Page 57 of Curses & Kitsune

My claws swipe across his throat, splitting the skin like parchment paper. Blood gushes down my claws, and his dying breathes gurgle against my hand. I let him drop to the floor and leave him choking on his blood as I pursue the others. One down, nine motherfuckers to go. The hunt is on. Blood fills the air, and my wolf bays for more. Black fur ripples over my arms and grows thick on my jaw.

Two others search the woods ahead of me. One looks around, water glistening in his patchy beard while his scrawny comrade with a bad buzzcut inspects a tree. “Hey, hey, I found something! These look like claw marks. We must be close to the temple!”

Patchy Beard says, “I’ll howl so everyone else knows.”

Shit. They can’t alert the others. A growl rumbles in my chest as I sneak up on them, darting from one tree to another to stay out of sight. Neither hears me coming, not until I strike, flaying open Patchy Beard’s neck. His startled gurgle alerts his friend. Scrawny spins around, and his cry of horror is cut off when I smash my fist into his face. Snaring his shirt in my fists, I slam him up against a tree.

Drink his blood. Feast on his bones! My wolf commands me.

Before Scrawny can scream for help, I fasten my fangs into his throat and tear. Blood gushes, spilling over my tongue. There’s so much that I choke on it. My clothes strain as my wolf tries to take the reins. Shit. He’s hard to control. His fury ignites my blood and drives all reason from my head. Without my mate to soothe me, my rage takes hold.

The shift bursts from me before I can call it back. I’m still human, but barely. A snarl tears from my throat, and I charge into the woods, not caring who sees or who hears. A yakuza screams as I leap on him, sinking my claws into his chest. Blood pools around my fingers. Cries of alarm fill the woods, and footsteps thunder closer. His throat shreds to ribbons beneath my claws.

“Get this son of a bitch!” someone shouts, and a kick plows into my jaw. Pain explodes through my face as I tumble over in the grass.

“O-oh, shit! You killed Kentarou! You bastard!”

I scramble to my feet, claws dripping blood at my sides as six of them circle around me, fangs sharp and claws at the ready. One of them has already shifted to a big gray wolf, his lips curled back from his teeth. With a snarl, a big brute of a man charges me like a bull. I dodge a punch from his heavy fist, grab his outstretched arm and bite. Skin tears, blood floods my mouth, and bones crunch.

The brute screams and tries to free himself, and my fangs shred more of his arm. I use our proximity to my advantage to sink my claws into his windpipe and tear. I swing the brute around, throwing him into one of the yakuza and knocking him off his feet.

Barking, the wolf rushes me and leaps, fangs white and glistening. The wolf crashes into me, knocking me flat on my back as it lunges for my throat. I fling up my arm, snarling in pain as the wolf’s jaws lock around my arm, crunching hard, fangs tearing into my skin. The yakuza cheer their shifted pack mate on. A roar of rage and pain tears from me, and I slice my claws across the wolf’s eyes. The beast shrieks out in agony and stumbles off me, pawing frantically at its bloody face.

Someone rams their shoulder into me just as I find my feet, and the ground flies out beneath me. The world spins as I tumble down a steep hill. Branches smack me, rocks cut into me. When I finally roll to a stop, I’m out of breath and too dizzy to stand.

“Hold him off. The rest of you, find Noboru, now!” one of them shouts.

The wolf comes charging down the hill, rain glistening in its matted fur. It leaps for me, jaws open wide to snap around my throat. Just as its blunt fangs touch my flesh, I plunge my claws up into its exposed belly. The momentum of the wolf’s jump does the rest of the job for me, ripping the wolf from stomach to groin.

It collapses on me, jaws gaping around my neck. The wet heat of its steaming innards soaks my clothes. Disgusted, I shove the wolf off me and stand. I need to follow the remaining yakuza to my father, and fast, but the terrain works against me. Mud sucks at my shoes, and my hands slip on wet rocks as I attempt to scale the hill.

A blast echoes over the trees. Was that gunfire? Someone has a gun, but it couldn’t have been the yakuza, or they’d have used it. My father, maybe. Shit. I’ve gotta get to him, fast! I’m drenched in mud and blood as I heave myself over the top of the hill, clothes torn and stinking of blood and wolf guts. The yakuza left a trail of muddy footprints, so I pursue them into the woods.

Jagged claw marks are carved into the trunks of the trees. I’m close now, almost there. Panicked shouts echo through the woods before they’re drowned out by another blast of gunfire. The sound is much louder this time. I crouch down and keep to the trees for cover. A cabin comes into view between the trees. One of the windows has been broken. Two dead yakuza lie in the mud near the building, blood pooling from headshots to their skulls.

“Noboru, come on out!” a man shouts. “Y-you’re surrounded! There’s nowhere for you to—” His voice is cut off by a blast of gunfire, and his remaining friend cries out in horror and anguish. Before the gunshot, I caught I glimmer of a scope in the window. He’s got a hunting rifle. Approaching from the front is a bad idea. I’ll have to sneak around the back and try to get the drop on him. While the shooter’s attention is on the remaining guy, I give the cabin a wide berth and dart from cover to cover until I’m around the back of the house.

“N-Noboru, this is your last—” A gunshot drowns out his pained cry.

I round the corner, keeping low as I pass beneath the windows. There’s a back door. The shooter fires again within the house, still occupied. Quiet as I can, I ease the door open. A man has his back to me, peering through the scope at his target. My heart hammers. I can only see the top of his silver head of hair and smell the stink of his unwashed body.

Is this him?

The rifle bucks, and there’s an agonized yelp from outside. The silence makes my ears ring. Slowly, I make my way toward him. A floorboard groans under my foot. The shooter swings around, and a bright flash blinds me as he fires.

Chapter 21

Inever thought I’d find myself on my parents’ doorstep again. It’s been five years since I’ve come back to Osaka. Five years since I promised myself I was done giving my time and energy to people who didn’t accept or support me. And now here I am, my heart in pieces in my chest as I ride the elevator up to my parents’ floor. Everything hurts. Nothing makes sense anymore. I don’t know what I’m doing or if anything will work out the way I want it to.

I just want someone to turn to. I can’t believe I’m seriously running to my parents for support. It makes me feel pathetic, like I’m breaking every promise I made to myself to stay away. Soaking wet from the rain, I trudge through the halls to their penthouse where we all used to live as a family.

I walked these halls with my backpack heavy over my shoulders. Laughed sometimes with my brother as we raced each other to the front door. I raise my hand to knock and hesitate. There’s still time to walk away and leave them hanging. I don’t owe them anything. I don’t need them. I… I knock and wait.

In seconds, my mother answers the door. She gasps. “Jinta! What’s happened? You’re soaked.”

I arch one side of my mouth to reassure her, mouth trembling with the effort. “I’m fine.” I couldn’t be less convincing if I tried.

“What’s happened?” she asks, gripping my arms.

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