Page 83 of Spark
Though the wolves had been startled by his sudden appearance, they quickly regained the upper hand and began testing him, launching quick, feinting attacks while trying to slip past him and get to Sophie.
Matt’s incredibly thick, dense fur and tough hide kept the wolves’ their fangs from doing more than superficial damage, but with both of them coordinating, he found himself rapidly on the defensive while the female wolves harried him.
Again and again, one of the pair would try to lure him away from the tree, so that the other could dart in with fangs bared to attack Sophie.
Then, in his peripheral vision, he saw Sven beginning his shift.
Where the hell is Chris?Matt thought. With a third wolf about to enter the fray, he needed backup, and fast.
It already seemed like he’d been fending off the attacking wolves for a while, but in reality, it probably had been less than three minutes.
Behind him, Sophie finally managed to get through to 911. In a shaking voice, she narrated what was happening.
Sven lifted his half-transformed muzzle and howled, the sound filled with rage as his plan to lure Sophie to this deserted spot and quietly dispose of her came apart at the seams.
Even if he managed to kill her now, there would be no way to hide it—or to get away. Matt would see to that.
Matt had known Linda Barker, the emergency dispatcher, all of his life.
And despite being a wolf shifter herself, affiliated to the Bearpaw Ridge Pack, he was betting that she wouldn’t help Sven to try and cover up a murder in the way that the previous generation of pack members apparently had.
“…can you make it to your car? Get inside and lock all of the doors,” Linda was telling Sophie.
“I’ve been trying to get over there, but they won’t let me.” Sophie’s voice was high and breathless with fear. “I’m up against a tree and Matt’s trying to protect me.”
“Good, that’s good,” Linda said, soothingly, on the other end of the call. “I’ve dispatched a police car to Wolf Rock. They’ll be there as soon as they can.” She paused. “Do you think Matt can protect you that long?”
Matt roared his determination, and charged at the gray wolf, forcing her to abort her run at Sophie.
“Yeah,” Sophie said. “You should see him right now. He’s awesome.”
A warm glow kindled inside Matt’s chest as he whirled and lashed out at the black wolf, who was trying to sneak around him.
Then Sven, now fully transformed into a huge dark-gray wolf with a silvered muzzle, lifted his head and howled the song that Matt recognized as the command to hunt.
Oh shit. Not good.Matt moved to position himself between the wolf pack and Sophie, just as all three wolves charged him.
Two came in from the sides, and Sven dove for Matt’s hindquarters.
With a snarl, Matt whirled to face the old wolf and tried to swat him with his paw. Sven might be pushing ninety, but he was moving with the same agility as the other two younger wolves.
Sven danced back with nimble grace, staying just out of Matt’s reach.
A grizzly bear was several times larger and heavier than a single wolf, but three of them working together could take him down, if he wasn’t careful.
They were all older wolves, with decades of hunting experience, and they were working with the coordination of long partnership with each other.
Matt knew that if he went down under their fangs, then it would only be a matter of seconds before they tore Sophie to pieces.
Hackles raised over their backs and shoulders, the three Tringstad wolves continued to dart inside Matt’s guard, testing his responses with a relentless barrage of nips and lunges to his legs, hindquarters, and even his vulnerable belly.
Then the black wolf broke off from the other three and dodged around him, trying to rush Sophie.
Matt roared and reared up on his hind legs and threw himself at the black wolf, reaching for her with both forepaws. The situation had his bear in a frenzy, and all he could think about was the satisfaction of catching her and crushing her beneath him.
Her gray sister dove in low behind him, and closed her massive jaws around Matt’s right hind leg, sending him crashing ingloriously to the ground.
Pain stabbed through his leg as her fangs sank through fur and muscle and went down to the bone.
