Page 84 of Stealthy as a Wolf

I released a pissed off snarl right in his face.

I didn’t have time for that shit.

Maggie was in trouble!

The man reared back, his grin melting away, replaced by fear, and he trembled with the need to run from the greater predator. A glance around the room showed that at least six wolves had followed Maggie out the door.

Way too many for her to fight alone.

That left us with eight still alive.

It would take too fucking long to get to Maggie before the attackers caught up with her…if they hadn’t already.

The fuckers were trying to take my mate before I even had a chance to claim her for my own, and that was unacceptable.

With an enraged roar, I charged the wolf who thought to keep me from my mate, plowing right into him and sweeping him off his feet. I took out all my anger and frustration on the wolf, beating him to a pulp, not even feeling the blows as he dug his claws into my flesh. Knowing I didn’t have time to waste, I reached down, grabbed his head between my hands, and gave it a violent twist. With the satisfying crunch of bones, I dropped his head and watched dispassionately as it bounced once before I got to my feet.

I saw the other men still fighting, and I knew I should help, but I couldn’t resist casting a glance at the door where Maggie had vanished.

“Go!” Burke yelled. I turned to find him glaring at me, bruised and battered and covered in a thick layer of blood, his blue eyes glinting with fierce determination. “We’ve got this handled. Go after Maggie and bring her back to us.”

I hesitated a moment. Leaving in the middle of the battle felt wrong…until I saw Grady pick up the wolf he was fighting and fling him across the room. Chest heaving, soaked in blood, our eyes locked, and he used his alpha voice to do what we all wanted. “Protect Maggie.”

I gave him a solemn nod, promising that, no matter the cost, Maggie would be safe. I burst out of the cabin, grateful to be the one to go after our mate. If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

But a quick glance showed that the clearing was empty.

Maggie was gone.

Furious that my mate was missing, my desperation fueling me, I tipped back my head and released a roar of pure rage.

Of all the stupid, idiotic things Maggie could’ve done, taking off to save us, knowing they would give chase, putting herself in even greater danger, was the worst. When I got my hands on that little wolf, I would put her over my knee and give her the spanking of her life.

Then I would finally claim her for my own and show her that she belonged to me.

That she couldn’t take such stupid, foolish risks with what was mine.

With another roar, one of pure determination, I ran toward the edge of the deck, then leaped off, shifting mid-flight. Clothes shredded as my tiger burst free, and then all that mattered was getting back what belonged to us.

Chapter Twenty-four

MAGGIE

Heart thudding against my ribs, I ran with all my might, the dark trees nothing but obstacles in my path. The world around me blurred as I put on a burst of speed. I didn’t bother to even try to cover my tracks.

No, I wanted them to follow me.

Just not too quickly.

As the distance between me and the cabin increased, I began to plot. I had to find a way to separate the wolves from the rest of the pack. The only chance I had for survival was if I took them out one by one.

I swerved to the right.

One of the bigger wolves was gaining on me, trying to pull out in front, hoping to circle around and trap me. I couldn’t allow that. I grabbed a fallen limb, then slipped behind a tree. I only had seconds. When the wolf swerved around a fallen log to follow me, I stepped out of my hiding spot and swung the branch as hard as I could.

The wolf didn’t even have time to duck.

The impact smashed right in his chest. The limb shattered on contact, the explosion sending tiny splinters through the woods in a ten-foot radius. Still in his human form, the wolf went down with a thump and didn’t get back up.

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