Page 42 of Fury

“Now,” he growled.

Even with his gaze trained on the small group of men now emerging from the trees, he sensed her anger over being told what to do. Only she didn’t understand exactly how long he’d waited for this moment. His hatred for these men and their actions ran a lot deeper than a fire and a few scars.

To keep their secrets his pack and others like them had been forced to keep the instincts to kill at bay, only doing so when they absolutely had to, such as when their life depended on it.

For him, this would be one of those times.

Every day since his parent’s violent deaths by a hunter in front of him, he’d bided his time. Many years had passed allowing his frustration to grow. There were even moments when he debated his own death instead of theirs. However, time had continued to march on and Sawyer’s day of reckoning had finally arrived.

“Sawyer, what are you doing?”

Penelope grabbed at his arm and pulled his attention momentarily away from the blood lust building in his head. Reminding him that fate never played fair. Revenge may burn deep inside his soul, but there were certain instincts that trumped everything else.

“Listen to me.” He lowered his voice so only she would hear. “Please stay behind me and follow my lead. When I give you the signal to run, you’re going to run. Run towards the rising moon as fast as you can until you find the pack. They won’t be far.”

She shook her head. “I’m not running and leaving you behind. I can help you.”

He didn’t need her help, but he wasn’t about to get into that right now. As much as he wanted her safe, he wanted her to watch what might happen less.

Sometimes the horror of his reality led to nightmares that wouldn’t go away. He knew a lot about that and didn’t want her subjected to that fate.

He sighed. Again with fate. Always fucking with him.

Knowing that arguing with her wouldn’t work, he gave in to the inevitable. “Will you at least stay behind me and try not to look?”

She wanted to argue, he could see the defiance in her eyes. But something made her say yes instead.

“Ma’am, if you don’t want to get hurt, I’d suggest you step away from him. We only want the mongrel.”

He didn’t get a chance to respond to the hunter who spoke before Penelope pushed her way around him and moved toward the men surrounding them.

“I think it’s a little late for that, don’t you think? I’ve already warned you that interfering with a police investigation and threatening a federal agent comes with severe consequences. Do I need to go over that again to get it through your thick skulls?” She pointed at each man individually as she swiveled toward each of them.

The asshole apparently leading this expedition began to chuckle. An annoying sound that scrapped down his spine and pulled at the animal inside him already fighting to get out. He would soon shift and there would be nothing short of his death that would stop him.

“This really isn’t funny. You’ve probably got less than five minutes to get off this island before you’re surrounded.” She shrugged. “Maybe less if they bring in the choppers.”

This got some of their attention as several of the men looked at each other, unsure what to think. His mate was doing what she did really really well. Talking. Buying time for the pack to track them here.

“Bullshit.” The leader exploded. “Lady, you’re fucked and you know it. The Feds are too fucking stupid to see what’s going on right under their noses. It’s up to us to eradicate this filth.”

“I know,” she said. “And the rest of the world will too soon enough. In the meantime, you don’t want to add murder to your already growing list of crimes.”

“Agent Bishop,” Sawyer warned.

“You should listen to your pet dog. Unless, of course, you’re dying to become his bitch like the others. Is that it? You looking to get mounted by a filthy wolf and become his breed bitch? That’s all they want, you know. They’ll use you to birth more of their kind and that’s it. They may look charming, but there is nothing sweet about their intentions. They’re filthy breeders, plain and simple. Intent on over populating our kind.”

The man grabbed for Penelope at the same time his wolf took control. Uncaring that his body had already begun to transform, Sawyer lunged toward them hell bent on keeping him away from her. Gunshots rang out as the clearing filled with the snarling sounds of bones being snapped and the scent of blood filling the air.

Penelope’s elbow connected with the hunter’s face in a brutal strike that sent the man crumpling to the ground. At least that shut him up. His grip went slack and his gun fell to the ground, but not before another round got fired. The sick thudding sound of metal piercing flesh pounded into Sawyer’s wolf ears with the force of a grenade launching in his hands.

But it was the sound of Penelope’s cry as she fell backward that tore through his heart, shredding his hope.

For a moment, time stood still as he watched blood spread across Penelope’s abdomen. He rushed to her side, but before he could reach her a bullet burned across his upper arm, tearing into his skin. A surge of anger rushed through his blood and the wolf pushed to the surface, forcing him to succumb to the beast.

Within seconds he’d made it to his much stronger half beast form that would allow him to tear the men in front of him limb from limb with ease. His mouth salivated. He could already taste their blood.

“Sawyer,” Penelope gasped from behind him, reminding him that in addition to eliminating the enemy he had to get her to medical attention damned quick. Humans were entirely too fragile.

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