human but there wasn’t time or space to worry about him.
Which meant he had one good option: Trust that Alyssa could read his mind and shoot the last monsters in just the right way at the right time.
Did he risk it? He didn’t have the breath to call to her. His only choice was to dive out of the way to give Alyssa the shot. If she wasn’t paying attention, she’d be completely vulnerable to attack. There’d be no time to reverse to save her.
Who was he kidding? Alyssa was always paying attention.
