Page 17 of Finding His Way

The vehicle shuddered again as Macsen took another corner at dangerous speeds. “Save your quarrel for later, we have to bail. They’re going to overtake us soon and I’d rather not be going over a cliff when that happens.”

“Brace yourself!” Vaughn hollered seconds before a vehicle t-boned them on the driver’s side. Even as the car catapulted into the air and began rolling, he yanked Dianna into his chest and curved his body protectively over her. Stronger. Faster. And a better healer, he would take as much damage as he could to keep her protected.

I’m doing a shit job at it for sure.

Chapter7

Holy fuck she hurt.

And once again, I’m fucking cold.She cracked her eyes open and tried to get her bearings. Dianna could smell burning.I need a goddamn vacation.Moving slowly, but with icy determination, she pushed up on her hands and knees, blood dripping down her head, she prodded the wound and decided it best she ignore it.

Spots flickered before her eyes and she took several deep breaths before scouting around her once more. Still dressed, check. Still breathing, double check. And fuck yes! A mental fist pump, she retained hold on the Skorpion. As she rested on her knees she felt the small of her back and swore. The pistol was missing.

She was alone but she could hear a fight going on not to far from where she’d landed. Last thing she remembered was a low snarl from Jeremy as he curled around her, like he could protect her from the incoming impact.

Dianna squinted through the increasing darkness and swirling snow.Whatever place this is, I’m not coming back.Not a destination that was giving warm fuzzy vibes. Hell, not giving warm vibes in any way.

“Fucking get off your knees, Levitt and get moving. There are three other men here and as they’re the ones who can shift it’s in your best interest to find and stick with them.”

Yeah, the pep talk sucked big hairy balls but she stumbled to her feet, gasping at the pain in her ribs.

Pain is good. Reminds me I’m not dead yet. If I don’t hurt, I’m most likely dead.

Thank god she was left handed because her right wrist felt broken. So did some ribs and possibly a shoulder. The world shifted and she widened her stance as she sought to get her bearings. Perhaps the head wound was worse than she’d initially tried to convince herself.

Painful step by painful step, she made her way toward the fighting. Doing her best to continue using the trees for both support and cover, she paused, panting at the edge of the battle.

Holy fuck. National Geographic had nothing on this. She grew up watching the animals fight, blood here and there. That was child’s play.

This…this was something unlike anything she’d seen before. And she’d come across some shady and nasty shit during her tenure with a badge. Now, she stood looking at a massacre in the fading light.

Dead bodies of animals lay strew around. Blood and fleshy chunks dotted the frozen ground. Mostly wolves and cats lay there but in the waning light, she spied two birds and what looked like a bear.

Nausea roiled and she shook her head. A roar so powerful it shook her bones and she winced in renewed pain. A squinting, both against the inclement weather and the pain throbbing in her skull, she found a leopard standing over another feline, staring in her direction. Blood dripped from it’s fangs. It’s coloring normal for leopards, and she knew in her gut it wasn’t Jeremy.

She shivered but didn’t move other than flexing her fingers on the Skorpion. It lunged in her direction and the same roar came. While instinctively knowing it was dangerous to take her gaze off the feline bounding through the snow toward her, she didn’t fight what her body was telling her to do. And that was look for the cat making the noise.

There!

Fighting off, another beast was a large cat with the familiar pale cream-colored fur. The rosettes on it’s flanks were widely spaced.

Wait, is he fighting a bear?

The low growl of the racing cat yanked her focus from Jeremy. Gritting her teeth against the pain she whirled and lifted the muzzle, simultaneously squeezing the trigger. The cat hit her and she went down beneath his weight, never once releasing her grip.

The roar was closer and she tugged on the trigger but she’d emptied the magazine in the body pinning her into the frozen ground. Her flickering vision was filled with a blood-stained muzzle as yellow eyes locked onto her face, the oval pupils more round.

Because of the dark. They have vertically oval ones that are round in the dark.

Leave it to her brain to give her that tidbit.

The leopard opened his mouth and bit down on the dead cat that hurt her broken ribs but also provided some warmth so she was torn when he was ripped off. As she watched, a shimmer of fur and flesh left her staring at Jeremy.

His tortured expression lasered on her features. He snarled, fangs exploding from his gums as he twisted toward something he thought was a threat. Dianna released the empty weapon and reached out to touch him, needing to feel him.

It didn’t matter it was freezing out and he was naked. Jeremy still pumped out heat. At her slight touch, he focused back on her.

She tried for a smile, well aware it came out more like a grimace. “Think we could go somewhere warm? I’d do anything for a shower.”

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