Page 4 of Clawless

“You listening to me, Omega?” Shaggy gave me a shake, dragging my attention away from the deck and the badass blonde. “The thing is, you’ve been round pups too long. They don’t know the first thing about getting a stubborn wolf to show herself.” He tightened his grip, leaning in until I could smell the beer on his breath. “But Kody and I know all the tricks.” He glanced over at the other guy. “What’s the best way to light a fire under a dud’s ass, little brother?”

Kody grinned in anticipation, his scar pulling tight as he flashed his sharp teeth. “Fear, big brother. Gets them howling every time.”

My stomach dropped into my boots, but Trey was suddenly hard at my back, hissing over my shoulder. “You don’t need to be doing that. Leave her with me a couple days, and I’ll get her wolf out.”

“Two days is too long,” Shaggy said. “And I’m not sure you’ve got the equipment to get the job done.” His brother chuckled, and he clapped Trey on the shoulder, forcing him back a step. “This is wolf business, my friend. But those bitches out on the deck look like they could do with some attention.”

I twisted just enough to grab Trey’s arm. “Don’t leave. You brought me up here, Trey!”

“And now we’re gonna show him how to bring you out, little wolf,” Kody promised, licking his lips. “Even if it’s kicking and screaming.”

I planted my feet, my boots sliding on the polished floor. Trey was still holding onto my hip, so Shaggy had only managed to drag me a few steps when a flash of gold caught my eye. The girl with the fauxhawk was standing in the open doorway to the deck, a shiny cylinder dangling from her thumb. She mimed covering her face, then gave me another wink and lobbed the cylinder into the room. I had a split second to drop and protect my head before the flashbang exploded, and the shifters roared.

It felt like an avalanche rolling over the house. But as a bolt of red-hot pain shot through my back, I realized it was just Shaggy tripping over me, his boot connecting with my shoulder. I whimpered, but crawled forward, slitting my eyes to a room filled with smoke and golden sparks. Not waiting to see how well the stun bomb worked on shifters, I scrambled to my feet and sprinted for the deck door. I had a moment to note the girls had scattered – the hot tub water still sloshing over its edges – before I was over the railing and landing in a snowdrift. I dragged myself out just as I heard boots on the deck behind me. I fixed on a distant point in the dark and ran.

“All the better.” I heard Shaggy spit and then give an eager chuckle. “Looks like we got ourselves a wolf hunt, little brother.”

Four – Vail

Snow-heavy branches slapped against my face as I made it to the tree-line. I didn’t turn to see the brothers shift; the sound of their howls was all the confirmation my pounding heart needed. I was back in the woods I loved so much, but now I was prey. And even if I could climb a pine tree with my throbbing shoulder, it wasn’t going to save me from the wolves on my heels.

I ran straight downhill. There was no time for clever tricks or false trails. And where was I going to go if I headed up the mountain? Driftwood’s north cabin was miles away, and I wasn’t sure I’d beat two shifters on a snowmobile, let alone on foot. Throw in my damaged shoulder and I wasn’t just slow prey, I was weak.

Not that I could think about my injury. I needed all of my concentration to avoid toppling into the thick drifts of snow, or being brained by a random branch. My ears were still ringing from the flashbang and with the moon taunting me from behind a layer of cloud, I was running blind. My pursuers could rely on their shifter senses, but at least I knew this patch of mountain better than my own face. I was scratched up, and breathing hard, but every step was familiar. And then my bedroom light was glowing like a beacon in the dark.

They must have given me a head-start. It was all I could think as the sloping roof of our cabin suddenly came into view. The sight of it gave me an extra burst of adrenaline, and I tore through our tree-line with new hope. If I could get inside before they reached me, there were all sorts of goodies I could point at their hairy asses. But the thought had barely registered when a warbling howl split the air. It was so much meatier than a normal wolf, like it had the rage and menace of an ugly man behind it. But that wasn’t what made me freeze in my tracks. It was the echo of an answering cry. And that howl was coming from the shadows in front of me.

The wolf that crouched beside the veggie patch under my window was as big as any I’d ever seen in the wild. Bigger, maybe, than all the shifters in school, with the exception of a few alphas. It was a dark shape against the snow, just the glimmer of pointed teeth showing behind its rippling muzzle.

Until it rose to its full height and began stalking towards me. No urgency, but with an eagerness to each step that made my stomach clench. Like it hoped I might try to run again. So it could either take me down from behind, or herd me right into the jaws of the other wolf.

But I knew my only option was to go forward. To either try for my bedroom window, or circle the house and go through the front. Since I’d come home, I’d started keeping a rifle under my bed and another mounted over the door. Both were in easy reach once I breached the house. If I could just get past the shifter in front of me, I’d have a decent chance…

Before I could decide, the wolf leaped, its massive weight hitting me square in the chest. It drove me flat onto my back, bracing itself above me so it didn’t completely crush my ribs. But my damaged shoulder took the brunt of my fall and black spots burst across my eyes.

Don’t pass out, Vail! You go under now, you don’t know where the hell you’ll wake up…

Its panting breath was a hot spray across my face, but it helped me blink away the fog. Too bad that gave me an up-close look at its massive fangs. They gleamed in the moonlight, and I shrank back into the snow, certain they were going to tear into my throat. Because the look in the shifter’s eyes was all beast. Which meant I was nothing more than a tasty lump of meat.

“Easy, brother,” a male voice said behind me. Shaggy was standing just outside the tree-line, his gaze fixed on the other shifter. “You only want to give her wolf a little nudge. Remember the deal, Kody. She has to be in one piece.”

Whether the wolf heard him or not didn’t matter, because he was suddenly wrenched away by a golden blur. The wolf that tore him off me was so fast, it spun them both into the side of the house. They rolled right under the light of my bedroom window and my heart thumped at that gleaming, pale fur. Until I saw its narrower frame and the reddish undertones along its belly. Not Jasper then, but most likely the wolf I’d been stalking from my tree.

I backpedaled in the snow, coming up hard against the wooden edge of the garden bed. I looked around for the other shifter – Shaggy – but he was watching the fight, and I found I couldn’t look away, either. The two wolves were twisting and snapping, all claws and teeth as they lunged and swiped. There was no way the red-gold wolf could take down the larger shifter. Or so I thought, until it grabbed its rear leg in its teeth and flipped the beast onto its back. Before the shifter – Kody - could get his legs back under him, the golden wolf had wrapped its teeth around his muzzle and chomped down hard.

As blood splattered across the snow, Kody gave a strange, high-pitched squeal. The smaller wolf made a yipping sound and instantly shifted into the blonde girl from Trey’s deck. She was naked except for a furry wolf paw pressed to Kody’s throat. I was as surprised by the gleaming blood claw as the yipping sound rolling out of her human throat.

She’s giggling. A fucked-up kind of giggle that made my hair stand on end, but she was clearly amused by the wolf under her claw.

Shaggy was less so. “Who the fuck are you?”

“My name’s Sin, and I’m the night’s entertainment.” The girl’s giggle had finally settled into a cocky grin, and she looked down at Kody with an arched brow. “Can you make that squealy sound again? My wolf loves a good pork chop.”

Shaggy was lunging at her before his brother could get another whine out. I saw his broad back lurch past, and then I was swinging the end of my pitchfork against the base of his skull. It connected with enough force to make the garden tool vibrate out of my hands, but Shaggy went down like a felled tree. I stared at him in shock, while the blonde shifter dissolved into another wave of giggles. “Foul ball, little wolf! How is he?”

I stooped over the motionless shifter. “I think I knocked him out.”

“No shit!” She giggled and winked at me again, running her human hand over her fauxhawk. “Could you grab my clothes? They’re on your porch.”

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