PS02 - Without Regret (17 page)

agility that could help them keep up with a shifted werewolf and overtake the werewolf unless he knew how to fight a vampire

in both forms. Vampires were tricky sons of a bitches and he had no doubt this pack was hoping that Ephraim was a demon.

Even though every pair of large dark brown eyes was locked firmly on the two of them he knew they were all keeping tabs on

his father, watching and waiting to see what he could do. As soon as they decided what his abilities were they’d try to use them

to take down his father, not knowing that the man had a full bag of tricks up his sleeve.

“Stay here,” he ordered Izzy as he released her and moved to his left. “Remember, don’t run.”

“W-why?’ she stammered.

“Because they’ll chase you,” he said, not bothering to inform her that the pack already knew she was the weakest link and his

mate by the scents she was giving off. They’d go after her and rip her to shreds just for fucking with their plans. As long as she

stayed in the clearing near him and Ephraim they’d hesitate to kill her, too afraid to bring the wrath of her mate.

They weren’t fucking stupid after all. He would tear them apart as he beat the shit out of them and he’d enjoy every minute of it.

She was his mate, his partner and most importantly his. Hollywood truly fucked up when they portrayed shifters as mindless

animals when that was far from the truth.

When shifted into their animal form they might be more obsessed with food, fighting and fucking, but they were still very much

in control of their actions. They had to be. If they fucked up in any way that brought the attention of the humans they were

swiftly dealt with by their own pack, other shifters, vampires, demons or Sentinels. No one wanted the humans aware of the

real world since they’d just fuck up everything and start witch hunts. When someone truly fucked up and endangered their

world everyone stepped in to help clean up the mess and for good reason.

If humans knew there really were vampires out there their blood supply would be in danger. They’d be hunted down, their

blood stolen and they’d be experimented on. The same could be said for demons, shifters and even Sentinels. Humans were not

known for tolerance. History had proven that time and time again.

The leader crouched down ten feet from Chris and let out a menacing growl that would no doubt scare the shit out of a human

and apparently his little mate if her cry of alarm was any indication, but Chris didn’t back down. He wouldn’t, especially with

a truly leaderless pack. While the large beast was preparing to take a shot at him the rest of his pack was slowing backing up,

reminding Chris of the only good thing about dealing with a leaderless pack.

Without an Alpha to keep them under control, lead and protect them they were useless, dangerous, but useless.

If this had been an Alpha-led pack there was no fucking way he would have been stupid enough to confront a dozen

werewolves on a full moon with only his father and his untrained mate. He would have called for the Sentinels stationed two

miles away at that bonfire to haul their asses over here. A properly led pack would have him and Izzy ripped apart in minutes

and would be doing their damndest to take his father apart.

“I said get back!” he heard his father roar seconds before two large dull gray wolves went sailing through the air, landing on

top of the large fire. Chris wasn’t all that surprised when the beasts remained on the fire.

He’d be willing to bet every cent he had that his father’s strike had broken both their necks on impact.

There were a lot of things shifters could recover from and a broken neck was certainly one of them, but it required time and

rest. Right now the two shifters were knocked out cold and would have lived if his father hadn’t set them on fire. Fire was one

of the things that could kill them.

Instead of trying to drag their companions out of the fire the rest of them moved back, growling viciously as they inched closer

to him and Izzy, probably figuring that they were the safer bet. Since it was what Chris wanted he didn’t do anything to stop

them. He needed Izzy’s abilities to be triggered and this was the only way that he knew that would work.

He wasn’t too worried about her getting hurt. Between him and his father they’d be able to keep her from any real harm, but she

probably wouldn’t be leaving here tonight without a few minor injuries. The idea of his little mate getting hurt didn’t sit well

with him, but he knew there was little choice in the matter now. Besides it was part of the job description and she’d heal

quickly enough.

Chris chuckled as the “leader” followed him at a low crouch as he stepped away from Izzy, who couldn’t seem to stop shaking.

For a moment he felt guilty about bringing her out here with absolutely no warning, but he knew there was no other choice.

Forcing his eyes away from the small terrified woman he focused on the large beast stalking him. He was a large son of a bitch,

there was no doubt about that, but he lacked the confidence needed to go up against an enemy of equal strength, which was

probably why the bastard liked to deal with little girls, Chris thought with disgust.

A slight shift of the beast’s eyes to his right was the only warning Chris had before two smaller beasts lunged for him. He

dropped to his back before either one could reach him and brought his feet up, slamming into the beast closest to him and

knocking him into his partner, sending them flying through the air towards the fire, but somehow they managed to miss the fire.

They landed a few feet away and quickly scurried to their feet to make another go at him.

“Goddammit!” He didn’t need this bullshit tonight. His eyes shot over to his father to find the man tossing a beast into the fire

as he kicked a large brown wolf trying to take a bite out of his side.

“Chris!” Izzy screamed, drawing his attention as three large beasts, including the leader advanced on her.

“Fucking bastard,” he said, pulling out his gun and shooting the two beasts that were coming back for more in the head,

instantly killing them both. He got to his feet and shot the next bastard that made a move in his direction as he ran to Izzy.

As the bastards moved closer she did something that shocked the hell out of him and he probably would never forget as long as

he lived. She dropped to the ground and got into the fetal position. Hearing about it and seeing it in action were two totally

different things.

He couldn’t fucking believe what he was seeing.

“Get up!” he yelled, stepping back and shooting a brown and grey stripped wolf that came charging towards him, jumping over

it before it dropped to the ground.

“No!” Izzy screamed, over the load roars and snarls.

“Get up and do your fucking job!” he snarled, grabbing the beast that was closing in on her by the hind leg and yanking him

back so he had a clear shot to the head. He didn’t hesitate in pulling the trigger.

“Go to hell, you jerk!” Izzy yelled, curling tightly into herself.

“Fight back!” he ordered sick of her bullshit as he grabbed another wolf and shot him, but not before the bastard slashed his

arm, making him drop the gun and stumble back as intense pain shot through his arm.

The leader flashed him a triumphant smile as he opened his mouth wide and dove for Izzy’s bare neck as his mate coward on

the ground.

“No!” he roared, running as fast as he could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Not nearly fast enough.

Chapter 13

She couldn’t look away as the largest wolf she’d ever seen came flying through the air towards her with its jaws wide and its

intentions clear. It was going to rip her apart and she was helpless to do anything to stop it.

As she cringed into herself even more she couldn’t take her eyes away from the large wolf or get off her ass and run for her life

like she knew she should. She was absolutely frozen on the spot. Even the jerk’s demands for her to get off her ass and fight

back, was he serious?, didn’t help. Hell, she barely registered half the things he said as he screamed at her. The only thing

going through her mind at the moment was the menacing growl as the beast got closer and closer until she could smell his warm

stale breath and she knew she was seconds from getting her throat ripped out.

Her breath caught in her lungs as she felt her heart pound in her chest as the fangs came within inches of her face. She tried to

squeeze her eyes shut, but they wouldn’t listen to her. She did not want to see this. A sob escaped her as its hot breath tickled

her chin and neck.

“Get the fuck up now!” Chris roared, from somewhere behind her, but not close enough and she knew by the sounds of the

snarls and growls coming from behind her that he was busy and wouldn’t get to her in time.

This is it, she thought with a strangled cry as she felt sharp teeth close around her neck. This is how I’m going to die….

Just as she accepted the inevitable the beast was suddenly shoved back away from her, leaving several long cuts on her neck

that barely stung more than a paper cut. When she looked up at the man who’d dragged the beast off of her she was surprised

and oddly disappointed to discover that it hadn’t been Chris that saved her. It shouldn’t matter who saved her as long as

someone had, but for some strange reason it just did.

“You must be out of your fucking mind going after someone in my family,” Ephraim bit out as he dragged the beast back by

means of a headlock and…..

Holy shit……

Ephraim’s hand was lodged in the beast’s mouth. It suddenly dawned on her that she should have sustained more damage from

its teeth when it was pulled away from her. Apparently, Ephraim had stopped it from clamping down and tearing out a good

portion of her throat by lodging his hand in its mouth to stop it from being able to close its jaws around her throat and killing

her.

She knew the man was incredibly strong from watching him fight the other wolves not five minutes ago, but the beast in front of

them was taller and larger than either man when it was on its hind legs. Surely it was able to overpower the man, she thought as

she slowly sat up, pressing a shaky hand to her neck and wincing when she felt the warm liquid running down her neck. Her

eyes locked on the struggling beast as it tried to lunge at her and finish the job, but Ephraim thankfully held the beast back.

In that moment he had her undying gratitude. She looked away from the beast and watched as he struggled to drag it away from

her. His eyes glowed bright red and thanks to the large fire she could clearly make out the two long white fangs in his mouth

and knew that it didn’t matter that the man before her wasn’t human. He saved her life and she wasn’t such a bitch that she’d

look down on the man or whatever the hell he was because he wasn’t human. Now the rest of them…..

Scared the ever loving hell out of her.

“Son of a bitch!” Ephraim yelled as the beast broke free.

No, not exactly broke free, Isabella realized a second later. It bit off Ephraim’s entire hand, she realized as bile rose up in her

throat at the site of his bloody stump.

He reached out, ignoring his injury, with his other hand and tried to grab the wolf by the fur, but by that time the beast had

already lunged towards her, intent on finishing what he started. She fell back on the overgrown grass, holding her hands up as if

it would do any good in stopping the crazed beast from ripping her to shreds.

“You’re fucking dead!” Chris snarled as his foot shot out in front of her, connecting with the beast’s face, sending him flying

backwards. He didn’t even spare her a glance as he stepped over her and went after the large animal. As he moved away from

her she noticed that his clothes were ripped and stained with blood, his or the beasts he’d fought, she had no idea.

She watched as Ephraim quickly dropped to his knees and reached out and grabbed the beast by the hind leg as it turned to run

away and yanked it back, tossing it at Chris’ feet. The beast reared up and slashed out at Chris, but missed him as Chris easily

ducked out of the way.

The animal growled viciously, slashing at Chris as it tried to back away only to be shoved back towards Chris by Ephraim,

who seemed more pissed than in any actual pain.

As she numbly watched the men take down the large beast her head began to spin with everything she’d learned and seen

tonight until she could hardly hold her head up and her body began to tremble. She forced herself to look away, unsure she

could take another moment of this new reality.

Space.

She needed some space, she decided as she somehow managed to stand up on her legs as they shook violently. This was the

perfect time to escape, her hazy brain reminded her. They were busy with….

Well, she didn’t want to think about what they were doing or the fact that the thing they were killing was once a man. All she

wanted to think about was going home and crawling beneath her warm teal comforter and forgetting any of the past twentyfour

hours had ever happened.

She made it several feet before her eyesight dimmed and her legs gave out, dropping her like a sack of potatoes onto the uneven

terrain.

“Izzy, are you okay?” Ephraim asked with a loud grunt.