Page 74 of Blood Pack Beginning

“But Sasha is,” Diego replied as Cyrus focused on the feeling filling him. Similar to the time he’d felt Sasha’s nightmare, he now sensed fear, a thread of panic, anger, and danger. Those emotions pulsed and had him doing two more sharp turns before Diego leaned forward to exclaim, “I see a truck. Oh, shit.”

Oh shit, indeed. A mob of bodies milled at the rear of it, with one distinctive head standing above the others.

“That’s Amir,” Diego stated unnecessarily. “And I do believe those are folks from the Woolly Pillars Pack, but why are they attacking them?”

“Because they’ve become ghouls,” Anabel flatly stated.

Cyrus gunned the truck.

“What are you doing?” exclaimed Pierrot.

“Taking a few out on the edges,” a grim Cyrus replied. He kept the gas hammered until just before impact, plowing into four ghouls on the edge of the swarm. They hit the grill and hood, the impact sending them flying. He’d barely screeched to a stop when they were piling out, Cyrus pulling the gun he’d kept handy. He quickly aimed at the first set of red eyes he saw, having a moment of shocked recognition before the bullet fired.

Bang.

He missed the head but hit Kyle—no, not Kyle anymore, but a monster—in the shoulder to no effect. As If uninjured, the ghoul slammed into Cyrus with clacking teeth before he could fire again. Cyrus dropped the gun to grab it by the head and grunted as the ghoul violently shook to try and free itself. Cyrushung tight to the frenzied monstrosity’s head and dropped to the ground.

Snap.

Ghoul-Kyle didn’t die, but the broken neck kept him down, leaving Cyrus to move on to the next target.

And the next.

The changed folks of Woolly Pillars were unrelenting in their attack, paying no heed to their injuries, the group of them tougher to beat than the ones in the sewer, most likely because of their fresh state.

Cyrus and the others fought their way to Sasha and Amir, the pair bloodied and yet miraculously still standing. They formed a square around the injured duo and handled the remaining ghouls, the familiar visages forcing Cyrus to shut off his mind, yet his heart still ached as he was forced to kill.

Lorette Pettigrew, a mother of four, who could often be seen in the compound park playing Frisbee with her kids, now red-eyed and trying to rake her nails across his face. David Watson, a guy he went to school with, throwing himself at Diego’s leg in an attempt to gnaw. People he knew caught up in something beyond their ken. An evil plot that used innocents with no regard.

Each life Cyrus took hammered at his conscience, and yet there was no choice. Ghouls couldn’t be cured. Nor could they be left to roam and embark on a murderous spree.

The fight finished with everyone panting, covered head to toe in gore and gashes but alive. By Cyrus’ count, they’d taken out around a dozen ghouls, two of them in wolf form. While all of them were dead—according to Pierrot who listened for heartbeats—a creepy few still had limbs twitching.

Cyrus wanted to find a dark corner for an unmanly cry, but instead grabbed for the swaying Sasha. He held her close and murmured, “How bad?”

“I’ll live,” her flat reply. “How’s Amir?”

“Wounded, but not dying,” Amir’s gruff response.

A glance at his friends showed mostly shallow wounds with the exception of a deep bite on Amir’s arm. As for Sasha, harder to tell given the blood covering her.

“That was awful,” Diego grumbled as he scrubbed a hand over his face, only to smear the mess, making it worse.

“It was indeed nasty and leaves us with a pressing problem,” Pierrot agreed. “We need to get rid of these bodies, and fast. Despite the fact this commercial area appears empty of inhabitants, it’s still possible the altercation drew attention, and I have to wonder if any cameras filmed the fight.”

Anabel, the least wrecked of them all, planted her hands on her hips as she glanced around. “Okay, folks, let’s get to work. Cyrus, you tend to Amir’s and Sasha’s injuries. Diego, you and I will gather the bodies and any severed parts and put them in the truck. Pierrot, you check the area for cameras and figure out how to get rid of any footage.”

“On it.” Pierrot headed for the SUV to grab his laptop.

As the others went to work, Cyrus pursed his lips. “Any idea where I can find water for cleansing and bandages to bind?”

“There’s water right there.” Sasha pointed to a hydrant. “It will also help wash the blood from the road. As for bandaging, once I feed, I should heal quickly, so worry more about Amir.”

The big man offered Cyrus a droll grin as he blurted out, “Lick me.”

Cyrus sighed because, of course, Lycan saliva would be the best thing. “Give me a second to find something to open the valve on the hydrant, and then I’ll strip to wolf out.”

A proper wrench to open the valve couldn’t be found, no surprise, and with no time to waste, Cyrus used what they did have at hand, namely one large truck. He rammed the grill onthe front end into the hydrant, knocking it free and sending up a spray of water.

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