Page 81 of Secrets and Ruin

His jerky nod told me he could handle that. He stayed mostly in shadow, running around the thin area of forest instead of directly into view.

I stepped into the starlight, the area not having enough tree cover to make it the same inky, perpetual blackness as the rest of the forest. It wasn’t a nice clearing, but it was close enough.

“Rainer!” I screamed, getting his attention off Niko for a second. His green wolf eyes flicked to me, narrowing as he snarled at my appearance.

“You. That bitch couldn’t keep you for even anhour?” he growled.

I kept his attention long enough so Niko could dive in for an attack, his claws raking across Rainer’s thigh. Seeing Niko move, I realized just how deadly he must have been when he was in practice with his weapon of choice. Rainer retaliated, moving faster than Niko. Amazed by the show of speed and strength, I watched him catch Niko in a grapple, spin, and throw my brother into the trees. When he was done, he curled his fingers, and I watched as he did the very thing I knew only Fenris could do. He partially Changed, his face becoming a little more animalistic, his nails growing longer. He didn’t take it too far, still mostly human, but there was certainly a thread of wolf through his appearance now.

How is he so strong compared to Niko?

Rainer ignored me and went for where Niko had landed. I finally found my feet again and rushed to tackle him, and felt as though I hit a wall. He went down under me, but Rainer wassolid. He wasted no time grabbing me and throwing me, sending me rolling through bushes until I hit a tree.

As I surged to stand again, Dirk was next to me, grabbing me. I yanked away from him as Landon tried to grab me as well.

“We have to help Niko!” I yelled.

“Where is he?” Dirk asked.

I pointed to where Rainer was stalking. Niko finally revealed himself, struggling to stand, favoring his left leg, and breathing hard.

“I got this,” Landon growled.

Before I could say anything, a shot rang out. Rainer moved preternaturally fast, the shot grazing his ear when it should have gone into the back of his head. He snarled over his shoulder, and I wondered if there was even a man left in him now. Landon fired again, three rapid shots, but Rainer moved out of the way of all of them. The best Landon got was another graze to Rainer’s arm. Rainer focused on his brother once more, who was trying to overcome his injuries so he could continue the fight.

What the fuck is he?

“You’re going to hit Niko!” Dirk yelled as Landon tried again.

We need a real plan.

“Landon, you and I are going to distract Rainer. We need to give him the fight of his fucking life. Dirk, run for Niko the moment we have his attention. Take Niko and keep moving. Get him all the way home, okay?” I grabbed Dirk’s shirt, pulling him closer. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Dirk didn’t need to tell me he hated this idea. His pale face and wide eyes told me everything.

He doesn’t need to like it. He just needs to do it.

Landon ran, getting between Niko and Rainer as I moved to get on his other side, making him look between us. Rainer spat something in German that sounded insulting before switching back to English.

“You are fucking stupid. You could go home and leave Niko here to die, and no one would ever have to know,” he growled, his eyes flicking between us as he walked slowly to try to get us both in front of him. I kept moving left, trying to circle, while Landon forced him to split his attention.

“Enough of this.”

He lunged for me first, faster than I could manage, and grabbed me as he had in our last encounter. This time, Landon was close enough to grab him from behind, his arms around Rainer’s torso, screaming as he tried to pull Rainer off me. Not as dazed this time, ready for just how strong this werewolf was, I pushed down, fighting to stop him from lifting me to bash me down as he had before. I kicked up, making him snarl, drool dropping down. Landon made ground as I felt my nails become claws and sliced them over Rainer’s wrists and arms. I tried to claw his face, but he yanked it back, giving Landon the leverage he needed to change his hold and get an arm around Rainer’s neck.

With control of Rainer’s head and neck, he twisted the werewolf off me as if he was trying to hold a bull by the horns. Scrambling to my feet, Rainer reached back and grabbed Landon’s waist. He threw both of them back, hitting the ground hard and knocking off Landon’s grip. By the time I was running for him, he was jumping away from Landon, who was in pain but didn’t seem as if he’d be down for too long. I tried to tackle Rainer again, but he was ready for me this time, catching me as though I was a child roughhousing with an adult.

“Just give me Nikolaus,” he snarled before tossing me down.

I blinked several times to get rid of the blurriness in my vision as Landon fought with much more skill than I had. He traded blows with Rainer, ducking and weaving punches in as he tried to keep from getting hit.

Pulling out the silver sword, finally remembering that I had it, I ran up behind Rainer as Landon kept him focused on their fight. I went for the stab, but it skimmed across his back, leaving a line of blood across his shoulders. He swung back and tried to backhand me, but I was just out of his reach. He knocked the sword from my hands, so I jumped onto his back, trying to tear out his eyes. He seemed larger now, thicker, broader. Fur was beginning to grow over his skin. He stopped me from taking his eyes as Landon drew one of his blades and sank it into Rainer’s stomach, making the wolf scream. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me over his head, sending me into Landon.

As we struggled to get up, Rainer pulled the blade free and dropped it.

He was looking properly like a monster now, snarling with blood dripping down his maw as his green eyes seemed to glow. He continued to grow as he looked around. He hunched over, his arms reaching the ground and providing more support.

“Jacky.” Landon whispered, pulling me back as he slowly backed away as well. “Have you ever seen it before?”

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