Page 38 of Honey Heat
“Stay behind me, osito,” Lucio growled.
“You think I’m afraid of a wolf?” Drek taunted, pressing his claws more firmly against Brett’s throat. A thin line of blood appeared, bright against Brett’s pale skin. “One wrong move and your precious human dies.”
Brett’s eyes met Diablo’s, something passing between them. “Voy a dejarme caer,” Brett said, his voice calm despite the danger.
Diablo’s massive head dipped once in acknowledgment as Ethan wondered what Brett just said.
In the next heartbeat, Brett went completely limp, his full weight suddenly dragging downward. Caught off guard, Drek’s grip slipped just enough for Brett to hit the ground.
It was all the opening Diablo needed. The wolf lunged forward, a gray blur of fury. His massive jaws closed around Drek’s throat before the hyena could recover, teeth sinking deep through flesh and sinew. Blood sprayed in a crimson arc as Diablo ripped backward, tearing out the hyena alpha’s throat in one savage motion.
Simultaneously, Lucio and Matias moved with deadly precision. Still in human form, they attacked the remaining hyenas with brutal efficiency. Matias broke one’s neck with a single, brutal twist. Lucio drove his fist into a hyena’s sternum with enough force to crack ribs, following with a swift movement that ended with his hand buried in the creature’s chest. The hyena’s eyes widened in shock before the light faded from them.
The entire fight lasted less than thirty seconds.
Brett scrambled away from Drek’s twitching body, his hand pressed to the shallow cut on his neck as he backed toward his mate. Diablo moved to stand over him protectively, a low rumble still emanating from his chest.
Ethan stared at the carnage, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. Three bodies lay scattered across the pavement, blood pooling beneath them.
“Did he hurt you?” Lucio asked, suddenly in front of him, hands cupping Ethan’s face, forcing him to look away from the bodies.
“No,” Ethan managed, though his voice sounded distant to his own ears. “They didn’t touch me.”
Lucio pulled him close, one hand cradling the back of Ethan’s head.
“They wanted Kia or Jared,” Ethan said against his mate’s chest. “For their cheetah DNA. Drek said he already had samples from wolf and bear.”
Matias approached, wiping blood from his hands with a handkerchief. “Santiago, Bastián!” he called toward the still-open door. “Cleanup duty.”
The alpha hadn’t raised his voice, and still, two wolves appeared immediately, moving to drag the hyena corpses toward a pickup at the end of the alley that connected to Sin’s parking lot.
Diablo, still in wolf form, padded to Brett, who sat on the ground, one hand pressed to his bleeding neck. The massive wolf whined, nudging Brett’s arm with his muzzle.
“I’m okay,” Brett assured him, burying his fingers in Diablo’s thick fur. “Just a scratch. But you shifted, elegido!” His voice was filled with pure joy. “Eres tan hermoso cariño!”
“About fucking time.” Matias’s features softened, profound relief in his light brown eyes. “Glad to have you back, Diablo.”
Brett still looked stunned. “You shifted, cariño! A full shift!”
As they moved toward the door, Ethan turned to Lucio. “They’re not going to stop, are they? The man in the suit, the hyenas... they’ll keep coming for all of us.”
Lucio’s expression hardened, his jaw set in a grim line. “No, they won’t stop. But neither will we.”
“We need to warn my dad,” Ethan said, suddenly thinking of his clan. “If they’re bold enough to show up here, they’re bold enough to show up at home.”
“I’ll call him,” Lucio promised. “But first, let’s get you inside where it’s safe.”
Ethan glanced at the bloodstained pavement. “Is anywhere really safe anymore?”
Lucio didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pulled Ethan closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Where I am, you are safe. That’s a promise, osito.”
Inside, the tavern was an explosion of cheers that Diablo was able to shift again. Brett sat at the bar, with Elijah tending to his neck, while Diablo hovered nearby, now dressed and wearing a huge smirk.
“They were waiting for us,” Brett was saying, wincing as Elijah applied antiseptic to his cut. “Like they knew we’d come out the back door.”
“They’ve been watching us,” Matias said, his voice carrying through the room as everyone quieted down. “Studying our routines.”
Ethan felt a chill run through him at the thought of being observed without knowing it. How long had they been watching? Since his escape? Earlier?
