Robb
The cat bristles without warning.
“What’s wrong?”
She doesn’t even give me a backward glance, and she races out of the cave.
Wow. Geez. Right when I was starting to really like that cat too. Guess I did something to set her off.
I brush my hands together to try to get some of her fur off, but it clings to me like cellophane.
Grumbling, I stand and run my hands over the stone walls of the cave. Without warning, the cave is plunged into darkness. Someone’s standing in the entrance, blocking the light.
My mouth goes dry as Roald steps inside first. Nia’s a half-step behind him, sporting a cocky little half-smile. I almost expect to see painted nails or teeth, but so far, it seems that she only does that for vampires.
Right behind them is Elliot. Last of all is Decker. The brown-haired, brown-eyed werewolf stares straight at me, and I get the feeling Decker is trying to tell me something, but I haven’t the foggiest notion what it might be.
Roald halts when he’s directly across from me. Nia is on his right, the other two on his left. The so-called leader sweeps out his arm toward me. “Go ahead, Decker. Do what you didn’t last time.”
Ah, so that’s what this is. A test of loyalty. Roald realized Decker didn’t fight me that other time. Subconsciously, I touch my chest. The scars have formed, the skin as healed as it will get. I had to take some Mystic Twilight the other night in order to get some sleep, and I feel better, but I’m also not nearly as strong as I had been before the curse. I’m not even as strong as I had been when I consumed a ton of Mystic Twilight.
Nia’s nostrils flare, and she holds up a hand before Decker can step forward. “What’s that smell? I recognize it.”
“Who cares?” Roald asks.
“I care. It’s Mystic Twilight.” She glowers at me. “You trying to prove something? You want to act tough? Think you can take the four of us on?”
“I don’t think much of anything,” I tell her.
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Her nostrils flare again. “Your girlfriend shut down my mom’s operation, and now you set up shop? A witch wannabe, huh? That what you are? Your girlfriend is a hybrid. You wish you were too?”
“I am what I am.”
“And what does that mean?” Elliot asks, talking for the first time.
I grin. “It’s not that hard to figure out.”
“You’re a dead werewolf walking,” Roald growls. He rolls back his sleeves. “Decker, if you don’t draw blood first, I’m going to draw yours.”
Decker squeezes his eyes shut. It’s not that hard to see that he doesn’t want to do this at all, and I get it. I understand. The choices you made in the past affect your future, but not just your future. The future of all those you later come in contact with. By befriending and joining the rough crowd, Decker now has to either fully embrace what that crowd stands for or else that crowd will turn against him.
It’s nothing personal.
But it is.
If not Decker, then someone else would’ve stood here, another clone of Elliot, a Roald wannabe, someone who didn’t have a conscience like Decker.
It’s not that hard for me to wave Decker over. “Go ahead,” I tell him.
Decker crosses over with a fair amount of swag, but he hesitates.
I nod.
He bites his lip. He still doesn’t want to go at me even though I just said for him to.
Even though he’s been threatened, he still doesn’t want to hit me.
“You’re giving me the chance to hit you first?” I ask loudly, putting on a show. “You’re a better wolf than the rest of them.”
Roald bursts forward, and I sidestep Decker, but he chooses that moment to swing. His hook goes way out, wild, and he knocks me right across my face, his fist coming all the way around to hit my far ear. The guy must have Gumby as a relative or something, considering how much it seems like his arm stretched out.
Well, there you go, Roald. Decker decked me.
And it’s a doozy of a hit. I go down somewhat, but it’s mostly an excuse to ram forward and headbutt Roald. I knock him to the side, almost into Nia, and then I race out of the cave. The last thing I need is for me to be attacked there, ganged up on, on the floor, kicked and punched to death. I can already see blood coating the cave floor when I close my eyes.
My legs, though, can’t last long, and I have to stop running. I’m risking using up all of my energy already, and the fight’s just begun.
I whirl around and fight through a wave of dizziness to stay upright and watch as the rough crowd tumbles out of the cave. Nia spots me first, and she heads my way. Roald points and then rushes over. It’s almost comical how different they are. Nia is far calmer and more collected, but Roald is all emotion and violence.
I don’t even bother to try to bring out my wolf. I’m dying. He’s dying.
We’ll both be dead soon.
Maybe even in a few minutes.
Roald reaches me first. No surprise. He’s running, and he’s the tallest with the longest legs of them all. I’m halfway up a hill, so I have the high ground, but I’m not up for a fight, especially not when it’s against three. Against four? That blow Decker landed still has me reeling.
Roald cocks his arm back. I sidestep it and go to grab his wrist to stop him from hitting me, but he just bends his arm, forcing me to step forward so I’m leaning across his body, and his other arm comes up. I barely get my hand up to block it.
By that time, Elliot and Decker have arrived. Elliot yanks me away from Roald, and I duck. Elliot’s swing is wild again, and he staggers off balance and then falls forward, rolling off my back.
When I straighten, Decker’s in front of me, Elliot behind. Did Decker push Elliot? Or did Elliot’s swing cause him to lose his footing?
I don’t have time to worry about that because Nia’s here. She doesn’t have anything to say, but she shoots out her arm.
Everything in me says it’s not right to fight a woman, but Nia isn’t a typical woman, and I know she won’t hesitate to kill me, so I grab her wrist, this time actually succeeding, and I kick her in the stomach.
She hardly reacts. Does she have abs of steel? Or am I that weak?
Decker gives me a look, and he kicks me in the stomach. There’s almost no power behind his kick. It’s for show, but I’m so weak that I stagger back a few steps.
Elliot’s there. He grabs me around my waist from behind me, but he doesn’t manage to pin my arms down, and I blindly kick behind me a few times until I make contact. His grip loosens, but then I realize I can see his foot, and I stomp on that twice. He releases me with a howl.
Before I can get away from him, Elliot’s already recovered, and he plows me to the ground. The wind’s knocked out of me, and I can hardly breathe. Worse, my head connected with a rock, and my vision blurs. I kick and force myself onto all fours. Elliot’s beside me somehow, and I step right on his stomach to try to move away from the quartet.
“This is pathetic,” Nia grumbles. “Just finish him, and let’s be done already.”
“With pleasure.” Roald cracks his knuckles and rolls his neck from side to side.
Without warning, someone jumps in front of me. I can’t tell who it is at first, and I blink a few times, hoping my vision will clear. The werewolf has his back to me, so he doesn’t want to fight me.
Who would want to take on Roald?
Wyatt Spark.
Sure enough, I inch to the side so I can see his profile. Yes, it’s Wyatt. His face is a mask of determination as he swings a punch and a low cross, a high-low attack, to Roald’s chin and his gut. Roald blocks the blow to his chin, but the gut-punch lands, and Roald’s breath comes out in a whoosh.
I can’t help grinning, but Roald’s not the only one I have to worry about. Nia nods to Elliot, tilting her head toward me, and Elliot, like a dutiful little puppy wagging his tail and hoping to impress her, bounds over to me. He plants his feet and swings, but the windup takes long enough that I duck down.
But then I fall down as someone from behind me kicked the back of my knee. Then, Jett’s there, standing over me, and he slices toward Elliot. Jett’s fingers are claws, but he doesn’t actually strike Elliot. The blow is just a warning strike, and it works well because Elliot moves on back a step.
I grin. I don’t know why Bellanore’s bullies are here or why they’re willing to help come to my aid, but I’m not about to complain. Any enemy of my enemy is not my enemy. Is that how it goes? Because they aren’t friends of mine, but I also don’t trust them. For right this second, they can help, but I’m watching and wary in case they decide to change their mind and come after me instead. Or maybe they just want to be the ones to kill me, to torture Bellanore that way, by taking me out.
Because there’s no way I can handle them.
They’re all here—Wyatt, Jett, Gayle, and Mindy. Wyatt’s entangled with Roald, Jett’s with Elliot, and the three girls are even fighting.
I’m not sure where Decker is, but I’m not too worried about him as I inch over away from the male duos and watch the girls fight. I haven’t seen Nia fight much before, and she’s a dirty fighter, vicious. She drops down to the ground and sweeps Gayle to the ground. Immediately, Nia’s on her feet, grabbing Mindy’s shoulders, and she yanks Mindy back to off-balance her and then reaps her leg so that Mindy falls down too.
By that time, Gayle’s on her feet again, but Nia facepalms her and then draws her elbow back to hit Mindy right in the nose. It’s a masterful move, and I’m amazed at Nia’s fighting prowess even as it makes me want to find a hole to crawl in.
She’s fighting so viciously as a human. There’s no telling what she could do as a wolf.
Maybe she feels the heat of my stare because she turns away from the two girls who are both holding their faces. Nia stalks toward me as if she’s a lioness and I’m a zebra. I guess I am in this case.
I back up, trying to increase the distance between us. I’m climbing the hill, which means I’m going a lot slower than she is. She grins that chilling grin of hers, and I know she thinks she has me.
She probably does.
Decker moves to stand beside me, and I don’t have time to give him a head’s up. I just grab his arm and force him to knock into her. They almost fall down, but I’m already racing away, trying to breathe, glad my vision has cleared but so not glad about this entire situation.
Decker grabs Nia’s hand to help her up, and she snarls, her fingers turning into claws.
Wyatt smoothly steps between us, facing Nia. I sidestep just enough to see what’s in his hand that has her fingers reappearing.
He brought along a knife.
“Let’s go,” Nia snaps.
Roald, who is fighting Jett, doesn’t listen, not until Nia calls for a third time. Then the rough crowd leaves, even Decker.
Without a word and Wyatt still holding the knife, the bullies of my girlfriend all surround me.
Now what?