Chapter Sixty-Three
Shit, shit, shit! What the hell just happened? Our side was flat on the ground, looking pretty much unconscious. Sinc was walking toward Ethan holding her crossbow, glaring at the other wolves who’d crouched down on the ground. They must have been given some kind of protection against the knockout spell because none of them seemed to be hurt. I wondered why Sinc and I were still standing.
I couldn’t stay here on this branch and let her stand up to them alone. I jumped down and ran to the front next to her. She was nervous, her heart was beating like a rabbit’s, but she didn’t show it in her face or her attitude. The two weres in human form stood slowly, then leered at Sinc, throwing out some comments I wanted to beat the crap out of them for.
I dropped my walls and tried to send to her using the power of the lines, even though I’d never attempted sending to someone who had no connection of their own. “I wake Garrett” was all I could manage, but her eyes widened so she must have heard me.
The Pine Ridge wolves were moving toward us, growling, so I ran to Garrett and started to send to him using everything I had. “WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP.” He stirred bit didn’t wake. In desperation I bit his arm. He jerked, hissing at me, then realized where we were and jumped up. Instantly, he was standing by Sinc, his fangs fully out and his eyes a solid silver. Man, those were some kick-ass reflexes.
The weres attacked for real now; One of them ran toward Will so I raced faster than I thought possible to protect Will’s prone body. I growled, tapping into the lines and did what Maya had taught me, sending out a flat wave of energy to knock down the attacker. Whoa, it actually worked, so I leapt on top of him and ripped out his throat. It took me a couple of bites, because his ruff was so thick, but when the blood gushed out like a pulsing river, I knew he wouldn’t be getting up again.
Meanwhile, Sasha and Jackie were back and fighting side by side on the right, near Heinrich and Fred’s wolves. Sasha was amazing as he broke their necks with a quick twist or crushed their throats with one punch of his powerful fist. I couldn’t believe that he could move so quickly and powerfully without having any connection to the ley line magic. He was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning, which was a little bit creepy, and I thanked the spirits that he was on our side. On his right, Jackie slashed at the wolves stupid enough to attack her, using her magic to decapitate them the same way. No sword required.
Sinc was holding her own with the crossbow, standing over Ethan, killing two as I watched. I saw another wolf sneaking up behind her but Garrett was suddenly there, ripping off his head with a twist and a pull of his amazing power. I noticed a gray shadow out of the corner of my eye headed toward Kyle, so I raced to stand over him and growled a warning. The wolf lunged at me before I had a chance to pull in the magic, but I easily avoided him, flicking my tail and taunting him to follow me and leave Kyle alone. He took the bait, giving me enough time to tap in and knock him unconscious. Another two bites and he was history.
A very large gray wolf came running into the clearing and jumped on Sinc’s back, knocking her down and causing her to lose her grip on the crossbow. She fell facedown, hitting her forehead on a rock, and lay there motionless. Taking instant advantage, the wolf bit savagely into her shoulder, ripping deeply, dangerously close to her neck and a vital artery. Garrett hissed, reached down and forcing the wolf’s jaw open. I heard a crack that made me want to puke and was more than happy when Garrett flung him into a tree. The wolf yelped but was back on his feet quickly, his healing powers having already kicked in to heal his broken jaw. The big gray snarled at Garrett, but our leader was circling him, all vamped up with bloodlust.
By this time, our entire team, along with Fred and his wolves had recovered from the spell and were up and fighting. Jackie had somehow gotten Sinc out of the way of the action while she tried to staunch the heavy bleeding from the wound in her neck and shoulder. Heinrich was throwing wolves right and left, laughing as he plowed through their defenses. Ethan crushed a throat or two with his fists as Kyle martial-artist-kicked the shit out of one that had tried to sneak up on Ethan from behind. William actually swung a tree branch at a wolf. I heard it connect and brains went flying as Will grinned at me. I grinned back—at least, I tried. It was hard to grin in cheetah form. It came out looking like a snarl. Fred had never changed form, but was easily avoiding the lunges made at his throat with finesse, turning their forward motion into a twist and a flip, which broke their necks. He was fearless, although he was bleeding from several places. Man this fight was the shit!
Finally, it was quiet in the clearing. Of the Pine Ridge Pack, only their alpha, Johnny, was still on his feet, a scruffy, yet very large and powerful looking gray wolf. Garrett was slowly circling him and grinning while Sasha and Heinrich went around making sure the rest were dead. Our side had only minor injuries, except for Sinc, who was propped against a tree still unconscious with Jackie tending her. Garrett motioned to Fred and then stepped aside as Fred moved forward, changing almost instantly to animal form. My cheetah jaw dropped. It was the fastest transition I’d ever seen a wolf pull off. My dad had been good, but this guy was awesome. We formed a loose circle around them, except for Ethan, who’d backed off and was hovering near Sinc and Jackie. Will, who was soaked with wolf blood, reached out and stroked my sticky fur, then crouched down and hugged my neck. I licked some of the blood off his face and he laughed, rising to his feet, but leaving his hand on my head. We watched the battle between the two alphas unfold.