The mole told him she wasn’t a shifter. She might be related to one since she was obviously in on the shifter secret. But those who could change into an animal rarely came back to human with moles. It didn’t help him place her identity, but it meant he could beat her man against woman.
He attacked. His rational mind said she was a friend, but instinct burned hot and his bear felt very vulnerable.
He caught her by surprise, and though his hand slid on her wet skin, he was able to grab hold. But he wasn’t able to keep it as she jerked her elbow forward, missing his nose, but nailing his forearm. He lost his grip, then rolled with the movement to brace himself on the ground. Then he shoved hard, pushing himself upright. A split second later, he had his feet under him, but she was standing as well. A quick scan of the sewer told him no one was near, though his nose told him there was a hybrid close. The things smelled worse than the sewer, which was saying something. But the best news came when he saw two bullets on the ground.
His bullets. The ones that had been shot into his grizzly body were now on the bloody floor. Which meant no lead inside his human body.
Hallelu—
She hit him broadside with a kick faster than should be possible for a normal human. His breath gusted out of him, but he was already countering the move with one of his own. She blocked it—damn she wasreallyfast—but he followed up with more. Blow after blow, she kept countering his punches. Part of him struggled to think. Why was she here? Did he know her? But he was at the end of his strength with nothing but animal instinct keeping him upright. Fortunately, this fight wouldn’t last long. She didn’t have the strength to keep up the fight. Not when every one of his blows had more weight behind it. She could block him, but his power was taking a toll on her.
She started to visibly flag. Her blocks were slower, her body collapsed more with every impact. Just a couple more hits and he’d be able to pin and handcuff her. Then he could think. He redoubled his efforts, trying to end this quickly. There were others coming. She’d said so, but his peripheral vision told him they were alone for now.
Last hit and she should go down. He put everything he had into it, swinging with all his might.
And caught air.
What?
She’d been fooling him, pretending to tire. He watched in horrified shock as she zipped out from under his swing, pivoted, and slammed him in the back when he was off balance. She didn’t need power to topple him. He was doing that all by himself as his momentum kept him driving forward and down.
He hit the tunnel’s concrete hard enough to see stars. And then she was on him, pinning his back with her knee as she slid a very sharp knife to his throat.
“Move and you’re dead,” she said, her voice a low growl.
He wasn’t moving. And though his animal was screaming for him to fight, he hadn’t the strength. Only a dull pounding in his head as he sucked air, and the gray fog of confusion.
“Fucking grizzlies never think,” she said. “I was trying to help you.”
Bullshit.That response was pure instinct. He’d learned not to trust anyone.
“Are you sane?” she pressed. “How much tap water did you drink?”
Yes and none.But he hadn’t the breath to respond.
“Damn it, Kennedy. You’re supposed to be one of the smart ones.” She shoved her knee into him hard, and he grunted from the sudden pressure. “I need you to get a message to your alpha.”
It took a moment for her words to penetrate. His rational mind was holding on by a thread. Fortunately, she didn’t need his response to keep talking, and he used her voice to keep himself conscious. There was something about her voice…
“There’s a kill order on bears, but only if you’re caught alone. Tell your people to stay together until this is over. Nobody alone.”
He was alone, and she wasn’t slicing his throat. “Who…are you?”
“Somebody who is trying to help.” She eased up on his back. “You were supposed to figure that out by now.”
He had to buy time until he could think. Keep her talking until he figured out who she was. “Anonymous tips are dangerous,” he mumbled.
She straightened off his back. He forced himself to get up, recruiting all his focus to shove onto all fours then scramble awkwardly to his feet. His head was pounding, his body weak, and he kept expecting to be clocked in the back of the head. He wasn’t. She even stepped back enough to give him room, but when he finally turned to look her in the eye, he saw that she was as wary as he was.
“Well,” she drawled, “I can see that you haven’t been drinking the water. You look like shit.”
That’s what came from being shot and pushing how often he shifted. He’d gone grizzly so much in the last week, it was a personal record. “You look familiar,” he said.
She ducked her chin. “I just have one of those faces.” She sounded mournful about that, but he didn’t believe it for a second. She was trying to hide who she was, and that made him want to pay ten times more attention.
Her face was sweet looking. Very girl-next-door, but with a hard edge to go with her ruler-straight nose. In fact, the only softness in her face was her full lips, which she pressed tightly closed as if holding back her words. And now that he looked at her closely, her entire body seemed compressed, like a super ball just before the bounce. So much restrained energy. It made him want to poke her just to see how big the explosion would be.
“Whoa there,” she said as she abruptly gripped his arm.
