Page 54 of Pack to the Wall

With a roar, I reached him and knocked the gun away with one hand while stabbing the piton into his gut with the other. He grunted and went down as I fell on top of him. I rolled away quickly, but he didn’t come after me. Sonny yowled and laughed in turns.

“It’s… too late…” he hissed through the pain. “You ain’t never… gonna see… that bitch again!”

“Like hell,” I growled. I’d find her if it was the last thing I did.

I shifted again and ran for the front of the house, hoping to pick up Jane’s scent. She smelled a bit different as a wolf. There was the same aroma of dewy grasses, but the smell of sun-on-skin had become that of warmed fur. I picked it up quickly and followed it, as fast as the searing pain in my hip and leg would allow.

I’d find her. I’d find my fated and help her through this transition. I swore it on my life… because if I lost her… there wouldn’t be a reason for me to keep living.

BRONN

In my hybrid form,it was hard to maneuver in the back hallway of Jane’s house. But thankfully it was even harder for Tank-as-a-bear, and impossible for him to take his mid-form here. Luckily, Colt and I had him trapped between us. Unluckily, Tank was facing in my direction, trying to get past me to the back door. The fact that that door was still there meant Tank had snuck in as a human. He must have shifted just as he knocked down Jane’s bedroom door.

I roared, swatting one of his massive claws away with my own, scoring the back of his paw. He surged forward to bite me and I danced back, swatting his face, my claws scoring lines down his snout.

“What the fuck is going on out—” Rita opened the door to Izzy’s room. She was behind Tank, next to Colt. “Fuck me!”

With a growl, she shifted into her mid-form and roared at Tank.

Tank charged me.

I leaped up, hoping Jane would forgive me for the deep claw marks I left in her ceiling as I held myself up there so the bear could rush by beneath me. I released myself quickly, dropping behind Tank as he smashed through the back door and out intothe yard. I followed with preternatural speed with Colt and Rita close behind me.

Tank spun to face us, shifting into his hybrid form, horrifying as all hell. Colt did the same beside me, making me feel a lot better. Now it was a wolf, a lion, and a bear against just one bear and Tank knew it.

A pained shout caused me to turn. Sonny was nearby, stripping so he could shift, but he had a bloody gash in his stomach slowing him. I decided to take him out so he wouldn’t be able to help Tank.

One leap and I reached him. He was mid-shift, which should have only lasted an instant, but he was weak and wavering. One swipe of my claws opened his belly, enough to keep him out of the fight, but with our enhanced healing itprobablywouldn’t kill him. Howling with pain, Sonny fell back reverting to human form.

One down.

I turned back to see Colt and Tank locked together in a scary-as-fuck bear fight. Rita kept to the fringes, finding small openings to dart in and nip at Tank.

We all wanted Tank gone. He was a loathsome plague on shifter-kind and humanity, but we couldn’t kill him. Jane had made it clear. We didn’t kill our own. I was fairly certain Jane would make an exception for Tank, but then… she was just kind-hearted enough that I wasn’t sure. That meant we had to take down Tank without killing him: just maim him, break a few bones, that sort of thing.

I wanted to roar, but I knew my best advantage was stealth. I padded around, getting behind Tank as Colt lined him up for me.

I was terrified — on a visceral, primal level — for so many reasons. First, that bear was twice the size I was. Second, Tank and Brick had beaten me so much, it was practically ingrained in me to defer to them.

But Tank had crossed a line. He’d gone after our alpha, an alpha I hoped with all my heart could change all of our lives for the better.

Pushing past my fear, I leaped and came down on Tank’s back. I caught his thick neck in my jaws and I bit hard. At the same time, I sunk my heavy claws into his shoulders and raked across that broad back. Colt had Tank’s arms occupied, keeping them in place as the two of them wrestled with roughly equal strength.

I kept my hold on Tank’s neck while releasing my claws, then sinking them in again, this time front and back claws both raked down that heavy body. Tank roared in pain.

Good.

I could have killed him in that moment. A bit more strength behind my bite and I’d break his neck, but I didn’t, for Jane. Instead, I tossed myself backward with a flip, landing lightly.

Tank staggered and stumbled, losing the war of strength against his son.

I glanced at Rita and it was like our thoughts merged. We both looked at Tank’s thick legs then back to each other, nodding.

We rushed in low, each biting Tank close to the ankle, our teeth tearing and ripping as Colt pushed him back. I felt the bone break under my crushing teeth, then darted away.

Tank fell, shifting and screaming bloody murder as he became a man once again.

The fight was over, Tank had lost and would be laid up for a while, but Colt wasn’t finished with his father. Still in his mid-form, Colt leaned down and gave a swipe at Tanks belly. Those thick claws grazed Tank’s stomach, but that hadn’t been what Colt was aiming for. Instead, half of Tank’s cock came flying off and the big man’s scream shot up two octaves.

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