Page 39 of So I Won a Werelion

It was fine. I could take it. My injuries would get absorbed into my shift. All I needed was to give Wendy a chance to get out of there.

The other wolves had caught up to us. I had two on my back, three in front of me, and there was probably one on Wendy’s tail. I bit and scratched whatever I could take hold of. It had been a long time since I had to fight by myself, so my strategy was chaos. Fight until I made it fair.

I flashed back to my last days in New Zealand, when I’d become the predator…

No. I couldn’t let that shit get into my head. I’d followed my instincts, and I’d been fucking wrong. Beating myself up over it wasn’t gonna get me out of this fight. Or keep my mate safe. One mistake in forty-two years was still a pretty good track record…

Even if had cost me almost everything.

It had led me back to my mate.

Wendy had gotten back onto her feet, and she was climbing the fence. A wolf nipped at her heels, and she kicked him right in the snout.

Yes. Mate. She’d gotten this far without me. We were gonna make a hell of a team.

She hesitated at the top of the fence, looking back at me.

“Keep going.” But to her, it would sound like a roar. It would probably wake up the whole town and Colorado Ranch.

Good.

She let out another scream when she jumped. There could be wolves waiting on the other side. Fuck. I needed to beat these bastards and get her the hell out of here.

With sheer adrenaline, I shook the wolves off me. They’d gotten in some good shots. My skin had been ripped open, but my bones were intact.

The wolf who’d chased Wendy couldn’t get over the fence. I counted on sheer speed and athletic ability to get me over it in a single leap.

Wendy stood with one hand on my bike, the other on her heart.

“I thought they were gonna kill you,” she said between ragged breaths. She went down onto one knee so we were face to face. There was no way I’d miss her wince.

A cacophony of barking and howling came from the other side of the fence. Shifting to human so soon was dangerous. But I had to take care of my mate.

Wendy gasped as I made the transformation back.

“You okay?” I asked, smoothing her hair back from her face. There was dirt on her cheek.

“Messed up my ankle on that jump. I don’t recommend scaling chain link fences in high-heeled boots.” She laughed, but she had yet to catch her breath. “What about you? I felt like such a damsel in distress running away, but I knew if I stayed, it would’ve made things harder for you.”

“Never been better.” I grinned. “Still got the relic?”

She patted her bag. “Feels like it’s still intact.”

“Good. Now let’s get the fuck out of here. Only so long before those wolves catch up to us.” I picked up my helmet. We’d already been there too long.

“Gabe.”

“Are they coming?” We had a chance to outrun them with the bike. But if I had to shift again…I was pretty sure I could do it.

“You’re naked,” she said.

“Can’t exactly go back for my clothes.”

“Right, But…” she motioned to the bike.

“Never been around a naked shifter before?”

“Of course I have.” She considered her helmet but didn’t put it on.

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