“Ten clicks, boss.”
I checked my gear.I hadn’t done that in a long time, but the routine of it, of getting calm before getting deadly, ran deep.
Smith was pulling on his gloves.They were custom; looked like regular winter gloves but were fitted with metal along the knuckles.He could do a lot of damage with those.
We didn’t have a precise head count, couldn’t know they hadn’t picked up more people before we’d found them.We knew they were armed.They were hunters.We’d planned for that as best as we were able.
Smith straightened.“Five.”
“If you can grab Marcus, you put him in this car and take him out of here.”
Smith just glanced at me before focusing his full attention on the road ahead again.From the set of his jaw, he wanted to argue, but he didn’t.
“Understood.”
The sky was gray and fading blue, no sunset bruising left in the world.Ahead of us, lights flickered to announce a police stop.We’d been lucky Vi knew an elder from another pack who had married a sheriff who would help, but this could still go sideways in so many ways.
Once the SUVs slowed, we caught up, and from then, it was a countdown to the inevitable.I slid down in my seat.Ahead, the sheriff, a tall woman in her fifties, was chatting with the driver of the lead car.The convoy was three cars total.She’d be asking for his license and papers, and she’d take her time.
“Good luck,” Smith said.
Go time.
He left the car running and got out, leaving the door open.We’d switched off the automatic light in the interior twenty minutes ago.
He raised a hand.“Hey, Sheriff, hello!”
He walked past the last car.Three cars, just two of us, and the sheriff.I hated those numbers.
The sheriff straightened, but she shone her large flashlight right in the driver’s face, making the move look coincidental.That was nice work.I kept my eyes on Smith.
“Excuse me, Sheriff.”Then he turned right.
I didn’t wait for him to pull open the driver-side door of the second car.I had to get to the third.
I got out, kept low, moved.The shouting started, more doors opening.
I heard the sheriff’s voice boom over the scene.“Keep your hands where I can see them!Don’t move!”
Just past the hood of Smith’s car, I caught scents.It was Marcus.He was here.I got Steven as well, and another werewolf, someone I didn’t know, just like Dom had said.They must’ve been hunting elsewhere too then, must’ve captured someone else before coming to take the men I loved and our mate.
I rounded the back of the third car in time to see the driver of the car pull a gun to aim at Smith, who was turning the face of the second driver into a glorious mess.
I rammed into the third driver from behind.Kidney punch, then elbow to that area.I got his right arm, brought my left around his neck to control him.He grunted, struggled.
Movement from my right made me turn, and I looked right into Steven’s eyes across the roof of the car.
Someone fired a gun, and my ears rang.I couldn’t see Steven’s hands.More shouting.
I let go of the driver’s arm and pulled my gun.It was an awkward angle, but I didn’t care.I pressed the muzzle against his side and squeezed.
He didn’t immediately go limp.That was rare and took a lot more than this, but with my left arm, I now had the momentum to slam him against the car’s roof.I got him at a good angle.He started sagging to the ground.
“Hey, you fucking freak!”
Steven.I turned.
He had Marcus.Marcus looked pale.He wasn’t okay, but he was alive.
