Page 200 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

“Not happening!” the shortest of the four yelled as he shot at the black bear, but the tranq whizzed past, missing its mark.

“Get back,” the thickest guard yelled as he shot two consecutive rounds. The first bullet lodged into the black bear's front right leg, and the second nailed the chest. However, the chest wound wasn’t fatal, and the bear didn’t appear fazed. He jerked his head, thrashing the guard’s arm. Crimson blood poured from the wound, soaking the grass.

The metallic stench turned my stomach, but I breathed through my mouth. I hurriedly limped toward the bear, desperate to injure him enough that he couldn’t cause any additional damage. Each time I breathed or moved, my own throbbing side almost knocked me down, but I pushed through, focusing on the air moving in and out of my lungs.

“You asshole,” the thick guard yelled, and he lifted his gun to fire more. His rage was getting the best of him; he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.

A cream wolf ran through the trees, its focus entirely on that guard. Just as the guard fired, the wolf lunged, aiming for the guard’s neck.

Crouching down, I pushed hard, leaping farther than ever before. I collided with the cream wolf in midair, and my acceleration offset his forward motion, causing him to fall backward. He hit the ground with a loud thud, and I landed on top. I ripped out his throat, reducing our enemy count by one.

Gunfire continued, and I rolled off the dead wolf and faced the guards once more. This time, the remaining three uninjured guards shot at the black bear one by one. Each hit caused blood to trickle from the wounds. The bear tried to retreat, but the guards countered each move.

Now that the guards had it handled and could help the injured one, I needed to move on and help someone else. It would’ve been nice if I had inherited angel healing powers so Icould help the short guard and myself, but that wasn’t part of the silver wolf package.

Another wolf ran from the woods, stopping me in my tracks. The golden-bronze fur and overly perfumed musk told me exactly who it was—Luna.

Her Caribbean-blue eyes sparked with loathing as she slowed and stopped.

What the hell was she doing here? I linked with both Griffin and Killian,Luna’s here.

Fuck me,Griffin bellowed.I should’ve killed the whole family. Banishment wasn’t enough.

The darkness I felt from her before was nothing compared to this moment; evil swirled around her like a tornado. She bared her teeth at me and growled, making her message clear.

She wanted me dead, and she knew I was injured.

But that wouldn’t stop me from kicking her ass, so I howled in warning. I wanted her to know this place was mine and she needed to get out.

Luna gave me a wolfy smile that somehow made her look more sinister than dopey. She trotted a few steps toward me, refusing to step back and cower.

I expected nothing less.

A snapping branch to the right made me fully aware of what she was doing. She was distracting me, the same way the black bear had the guards. However, I wouldn’t allow them to get the jump on me. I pretended not to hear a thing and bared my teeth. I needed them to think that my hatred had blinded my senses.

Bart’s voice popped into my mind.We’re almost there. How are you all holding up?

Not wonderfully, but telling him that would make his pack more frantic and desperate. In other words—vulnerable. I needed them on top of their game and fully engaged with their surroundings.We’re managing, but I won’t lie. Knowing you’reclose thrills me.Hopefully, the others wouldn’t be prepared for a group of silver wolves to join us. Dick must have thought that Julius and I were the only ones left alive. This had to give us an edge, or at least I had to believe that it did.

While I kept feigning that Luna had my entire focus, in my peripheral vision, I could see a black wolf trying to sneak toward me. The animal hovered close to the tree line, his coat nearly the color of the night. However, my eyes could make out each strand of fur, and his yellow eyes seemed as bright as flashlights to me.

Luna pawed the ground, stirring up dirt and grass. She danced around as if she were considering attacking me. If I hadn’t been alerted to the black wolf, which was now only about ten feet away, her peculiar actions would have alerted me to something. She had no intention of fighting me, or she would’ve charged by now.

The black wolf dove toward me, looking to take out one of my paws and not going for a kill shot. That was actually smart, seeing as I was injured on that side already.

I jumped, and my injured muscles burned like they were being ripped apart. However, I managed to make the black wolf miss me completely and crash to the ground.

Extending my claws, I slashed the black wolf’s fur and skin as I landed on top of him. He whimpered and tried to roll away, allowing my claws to rip across his neck and twist his head. His neck cracked from the momentum, and he fell limply to the side.

A snarl from Luna forced my gaze away from yet another person I’d killed and back on her as she retreated into the woods. Now she was running scared.

Oh,hell, no. That bitch wasn’t getting away. Not this time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Not willing to let herdisappear, I linked with Griffin and Killian,I’m going after Luna.She just tried to distract me while another wolf attacked me.

Are you okay?Griffin asked with concern.Are you injured?

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