Rosemary swooped silently into view and dove toward Frosted Tips.
She was going to be able to attack before they saw her.
A shriek filled the air as Rosemary caught Frosted Tips and lifted him into the sky.
"They’ve found her!" the shortest of the four new additions yelled, his voice sounding like a toddler’s. "Everyone get your guns!"
Every single one of these idiots liked to state the obvious—like, if they didn’t say it out loud, no one would know what to do. No wonder they’d had to surprise-attack my pack in the middle of the day of a new moon cycle with machine guns in order to win. We would have slaughtered them otherwise.
"Put me down!" Frosted Tips yelled. They were at least a hundred yards high at that point.
"Gladly." Rosemary retorted, and released him.
The phrase "he screamed like a girl" had never made much sense to me until this moment. The bear shifter sounded like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum over a Barbie doll.
A sickeningcracksounded as Frosted Tip’s body made impact. It bounced a little and athumpsounded as the body caved in on itself. Blood spilled from his mouth and eyes, but his death had been immediate. There was no sound of a heartbeat.
I’d never seen anything more disgusting in my life.
"Holy shit," a taller guy in black said, his voice so deep it sounded like a bass guitar.
A gunshot rang out, and Toddler Boy in black grunted as he dropped. Blood puddled under his head from where he’d been shot between the eyes.
The other three men in black pulled guns from their holsters. This was going to be another bloodbath—the very thing I’dhoped to prevent by coming here. Obviously, good intentions didn’t matter. Death was inevitable whenever I was involved.
Julius and the four men from the basement barreled out the front door with their guns already in hand. Hyena gimped after them, rubbing his neck and the back of his head with his face fixed in a grimace. His pupils were dilated, meaning he had a concussion.
Once again, we were outnumbered, which seemed to be the norm lately.
Another shot made its mark as Bass Guitar moaned and clutched his shoulder. The bullet hadn’t landed a kill shot, and I guessed it must have come from Killian or Sierra.
"Get her now," Julius screamed and pointed at me. "Make sure she stays alive, or all of our asses are toast."
If I could make it to the woods, I would be able to shift and be more helpful. But Julius’s four men ran right at me as the three remaining black-clothed guards shot back at my friends.
Julius lifted his gun skyward, pointing at Rosemary.
Normally, I’d have been worried, but I remembered from that night in the woods that Rosemary was able to use her wings to shield us from bullets. She would be fine; it was the others I had to worry about. These men didn’t care about killing them.
Griffin, Killian, and Sierra kept shooting, distracting all but Twitcher.
Twitcher made the first move, swinging a punch aimed for my face. I dropped and spun, kicking him in the stomach.
Stumbling back, he gripped his middle and his nostrils flared.
Solo moved to attack, but Twitcher rasped, "Stand down. She’s mine." His breathing became labored as he straightened and took slow, deliberate strides toward me. "You’re going to pay for that," he threatened.
"Come at me," I smirked, channeling my crazed side. "Back up those idle threats with some worthy action," I wanted to make him mad and embarrassed that a woman had mocked him. Taking him down would be so much sweeter.
"Keep it up," he spat. "I’m going to make you beg for forgiveness."
"Oh, wait." I’d always thought Dad had exaggerated the standard male alpha elitist, as if trying to purposely enrage me. The sad truth was he hadn’t at all. We were stuck in an old hierarchy where women were expected to submit and obey. Boy, did I have a lesson to teach them all. "You kidnapped me and held me against my will, and I’m supposed to be the one who begs?" I lifted my hand and gestured for him to come on. "Bring it, prick, so I can put you in your place. But unlike me, you’ll be crying for mercy. Don’t waste your breath asking for forgiveness."
Gunshots fired, and the three guys in black ran toward the tree line, while Scrawny turned and ran down the driveway toward the main road.
Julius shot at Rosemary, and as expected, she blocked the bullets, but couldn’t get any closer since she had to use her wings for protection and not flying.
Unfortunately, the angle of the house and our positions meant my allies didn’t have a clear shot at Julius or the four assholes surrounding me.