Page 63 of Into the Night

Eddie crashes through the trees and charges at us.

I duck, but he snags my ear between his teeth and tugs hard, forcing me to let go of Jed. I feel the skin tear, and burning pain makes my vision flicker.

Jed grabs hold of my neck, and I curse myself for leaving my defences open, all because of a little pain and tiredness. My mate deserves better.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

All three of us stop our brawling and turn to the far side of the clearing, where Ben stands, arms folded across his chest, surveying the carnage in front of him.

“I was tracking you to the hunting cabin when I saw the flare and thought I better check it out. This is the very last thing I expected to find. Some lost idiot hikers maybe, not three men wrestling in the mud.” His tone is intrigued, not scared, as he surveys the three battered and bloodied animals before him.

Ben thinks he’s stumbled across some kind of brawl, and he doesn’t seem too concerned about it. But his amusement vanishes the moment Kali’s scent hits him. His eyes dart to the top of the ridge where she’s hiding. Ben can’t see her, but he can smell her fear and her blood. His gaze slides back to me, and he’s not happy.

“I fucking knew something didn’t add up. It’s going to be okay, Kali,” he murmurs softly, before re-examining the scene in front of him with a much harder expression. Speaking louder this time, he addresses my mate again. “Tell me, Kali, which side are we on here?”

His body is tense, and every muscle is prepared for the shift as he crouches low, eyes narrowed, just waiting for my mate’s instructions.

If Kali tells him I kidnapped her, I’m done for. He’ll join these two in ripping me to shreds.

“Griffin. Griffin is my mate.” Kali’s voice is weak, but confident.

It feels fucking good to hear her say she’s mine, and Ben’s relief is clear. He knows I wasn’t lying to him about that part. I’m sure he’ll have something to say about the rest, but that’s for another day.

Rubbing his hands together, a creepy smile spreads across his face. “Right. Let’s do this then.”

In the blink of an eye, Ben’s already massive human frame morphs into that of a huge beast. I’m big, but as Jed releases his hold on me and backs up, it’s clear that Ben is a different prospect altogether. His charming facade is gone. This beast looks vicious, and they're worried, doubting their ability to go up against him and survive.

Ben steps forward, eager to get this over and done with, while I block their route to Kali and try to catch my breath. Bleeding and running on adrenaline, I’m lucky to still be standing.

Instead of taking on the two of us, Jed, ever the coward, uses his friend as a distraction and then tries to rush past me to Kali.

The anger coursing through my veins is all that’s keeping me going as I launch myself through the air, leaving Eddie to Ben, unnatural sounds passing my lips, as I clumsily collide with Jed. We both fall with a loud crunch as my shoulder connects with his chest.

Momentarily stunned, he’s slow to protect himself.

My black claws slash down the side of his neck, narrowly missing his exposed veins, and he rolls away from me, seeking to put some distance between us while he gets his breath back.

The urge to end his miserable life is there, but then I hear another beast approaching. Red could be healed and ready to join in again. I can’t be down here if he tracks her to the top of the hill.

One look at Ben, with his opponent pinned under him, jowls pulled back to reveal a row of lethal teeth, and it looks like he’s got this covered.

I race up the hill toward Kali’s tiny curled-up form, then my beast allows me to shift back and sink down on my knees beside her in the dirt. I cradle the back of her head as I lift her to a sitting position, cursing when my fingers come away coated in blood. My mate is hurt again.

Running my fingers gently through her hair, I check the small, deep wound with a lump that’s starting to swell beneath my fingers. It’s nothing too serious, perhaps a branch or a claw, but it’s another injury she doesn’t deserve.

Leaning over the edge, I watch as Jed rolls over onto his side, spitting blood into the dirt. The low growl he’s emitting tells me he’s not done yet. On the far side of the open space, Red enters the clearing, eyes finding mine with a hard glare. He’s pissed off, and the still warm body of his friend and his injured leg are fuelling his anger.

Shielding Kali with my body, I’m just about to shift back to my animal, ready to start round two, when another low rumble catches my attention.

Ben. With a shallow dip of his head, he tells me he’s got this. He has the slow, graceful steps of a true predator, moving to block their path and put himself between these men and us once more, two people he barely knows.

Amused, I watch Red do a double take, spotting the gigantic dark mass of muscle and sinew that is Ben. He might have liked their odds of taking me and Kali down before, but not anymore.

When Ben’s animal re-focuses on Jed, attempting to drag himself back toward his friends, Ben growls. Stalking closer as Jed tries to hurry away, Ben tracks him, looming over his retreating form until he stops. When he rests one massive paw on Jed’s back and dips his head to growl into his ear, I freeze.

Is he really going to do it? Killing someone, even if you know they deserve it, is no mean feat. Especially when it’s not your fight. They came for me and my mate. I know Kali’s family, but they didn’t come for him.

Ben tilts his head toward where I’m still protecting Kali and chuffs, his eyes darting toward the slope behind us. He’s telling me it’s time to leave. Kali’s flare may have brought Ben here to help, but there could be more like Jed on their way here, and we’re in no position to fight them all. Not out in the open like this.

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