Page 66 of Secret Wolf Baby

Rage bristled through me, but I forced myself to keep calm as I glared at him. “You’re saying that my options are either to walk away and leave my mate and daughter with you, or all three of us die?”

“That is the gist of it, yes,” Reacher said coolly.

“I’m not letting them stay here,” I growled. “You have to be crazy to think I would even entertain something as ridiculous as that.”

Chortling, Reacher shook his head as if lecturing a child. “It isn’t as though I’m giving you a choice here, Jackson.”

Audrey growled. A second later, she had turned into a wolf and was swiping at her nearest guard. Claire followed suit, shifting into a tiny, snarling cub. She refused to stay behind Audrey and moved to stand right beside her.

The wolves trapping them started to move closer. Just as they were about to lunge, all hell broke loose.

Furious yowls and howling came from outside the still-open door. Reacher rounded, as did all the other wolves. I couldn’t see his face, but I could perfectly imagine his eyes widening as five massive shifters stormed into the house before he could do anything about it.

The Gold Wolves had arrived.

They fanned out, Will and Nolan heading toward Audrey, the others toward the larger group. At the same time, I jumped, shifting in mid-air as I headed straight toward Reacher. We were outnumbered, but that didn’t mean we were going to go down easy.

Reacher turned and saw me jumping toward him. A second before I reached him, he shifted, turning into a massive brown wolf. I slammed onto his back. My claws draggeddownward, trying to tear into him. Growling, he shook me off before I could scratch him, forcing me to move awkwardly to avoid collapsing onto my side. My claws raked across half his face, gouging just above his eyes.

He staggered backward, but only for a moment. The moment I took a step toward him, preparing to land a more severe blow, he moved to the side, rounding and swiping at my ribs. The sharp claws scratched across my flank, drawing blood and sending fur flying. I stumbled, nearly letting him charge me a second time before I righted myself and dodged out of the way with only a split second to spare. I pounced, landing on his back once again, or almost. My paws landed on his rump, and he wriggled out from underneath me.

Before I could gain my footing, he was already lunging toward me, his jaws snapping at my snout. His amber eyes were filled with a primal rage as he tried to bite down. I ducked beneath him, trying to swipe his throat but barely missing.

I moved away from him as he lunged again, but only barely. He was faster than he appeared. My chest heaved as I panted. I couldn’t back down, though. I darted forward. I managed to dig my teeth into his flank, but he knocked me off. As he did, he barreled into my side, knocking me off my feet.

He slammed me onto the ground. A moment later, his teeth sank into my shoulder. I yowled as searing pain raced through me, so painful that it made it difficult to think for a moment.

As he bit down, his claws dragged across my back. I yelped in pain. Reacher, unlike Saul, lived up to his cruelty and could back it up with fighting skill and power. I needed to find a way to get the upper hand.

As I struggled to come up with a way to beat him, an idea struck. Risky, but one that might work. I let my muscles go limp, acting as if I was too weak to keep going. Reacher’s triumphant snarl overhead told me he fell for the ruse. He released me, clearly preparing to go for the killing blow.

Before he could do anything, I spun around so I was on my back. My claws drew down Reacher’s belly, raking through the flesh. He yowled in pain, staggering backward. He glowered at me, his chest heaving as he panted in pain. He made to move toward me again, but this time, I was ready. The second he moved, I dashed to the side, biting into his neck. Before he could shake me off, I forced him to the ground on his back. He tried to rake my stomach the way I had him, snarling, his face twisted in rage. He managed to drag his claws across my snout before I managed to pin him down fully.

Reacher struggled, yowling and spitting, but it was too late. My jaws clamped around his throat and crunched down. He twitched once, then stilled.

I stayed that way for a long moment, mouth around his neck as I waited to make sure he wouldn’t move again. Finally, satisfied, I let go. His head flopped to the ground with a heavy thud.

Sounds of the fight flooded back to me—yelps of pain and alarm, and the scurry of claws scraping against wooden floors as several of the wolves charged back outside. With their leader dead, none of Reacher’s supposed loyalists seemed particularly keen to fight anymore. Within moments of killing Reacher, the only people in the house were the Gold Wolves, Audrey, and Claire.

Audrey and Claire.

My head whipped around to where I had seen them last, and I relaxed, tail swishing. There they were: a large wolf and a much smaller wolf. The tiny wolf was no longer next to Audrey, though. Instead, she was growling, fur bristling as she glared at the door, clearly expecting them to make a return. It wasn’t until the larger wolf gave the cub a reassuring lick across the forehead that she stopped.

Claire looked up at Audrey, then back at the door. She gave a low sound that might have been a growl or a whimper, then shifted back. Audrey followed suit a moment later. She pulled Claire close, holding her tight. Her eyes scanned the destroyed living room, broken furniture scattered everywhere, one window shattered, her old alpha dead in the center of it all. She sucked in a breath as she took it all in. Then her eyes landed on me. Relief flooded her eyes as she saw I was still breathing, but I doubted it was anything compared to my own as I saw her standing strong, a handful of thin, shallow scratches and scuff marks the worst of her injuries.

I shifted back and walked over to her. “Are you all right?” she asked, looking me up and down. Her eyes landed on the teeth marks in my shoulder. “Oh, God,” she muttered.

“It looks worse than it actually is,” I said.

She shot me a disbelieving look.

“Okay, it’s pretty bad,” I conceded. “But I’ll be fine.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Trent said, giving a mock salute as he approached, a bag fitted to be worn as a wolf in his hand. “Best medic in the squad.”

Neither Audrey nor I said anything while he stitched me up and then looked over Audrey and Claire, both of whom had minimal injuries. The second he was finished, he made himself scarce, moving to another room, clearly assuming we wouldwant some alone time. Claire hurried off with him, probably guessing the same thing.

“I’m glad you’re all right,” Audrey said. “Thank you for helping. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

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