Page 27 of Awakening the Wild
I sprawled, driving my weight down on his back, then wrapped my arm around his throat in a rear naked choke. He clawed at my forearm, trying to break the hold, but I had thirty pounds and years of farm work on him. I squeezed, cutting off his air, feeling him weaken.
"You came to my home," I growled in his ear, tightening my grip. "Threatened my woman. Put your fucking hands on what's mine."
His struggles were weakening when the first man tried to rush me from behind. Without releasing the choke, I kicked backward, my boot catching him in the chest. He went down hard on the gravel.
"Jesus Christ!" Michael stumbled backward, finally understanding the magnitude of his mistake. "You're insane!"
The man in my choke hold went limp. I released him, letting him collapse gasping to the ground. Both hired thugs were down—one holding his throat and chest, the other face-down and groaning, blood pooling beneath his broken nose.
The sound of engines roared up the driveway. My brothers, arriving like the cavalry with weapons drawn and murder in their eyes. I had called them on my frantic drive here.
"You came to my home," I growled. "Threatened my woman. Put your fucking hands on what's mine."
Neil came off his ATV with a shotgun. Sam had a rifle. Shane carried his service pistol from his EMT days. They'd clearly been monitoring radio chatter and heard the call about suspicious vehicles in the area.
"Easy, brother," Neil said quietly, assessing the scene. "They're done."
I was standing over the two broken men, fists still clenched, breathing hard, adrenaline and fury making my hands shake. Part of me wanted to keep going. Wanted to make sure they never even thought about coming back.
"Kevin," Shane said, his medic voice cutting through the rage. "Step back. You've made your point."
He was right. The two men were no longer a threat—one was coughing blood, the other barely conscious. I'd defended what was mine. Anything more would cross a line.
I turned my attention to Michael, who had gone pale. "Get off my land. Now."
"This isn't over," he snarled, but his voice shook. "I have the right—"
"You have the right to leave under your own power," Sam interrupted, his rifle trained on Michael's chest. "Or we can discuss your rights with the sheriff. I'm sure he'd be interested in hearing about armed men threatening a local woman."
Michael's face went white as he realized his position. Three mountain men with legal weapons and home field advantage, versus his two broken hired thugs and his own worthless self.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," he said, but he was already backing toward his vehicle. "I have resources, connections—"
"And we have a mountain full of places to bury bodies where they'll never be found," Shane said conversationally. "Your choice, city boy."
The threat was delivered so casually, so matter-of-factly, that Michael actually stumbled.
"This isn't over," Michael repeated, but his voice cracked. "Tonya belongs to me. I'll be back."
"You come back here, you won't leave," I said simply. "That's not a threat. It's a promise."
The hired muscle helped each other to the SUV, both moving like broken men. As they drove away, tires spinning on gravel, Shane was already on his radio. “Dispatch, this is Medic 47. Need to report an assault incident on Sugar Maple Ridge Road. Multiple injuries, suspects fled the scene.”
'Shane—' I started, but he cut me off.
“Kevin, you beat the shit out of two men. This has to be reported properly, or it'll come back to bite us. Self-defense or not, there are procedures.”
Neil nodded grimly. “State police will be here within the hour. We need to get our story straight—and it better be the truth."
When that was out of the way, I turned my attention to Tonya.
She was standing on the porch, shaking but unhurt.
"Are you okay?" I asked, reaching for her.
"Kevin." She threw herself into my arms, and I held her tight against my chest. My hands were shaking with residual fury. "I thought—when I saw them—"
"Shh. I've got you. They're gone." I looked over her head at my brothers, who were already securing the perimeter.
