Page 13 of Alpha's Second Chance

The smaller one growled, but the driver howled with laughter. “Jeez, dude, she got you.” He turned sideways in his seat to point at the smaller shifter beside me. “Keep your paws to yourself. Boss said she needs to be alive.”

The complicated feelings surrounding my size had not been left behind in the shifter world. Owen had always claimed he loved that I was taller and curvier than most omegas. Most were slight, petite, little wisps, with thin, wan faces and skinny arms and legs.

I was 5’9” and twice as wide as some of the tinier omegas. The rational part of me was glad for my size. I couldn’t be pushed around easily.

But as a consequence, I’d stood out among omegas. And even among human women, whose size varied a lot more, I was on the larger side. And I liked to eat. This has not gone unnoticed by human dates, or human friends. In the shifter world, eating heartily was a necessity. We needed the fuel to keep pace with our metabolisms in a way that humans did not.

How many times had I finished off a steak dinner only to get a side eye from a date? More than I could count. I could also lift heavier weights than human men, and out-play them in sports. I could shoot a gun and throw a knife, not that I’d allowed any human man to glimpse that side of me.

Now wasn’t the time to fixate on my hang ups. I needed a plan to deal with these shifters. Maybe I could overpower the smaller one, and grab his gun?

The truth was, I’d gotten lazy. I was able to defend myself against humans, but I’d let myself go concerning other shifters. I had stopped honing my senses.

However, now that I’d spent time around him again, I was tuned into Owen. And speaking of Owen, his breathing had changed. I focused on him as his breathing sped up. I didn’t dare turn my head to look. I sucked in a quick breath as I heard a slight scraping sound from the back of the van.

With a roar, Owen burst from the back.

In the blink of an eye, he’d shifted into bear form.

In one powerful leap, he was next to me. His bear swiped across the throat of the goon in the back seat. Blood sprayed across the vehicle as the body hit the floor.

As a bear, Owen was so big that there wasn’t any extra room left, but I was able to reach down and grab the gun from the dead shifter’s hand while Owen pushed forward, biting the driver on the neck until he slumped over.

Blood poured out, coating the front seat. While Owen shoved his way behind the passenger seat, I flung myself into the space beside the driver’s seat and grabbed the wheel. The driver’s leg was still pressing the gas down. I shoved it off the gas pedal, and yanked on the emergency brake. The van lurched sideways and skidded to a stop.

The bigger shifter, the only one left alive, opened the door and threw himself out. Instead of shifting to run from Owen, he stayed human, clutching his gun.

Owen followed. But he was still sluggish.

I checked the pulse of the two left in the car. Both dead. Outside, thirty feet away, the shifter held a gun pointed toward Owen.

Owen could survive a single gunshot as a bear, but that was not ideal. He wasn’t going to die on my watch, not if I could help it.

Owen might not be my mate, but I had loved him. And before I’d loved him, he’d been my best friend. We’d shared everything at one point. He’d pulled the first tooth I lost. I taught him how to dive into the lake near our home. And when it was time to try kissing, we’d practiced on each other. I would do anything to save him.

On the other side of Owen, the guy’s arms shook. His skin was a washed-out gray. Blood flowed from the gashes on his head. The guy fired his gun at Owen, but he missed.

Here goes nothing. I peeled my shirt and pants off. For the first time in ten years, I shifted. The usual pain rushed over me. My bones snapped and popped.

Exhilaration reigned as joints realigned themselves. I reveled in the sun on my fur and the dirt beneath my paws. Unlike all the other times I’d shifted in my life, today I truly appreciated the power harnessed in my bear’s body. Two bears, against one shifter that was in human form? Even one who held a gun? No contest.

I approached slowly. The idiot didn’t realize I’d shifted.

When I was close, I opened my jaws. I let out a thundering roar. I sank my teeth into the back of his neck and pulled. Blood filled my mouth. As the life drained from him, I shook his limp body from side to side. Owen jumped on him from the front, and within seconds, it was over.

Owen butted his head against mine. And to my surprise, I let him do it for a few minutes until I itched to speak to him. I shifted back to human form, panting from the exertion.

I wiped the back of my hand over my mouth. I’d just killed someone.A fellow shifter. I’d always heard humans say that having to kill someone, even in self defense, was traumatic. Something that stayed with them forever. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but I didn’t feel bad at all. I didn’t like that I’d taken a life, but Bull’s shifters had forced my hand. I felt capable, and strong for having been able to handle them.

Maybe it was because I was a shifter. Maybe we viewed it differently. Traditionally, our bad guys didn’t go to jail. They were exiled, or they were killed. And exile for Bull or his men? That would just be sending the problem to another clan. Honestly, I’d done the world a favor by getting rid of him.

Or maybe I just had a ruthless streak. I’d have to ask Owen later how he and his team viewed having killed a fellow shifter.

But for now, Owen had shifted back as well. He stood there, naked. I couldn’t get enough. I stared openly at his body, at his ripped muscles and gorgeous skin. Growing up, seeing others naked had been a part of life as a shifter. I had forgotten what it was like.

I let my gaze travel over his body, his defined chest, his broad shoulders, his firm, flat stomach. A flush came over me; I could feel my neck and cheeks get warmer.

He pulled me toward him. “I hate that you had to fight. I shouldn’t have ever let them get close enough to you to take you. But that was fucking hot.” Just like he had last night, he put his hands on my face. He leaned in and kissed me on the lips.

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