Page 40 of Wolf Claimed
They’d fucking harmed his female!
His wolf’s hackles rose down his back to his tail as he lunged at the three wolves guarding the cave. Driven by the scent of her blood, Maddox’s wolf sank his teeth into Pierce’s throat and ripped it out without hesitation.
A second later, pain erupted in Maddox’s shoulder as Fulton’s wolf sank his teeth into him. Then Harris raked his claws down Maddox’s front, sending a near-blinding pain through him.
As a true Novak, Maddox welcomed the anger and pain. He used both to focus his wolf and destroy those who had harmed his female. Lowering his head and pushing under Harris’s wolf, Maddox flipped him over his back. Harris’s wolf sprang to his feet and dug his teeth into Maddox’s forearm. The wolf had some good moves, but not much experience.
In the split-second Harris took his eyes from Maddox to search for Fulton, Maddox pinned Harris to the ground and clamped his jaw over the male’s neck. He gave him one chance to surrender. To his left, Fulton growled, but Maddox wouldn’t make the same mistake Harris had. If needed, Maddox could rip out Harris’s throat and turn in time to defend against Fulton, who wasn’t a strong fighter. Two additional growls joined Fulton’s behind Maddox. Barrett had returned. With Kingsley.
Two shifters from alpha lines.
As the two silver and one black wolf closed in on him, Maddox released Harris and lunged at Kingsley. Maddox knew the odds of surviving were against him, but he would at least take down the asshole who had tormented Alyssa.
A body slammed into Maddox from the side and knocked him to the ground. The sound of jaws snapping echoed around him. Despite all the pain, he couldn’t stop fighting. Not as long as Alyssa was still alive. Maddox leapt at the silver wolf, Kingsley, driving him into a tree. Bone snapped, not his, though his own injury made rebounding difficult. Teeth sank into his back left leg as another set grabbed for his throat.
A shot rang out. Blood splattered Maddox’s face as the black wolf fell to the ground with a hole in his shoulder. Fulton. Not dead yet.
“The next shot will be in his head,” Alyssa said from ten feet away, aiming a gun at the silver wolves.
Maddox glanced at the cave. The sheet metal that had been sealing the cave lay on the ground. Somehow, Alyssa had escaped, and she wasn’t afraid to take out the bastards who had kidnapped her.
Barrett shifted to human form. “You think a mere gun will save you, human?”
“Let’s see, Barret. I have a thirty-three-round magazine and I’ve only fired once. And there are four of you. Oh, and I’m a dead shot. Do the math and let me know what you figure out.”
“Fuck you, Monroe,” he said, heavily emphasizing her last name as he pulled a still bleeding Harris to his feet. Kingsley shifted and held his broken arm. “This is far from over,” he warned as he knelt beside Fulton, who remained in wolf form. The bullet hadn’t exited his shoulder. They’d have to remove it before his wolf could heal him.
“Take Fulton and go, before I change my mind and shoot all of you.”
Maddox wanted to tell her just to shoot the assholes, but he couldn’t shift to human form yet, not until his wolf had a chance to heal. He lay on his side, focusing on breathing as Kingsley picked up Fulton. He remained on guard, ready to leap the second any of the shifters made a move toward her, though he knew she’d fire without hesitating.
Harris, Kingsley, and Barret carried Fulton’s wolf and disappeared into the woods. They left Pierce’s body behind.
Alyssa returned her gun to her boot holster and rushed to Maddox’s side. She parted his fur, inspecting his wounds. “Oh, god. They chewed you up.”
Maddox wanted to howl his approval of her, let the world know how fearless she was and how much he loved that she worried about him, but his wolf didn’t want to attract any attention in case there were other shifters nearby.
“We have to get you to a hospital. Or a vet maybe?”
Inside, Maddox chuckled at her confusion. Packs had their own medics for serious injuries. He’d have to explain that to her. He just needed a few minutes to heal the worst of the bites and claw marks, and then he’d shift.
Maddox’s wolf limped his way to a stream a few feet away and drank. She wouldn’t worry so much if she saw him walking, but he needed to rest. With a thud, he collapsed by the stream. Alyssa sat in the mud next to him and stroked his fur, carefully avoiding the dozen wounds. As he lay there, she cupped water onto his snout, muzzle, and neck, rinsing away the blood.
“I’m so sorry, Maddox. It seems I always screw up when it comes to you. They had me trapped in the cave. The fight gave me the chance to start kicking at the metal plate they’d lodged into the rock to seal me in, but by the time I’d broken through, they’d already hurt you.”
Maddox shifted. Sooner than he wanted. “Why the fuck are you apologizing to me? I’m the one who ran off, leaving you exposed.”
“You’re okay!” she said as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “I wasn’t even sure you could hear me in there.”
All his anger faded. There was still so much she didn’t understand about shifters, including the danger she’d put herself in for him, but she genuinely cared about him, Tiernan, and Rafe. Barrett and Kingsley accused her of being like her father. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Maddox cupped her face, loving the feel of her soft skin. His wolf purred inside, approving. “I hear and think the same in my shifter form, though I often let my wolf take over. It’s a balancing act, figuring out when to give your wolf control and when to deny it. Calling the shots, directing my wolf, causes delays and seconds can mean the difference between life and death, so I often give him control in a fight. Not always, though. There are times it’s better to let an opponent live, and that’s not something my wolf understands. But I heal better in my wolf form. That’s why I didn’t shift right away. And no need for a vet or hospital. I just need time for my wolf to heal me.”
“I was so worried. I’m glad you’re going to be okay.”
“I mean, you will, won’t you? Be okay?” she asked as her hand sifted through his hair, examining his head for wounds.
The love he heard in her voice floored him, but he was more concerned with her health than his own. He ran his eyes over her body and quickly found the source of the blood he’d smelled earlier. A scrape on her arm. A minor injury. Relief flooded him. He’d considered giving full control to his wolf earlier, to let him shred every last shifter who had taken her, but something had kept him from doing so. He suspected it was the effect she’d been having on him. Alyssa sought to minimize damage against the enemy, which was very different from how he’d been trained.
