Page 56 of Wolf's Whisper

I turned his head towards JP and tried to calm him. "Look, they are doing fine without you. Or without me for that matter. But we already knew I was useless."

"They won't last," he growled, his skin burning up.

And just as he uttered those words, a loud scream was heard from behind me. In shock, both Aspen and I turned our heads, met with a sight that made me nauseous like I had never been before.

One of the Coyotes had somehow managed to creep up on Ashleigh and was now straddling her, his knife pressed against her throat, ready to steal her life.

Aspen howled at the sight of the stranger attacking his sister and as he did, the golden flecks from his eyes disappeared. Instinctively, I opened my arms to release him from my embrace, quickly stepping out of his way. I knew there was no stopping him now. His Alpha had taken over.

With a furiosity that scared me more than I wanted to admit, Aspen ran towards Ashleigh's attacker and with one swift motion, dove onto him. With one smooth move and a popping noise that made my stomach churn, he broke the man's neck. Like a doll, the attacker fell lifelessly to the ground, no longer a threat to either of my twins.

Without a moment to spare, Aspen launched at the other men standing around his fallen sister and mid-air, Aspen the man disappeared. With a loud howl, his wolf form sunk his fangs deep into a Coyote's neck and one more fell down onto the ground. This time, it was Aspen's paws that sunk into the next man's chest and as blood spat out of the open wounds, Aspen mercilessly tore his throat out. Just like he had done with Cece.

I vaguely remembered asking Ashleigh if this was a usual thing and I realised my question had become moot.

Without caring about the men he was ploughing down, Aspen jumped onto the next Coyote, tearing off his arm.

Whereas before I had only half-jokingly called them a circus of killers, it was clear this was exactly what they were.

Killers. Assassins. Murderers.

The coppery smell of blood was now dominating the air and with every kill, with every spillage of life, that scent grew heavier. Like artists from hell, my pack painted the pure snow red with designs of death and destruction.

Helplessly, I stood in the middle of what I could only call, utter chaos. This was my own personal circle of hell and it couldn't get any worse. At least, that was what I thought. Until I felt the cold steel of a blade against my throat.

I barely dared to swallow as I felt the cold metal against my skin. A soft voice hissed in my ear. "Got you now, little birdy."

I felt a man pressed against my back. He smelled like urine and sweat and even with my life on the line, I wondered when he last bathed.

Come on, Akira. Priorities! Don't think about hygiene, think about dying!

"Pl..." I opened my mouth, ready to beg for my life, but halfway through, I decided to slam it shut. Nobody else was cowering or hiding in fear. Neither should I. But as I felt my legs tremble and the first trickle of my blood run down my skin, I realised being brave was much harder when you actually needed to be brave.

I gritted my teeth and balled my fists, taking in a deep breath. The man behind me was obviously playing with me, otherwise, he would've just ruthlessly killed me like Aspen or Darren were doing.

An image of Ashleigh on the ground flashed in front of my eyes and with all the courage I could muster, I slammed my balled fist into what I hoped was my attacker's groin. From the loud grunt and him screaming "bitch" I gathered I had hit my mark.

I scrambled to my feet, quickly running away from him and turning around so I could face the coward who snuck up behind me.

That was not a man. This was not a sacred life. This was a Coyote. A vile creature who was attacking me and my friends. He was endangering my friends, pressing blades against my skin, and even worse, threatening the lives of my mates. I couldn't let this happen. I had to do something. Anything. I wasn't sure what I was capable of or what harm I could inflict, but one thing was very clear. He needed to die.

An anger I had never felt before, welled up from inside me as I felt my otherwise dormant and peaceful wolf growl.

With a scream and a stupidity I hadn't expected from myself, I charged towards the man, toppling him over as I kneed him in the balls again. As if he hadn't expected the sudden assault to his manhood again, he fell to the ground. The laughing, mocking man was now reduced to a pathetic heap, whimpering in pain.

I quickly scanned the group, trying to figure out where everyone was. Now Aspen had joined the fight, me standing here in the middle was like having a bullseye painted on my back. Frankly, as much as I joked about death, I didn't feel like dying today. It just didn't fit into my schedule.

Darren was still fighting with his dagger between his teeth, throwing and flooring guys left and right and it somehow seemed like a stupid idea to join him. I didn't want to get hit by a flying body.

On the other side, Danny and Regan were still whirling around their enemies, teaming up as they hit them from both sides. They were working together like a well-oiled machine and somehow, it didn't seem like a great idea to join them either. if I wasn't careful, I'd just get caught in Danny's red fury.

Behind me, I could hear the animalistic growls and howls as Aspen was still killing and slaughtering any man who dared to approach him or his sister. I wish I could've joined him to protect Ashleigh, but with his Alpha on a rampage, it seemed safer to stay as far away from him as possible. Even if that meant breaking my promise to Ashleigh.

So that left me with JP. The gentle man who always seemed like the mastermind of the group, but had suddenly turned into a killing machine. As he dug his knife into someone else's eyeball and showered himself with blood, I shivered with the thought of having to join him. But from all the fights going on around me, he seemed like the lesser of all the evils.

Not giving my attacker enough time to get up after I kneed him in his family jewels, I sprinted towards JP and silently begged I wouldn't get him out of his groove. The last thing I wanted was to distract him and get him killed. As if he sensed I was coming, he suddenly turned towards me, a grim smile on his face.

Somehow, without his usual smile and his hair all ruffled up, he seemed much more handsome and dangerous.

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