Page 15 of Operation Wolf: Eli
CHAPTER 8
Eli
FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!
I cursed and raged as I struggled to disentangle myself from the seat belt. The shiny silver Cadillac I’d rented using Hunter’s money was totaled, lying upside down in the grass just off the shoulder of the highway, and from the click of the guns I’d heard outside, I knew my troubles were far from over.
With one last resounding curse, I tugged myself from the wreckage and stood. If I were a normal human, I’d have had a cracked skull and broken ribs, but I’d made sure to fuel up with tons of meat before this little operation, so I was healing pretty fast. Nevertheless, a dizzy spell hit me, and I groaned, leaning against the car for balance. Fear for Olivia’s life nearly drove me to my knees, but I fought the impulse to check on how she was doing. There would be time enough for that later . . . if we survived this.
“Nice try, McCauley,” a voice drawled. Nick Santorini stepped into the light of the high beams, along with two other men. “But we figured you might try to pull a stunt like this, and I came prepared. I have to admit, it was pretty clever, and it’s a damn shame you can’t play for our team because you’d have been pretty valuable.” He cocked the gun, aiming it at me. “Not many of us could remain standing after such a spectacular car wreck. But business is business, and you’ve got to go.”
He fired the gun, but I was already gone, halfway across the distance between the car and Nick, my claws and fangs extending. My inner beast roared in challenge, delighting in the fear in Nick’s face as his cheeks blanched and eyes widened. In the next second, I was sinking my fangs into the capo’s jugular and ripping out his windpipe. Another shot fired from Nick’s gun, but it went wild, ricocheting off a headlight, and then his entire body went limp in my arms.
“And that,” I said, lifting my head and baring my bloody canines at the other two men, “is why they call me The Beast.”
One of the men turned tail and ran, but the other raised his gun and fired. I heaved Nick’s body up like a meat shield to deflect the shot and then lunged for the man before he could fire another, giving him the same treatment as his boss. The second man had nearly reached the SUV before I caught up with him, and he received a quick, relatively painless death in the form of a broken neck.
Snarling, I tossed the body aside and then returned to the SUV. I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself, but I couldn’t quite get my canines and claws to retract. My adrenaline was too high, the danger still far too real. Eventually, I gave it up and ripped the back door of the Cadillac off its hinges, so I could check and see if Olivia was alive.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw she was lying on what was now the ceiling of the vehicle instead of hanging upside down and being strangled to death. She must have somehow hit the release on her seat belt. Moving in for a closer look, I saw blood trickling from her scalp, and when I pulled up her shirt, I grimaced at the bruising around her abdomen.
“Broken rib cage,” I muttered. “Damn it.”
Carefully, I lifted her into my arms but stilled as she cried out in pain. Her gorgeous gray eyes flew open and then widened in horror as she stared at my bloody face.
“Monster!” she gasped. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I grumbled, removing her from the vehicle and heading for the SUV. But the accusation stung, no matter that it was true. I’d never wanted Olivia to see me as a monster, which was one of the reasons I’d made sure not to allow her to catch sight of me when I came back to town.
Well, now there is no going back.
I drove off in the SUV with Olivia tucked safely away in the passenger seat, and until we could part ways again, she’d just have to deal with the fact that I had been forever changed into an actual beast.
