Page 49 of The Protector’s Heart

Nila gasped in surprise as something furry flew over her head and knocked Damien down. Hands grasped her wrists, and she screamed but then she realized she was free.

She turned and found Malachi sheathing a knife. “Get Jack and get in the SUV. Go straight to Acksel’s house.”

“Malachi!” She shouted his name as he pushed her away from Damien, who was struggling with the wolf, obviously someone from Malachi’s pack.

“Go, Nila. Now!” Malachi turned and kicked out as a male from Damien’s pack rushed him.

She looked over her shoulder to see Maura hurrying away with Jack.

“Give me back my son, you bitch!” She screamed the words, tearing after the woman, determined to get Jack back.

She closed the distance to Maura and lunged, grabbing Jack’s outstretched hand and shoving the woman away. Jack cried out in pain as Maura kept hold of his ankle, trying to pull him out of Nila’s grip.

Instead of pulling harder and hurting her son, she let go and kicked out, her foot landing against Maura’s knee. Maura howled and let go of Jack, and Nila snatched him up before he hit the ground.

Nila sprinted around the fighting wolves, not wanting to give Maura a chance to catch up to her. The SUV that they’d come in was parked with others from Malachi’s pack, and Nila opened the driver’s door and set a squirming, crying Jack on the passenger seat and started to climb in.

“Not so fast,” Tanner growled, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her out of the SUV.

“NO!” She grabbed the console in between the seats and kicked with all her might. Tanner punched her in the side and she grunted in pain, but didn’t let go of her grip on the console.

Jack cried in fear and reached for her. Tanner grabbed her waist and gave a mighty tug that made her feel like he was going to pull her in half. One of his hands landed on top of hers, and claws emerged through his fingertips. He curled his hand and she knew he was going to shred her skin. If she let go, then Jack was defenseless.

She jerked her head back and connected with Tanner’s face, nearly passing out from the pain.

“Ah, bitch,” he snarled and dug his claws into her hand.

She opened her mouth to scream, but the pain was so great that nothing came out.

A soft growl sounded so close she thought it was Tanner shifting into his wolf form, ready to tear her to pieces, but as she blinked away the fog from nearly braining herself on Tanner’s hard head, she saw that Jack was the one growling. He perched on his legs, tiny needle-like claws springing from his fingers and thick fangs erupting from his gums. He gave a warning growl and then he sank his fangs into the top of Tanner’s hand.

Nila heard his bones break and Tanner screeched in agony. The thick, metallic scent of blood filled the air. Jack growled and snarled, shaking Tanner’s hand like a dog shaking a bone. When Tanner lifted off her, she flipped to her back, bunched her legs up, and kicked hard, sending him flying.

She watched Tanner roll on the ground and clutch his hand, which seemed to be missing at least one finger.

Oh man, had Jack eaten his finger?

She’d deal with the ramifications of her son partially shifting and saving their lives later. Shaking herself back to reality, she grabbed the door and slammed it shut, turning the key in the ignition and pressing the door lock. Not that it would stop anyone from getting into the SUV because they could just shatter the windows, but at least it would slow them down.

She looked toward the park where she could hear the fighting still going on. She didn’t want to leave Malachi, but knew he would be pissed if she waited for him.

Jack crawled into her lap, softly sobbing and babbling. She put the car in gear and drew him close with one arm, gripping the steering wheel with her free hand.

“It’s okay now, baby,” she crooned, even though she wasn’t sure that was true. Whatever happened tonight, she didn’t think they’d ever be safe, no matter how many security systems they had.

* * *

Malachi watched Nila drive away. He’d been distracted with Damien, and looked over to see one of Damien’s friends falling away from the SUV, clutching his bloody hand.

Damien ducked a punch and Malachi threw another one, which connected with his cheek. Damien spit blood onto the ground and laughed. “I’ll get her eventually. You can’t watch her every second.”

Malachi growled and launched himself at the male, but another male barreled into him and pushed him away. A fist flew at Malachi and he barely dodged it, shoving the male off and leaping to his feet in time to see Damien shift into his wolf form and race out of the park.

“Shit! He’s going after Nila!” he yelled to Acksel, who was facing off against another wolf.

“Go with Ren, I’ve got this!” Acksel yelled back.

Malachi and Ren raced to the other SUV, and they followed the road out of the park.

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