Page 47 of Trick's Elite

As she watched the man drop to the ground just outside the backdoor of the armory, Stiletto took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Four,” she called out, letting Trick know they’d taken out another.

She kept focused on the backdoor, watching and listening for any change.

For the next ten minutes, there was nothing. Then she heard Trick call out, “They retreated.”

Stiletto took that as her cue to do what she fucking wanted. She wasn’t dumb enough to just accept that, and eased out from her position, heading toward the backdoor. After a few breaths, she stepped through, checking to the right before pivoting and checking to the left. When both sides were clear, she eased up to the side of the building and quickly looked along the east end of it. Pulling back, she scanned the trees, from the base to the canopy, for anyone trying to sneak up on them.

Not seeing anything, she slid around the corner and quickly made her way to the southeast corner. With her back to the building, she scanned the other tree line and row of dorms, looking for hunters in trees or windows.

After checking everything twice, Stiletto eased around the corner. Her heart dropped when she saw two hunters running up from the west side of the building, out of Trick’s sight. “Trick,” she shouted just as he stepped out of the building.

Trick turned his head to look at her, but before she could motion to the incoming hunters, one of them dove, hitting Trick in the gut and taking him down to the ground. His gun went flying, and Trick instantly began to wrestle with the hunter. Wrapping his legs around the man, Trick rolled them until he was on top, shifting until he was able to grip the man’s head in his hands and jerked it to the side. The man stopped moving, and Trick went to stand, but the other hunter jumped on his back, wrapping his arm around Trick’s neck.

As Stiletto took a few quick strides toward her mate to help him, movement from her peripheral caught her attention. Swinging her head to the left, she saw Cox twenty feet away with his gun trained on Trick. With her heart pounding out of control and adrenaline vibrating her body, Stiletto didn’t even think. She ran for Trick. Just as she heard the shot go off, she dove in front of her mate.

Pain exploded in her side, just below her rib.

As she hit the ground, her breath whooshed out of her. She laid there for a long moment before she looked down at her side, seeing a tear in her shirt and a lot of blood. She reached down and gingerly touched it. Lifting her hand, she thought,Thank God it didn’t hit him.

The last thing she remembered as she tried to get her bearings was the roar of a bear by her feet.

Trick

Seeing Stiletto drop to the ground in front of him flipped that switch in him. Trick was no longer in charge. Gold light lit up the immediate area as his bear took over and pushed his way out.

As he shifted, the hunter at his back let go of his neck and screamed. The sound sent pleasure through his system. He wanted all their screams. They would pay for hurting his mate.

He wanted to check on her, but he had to eliminate any threat, first. Turning, he reached out with one paw and swung, catching the scared hunter in the back as he tried to run. The claws of his bear paw dug into the skin and dragged, shredding the shirt along with the muscle.

The man dropped to the ground, screaming even louder as he tried to crawl away. Trick left him there and turned to find the one who wounded their mate. Locking his eyes on the man several yards away, Trick took in a deep breath and released a roar in the asshole’s direction before he bent forward and quickly loped toward him.

He tried to shoot Trick twice, one of the bullet’s lodging in Trick’s shoulder, but he was too filled with rage to even feel it. When the shooter realized he wasn’t going to be stopped by the handgun, the man tried to make a run from him.

Silly dumbass, it’s not smart to run from a predator.

Tackling the man to the ground, Trick dragged his claws along the backside of the hunter’s body as he gripped the man’s neck in his jaws. Pushing down on the torso under him, Trick pulled with his head and shook it, effectively breaking the fucker’s neck, and most likely severing his spine.

Glancing around, he spotted another hunter across the field, but he heard a moan from his mate. Loping back to her side, he growled as he saw four shapes standing around her and two other bodies lying off to the side. Pulling in another deep breath, he lifted up on his hind legs. He released the roar and was happy to see the four men step back a few paces.

“Trick,” one of them called.

He approached his mate and nosed her shoulder. When she moaned again, he whined and let out a huff. He needed to help her.

“Trick, Brother.”

He knew that voice. Who was that?Brute?What was Brute doing there?

“Brother, it’s me and Rock. We’re here to help.”

He swung his head around and tried to focus. There. Next to the front door of the armory, he saw his brothers.

“Shift back, Brother. Let us help.”

He looked down at Stiletto and let out another huff.

“Yes, Trick, I’ll help her.”

Ranger?Looking to the left, he saw Ranger and Skull standing there.How?

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