Page 93 of Kidnapping Their Third

Tugging at Pike’s shirt, she tried to get him to move back into the bedroom. Barricading the door would give them a little time.

They were on the third floor. Could Pike shift and climb down?

This time, it was Pike’s turn to read her mind.

“They'll be through the door before you can blink,” he murmured while keeping a wary eye on the men. “When I move, you need to run for the door. Don’t stop. I’ll survive but only if you run.”

She hated the idea but promised herself that she’d only run until she found a weapon. Then she’d be back to bash some faces in.

“I don’t know where your cousin is,” Pike said in a reasonable tone. “Lucy showed up a week ago, and I gave her all the money I had. I haven’t seen her since.”

Cora winced; she should've been the one to lie. Pike sounded like he was reading lines from cue cards.

The leader shook his head. “I’m pretty sure you’re not telling me the truth,” he drawled.

“We could play with the little human,” one of them said, licking his lips as he stared at Cora. “That might make the bear be more honest with us.”

Without warning, Pike roared and charged. Cora was startled enough to freeze in place as he shifted mid-stride, his clothes turning to shreds and falling from his body. He bowled over three of the wolves and ripped his claws down a third and forth.

Belatedly, Cora realized this was when she was supposed to run, but the melee was between her and the front door. There wasn’t enough room around them, and she wasn’t going to make it if she tried to go through.

Suddenly, one of the wolves was next to her, his eyes full of malice. “I know a quick way to end this!”

Scrambling sideways, she barely stayed out of his reach, and it was only because he got shoved from behind by a flying body that she managed to make it into the bathroom.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, easily catching up with her. She felt an arm go around her waist at the same time her hands found the heavy ceramic top to the toilet tank. Gripping it in both hands, she lifted and swung with all the muscles in her small frame. It impacted the guy's head with a satisfying sound and cracked in half. Just like when she’d fought Danno and Lucy, the necklace got warm and sent electric sparks over her skin. She swung and sent the guy flying.

To her disappointment, the guy wasn’t knocked out. He hit a wall, blood gushing from his nose but was still focused on her.

“You bitch!” he shouted. Shaking his head like a dog, he sprayed blood on the nearby walls, then looked at her with murder in his eyes. Getting up, he easily dodged her attempt to hit him again and was equally fast with a backhand to her face. She lost hold of the remnants of the lid and went to her knees. For a few blessed seconds, her face was numb and then the pain came, making her sweat.

She tasted blood in her mouth and felt something dripping down her chin. When a hand grabbed hold of her upper arm and hauled her to her feet, she tried to resist but was having trouble getting her vision to focus.

It seemed the necklace couldn’t make her fast enough to beat this wolf shifter.

“That’s only the beginning,” the man hissed in her ear, then shook her a little. That didn’t help her brain re-orientate her vision.

When he dragged her back into the living room, she saw Pike had knocked out a few of the wolves but was bleeding from wounds on his face and hind quarters. Half the remaining wolves had shifted and were taking turns baiting him so the others could rush in and bite him before dancing back. The ones that hadn’t shifted were standing there yelling encouragement as if this was a sporting match.

There was howling and roaring but considering the empty state of the apartment building and most of the area, Cora knew help wasn’t coming.

Was this it? Had Lucy managed to kill them after all?

The man holding her up pressed his hand to her throat. She felt his finger shift and sharp claw-like nails dug into her skin. She went perfectly still, scared that any movement would cause him to puncture her vulnerable throat.

“Bear! I have your human!” the guy called out. Pike turned and roared when he saw them. He started to move but the wolf holding her tightened his grip, and she felt his claws slide into her flesh. She couldn’t help the cry of pain that came out of her.

Ashamed by her weakness, she yelled as best she could. “Fuck him up, Pike! Don’t worry about me!”

Her words were more of a croak than a bellow, but either way, they were ignored by all parties.

“You know I’ll kill her,” the wolf warned.

She needed to distract him so Pike could take him out. She didn’t have anything on her person but maybe her nerve pinching trick would work.

Or make him squeeze down and kill her.

Everything was worth a try.

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