Page 45 of Blood, Shadow & Claw

"Keep behind me, Ajax," I commanded in thought, every word laced with authority. I could feel him in my mind again, as I’d done the night our union was blessed by the Moon Goddess.

He nodded, limping but ready to fight by my side. He’d lost a lot of blood, and that worried me. But I hadn’t the time to fall apart now. Once he could shift into his umbra form, he’d have an easier chance of healing. I needed to get him to Kyle.

Together, we moved. I protected Ajax with a whirlwind of teeth and claws. No matter what they came at us with, guns and knives, I was untouchable. I fought not just for survival but for retribution—for every fear instilled, for every wound inflicted upon my kin.

One hunter mistakenly aimed for Ajax, thinking him the weaker target. Hot and blinding rage erupted from within me. I intercepted the attacker, my jaws closing around his arm with a sickening crunch. His scream pierced the chaos, a symphony to my enraged senses. I tossed him aside like garbage, turning to face the next challenger.

Eyes widening, I saw some pack members slip out of the shadows into the moonlight. At the back stood Raylene, whose face was marred by a look of pure evil.

“No!” I uttered to Ajax, worried what he would think of his pack’s betrayal.”

A roar shook the earth as fur and claws extended on Ajax’s body. Despite their attempts at killing him, he’d still found the strength to shift.

"Stick close!" Ajax warned through the mind link. “I don’t know how long I will last.”

The battle was a blur of motion and sound, pain and exhilaration. With each enemy that fell, my fury burned brighter, affirming my purpose, my place in this world. I was more than the lost woman who’d first come here. I was Mazie Green, protector, fighter, umbra. Ajax fought with the zeal of a man betrayed by the people he loved. I could feel his anguish and heartache as he destroyed the rogue umbra’s who had targeted their own pack.

Blood thundered in my ears, a primal drumbeat echoing the fury that scorched through my veins. My claws raked across another rogue's chest, ripping through fabric and flesh with equal disdain. They came at us in waves, but I stood my ground—fierce and unyielding.

"Come on, you cowards!" I roared, panting, my voice a guttural challenge amidst the snarls and growls. The scent of blood and fear hung heavy in the air, but it was their fear, not mine. Not anymore.

Ajax fought valiantly beside me, his rage mirroring my wrath. We were two halves of a whole, our synchrony decimating those who sought to chain us. Each time a claw or tooth threatened to reach him, my instincts flared, propelling me to intercept with a ferocious protectiveness that surprised even me.

"Watch out!" Ajax warned, his voice gruff with effort as he dispatched another rogue that had crept too close.

I nodded, barely registering the pain from the cuts and bruises that marred my skin. This wasn't about pain but about reclamation—of my life, freedom, and soul. I ducked under a swinging blade, feeling it whistle past my fur, and retaliated with a swipe that sent the hunter sprawling.

"Never again," I whispered, a mantra against the darkness that had once threatened to engulf me. With every takedown, I shed the helplessness that had dogged my steps like a shadow.

The last rogue, Raylene, fell with a choked gurgle, her eyes wide with disbelief as he clutched at the gaping wound on his neck. Silence crashed around us, punctuated only by the whispers of the wind rustling through the trees. The metallic taste of blood threatened to overwhelm me. It was all I could smell, taste, and see.

"Is it over?" I asked through the link. The events of the evening weighed heavily, as if the adrenalin had begun to fade.

“Did you get the Dr?” Ajax's voice cut through, buzzing in my mind.

I scanned the area, ensuring no more threats lurked in the shadows. Dr. Baker stood apart from the carnage, her eyes cold and calculating.

“Mazie, I can hardly believe it’s true. You’re one of the beasts,” she commented, as if she wasn’t standing in a clearing with mangled humans and rogue shifters in various stages of death scattered about like confetti.

It was clear she'd thought herself untouchable, pulling stringsfrom a distance, manipulating lives as if we were nothing but pawns in her sick game.

"You'll never have power over me again," I said, though because of my umbra form, all she heard was a roar. I strode toward her purposefully. My umbra urging me onward to rip her throat out, to crush her beating heart in my paw.

Her hand twitched toward her pocket, likely for another syringe, but I was faster, fueled by a rage that had been honed to a razor's edge. I seized her wrist, twisting until I heard the crunch of bone, and she cried out in pain.

"Please—" she started, her voice now a whine of desperation.

"Please? Like you've ever shown mercy?" I spat in my thoughts as my umbra continued to roar at her.

Fear so thick you could taste it filled my senses, as did the smell of urine as she released her bladder. I might have felt bad about scaring her so much at one point, but that was before her betrayal and deceit crystallized into a singular point of white-hot anger.

With a roar that shook the remnants of the stone clearing, I ended her, biting down on her neck and ripping it out. Her blood filled my mouth and sprayed out as I spat what remained in my muzzle onto the ground. I released her body, and she slumped to the forest floor.

Standing over her, chest heaving, the weight of what I'd done. Blood pounded in my ears. The silence after the chaos throbbed with its rhythm. I barely registered the slick warmth that coated my hands or the acrid scent of iron heavy in the air. Turning slowly, I surveyed the surrounding carnage. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, lifeless eyes staring up at nothing. A growl rumbled deep within me, satisfaction and sorrow mingling in a bitter cocktail.

"Nice work, baby," Ajax's voice cut through the fog of my adrenaline. His tone held admiration laced with concern.

I went to him, seeing that he’d already returned to his human form. I followed suit, and Ajax took me in his arms immediately. “I love you, Mazie. So fucking much.”

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