by Dean Murray
I sank my claws into our opponent's side and then jumped away, but not fast enough to completely avoid taking an elbow to the side of my head. Jaclyn took advantage of the distraction I'd provided to rush in and sink both sets of claws into its arm. She rode the momentum the werewolf's spin imparted and used it to keep just outside the range of its other arm.
"Get the other arm if you can!"
It still seemed like a risky tactic, but I could see her logic. If we could immobilize both arms at the same time then we'd only have to worry about its leg talons and teeth. I'd already finished rolling back to my feet, and I darted in, but Isaac got there first. He got both hands around the wolf's right arm, but he didn't commit strongly enough and it shook him off after only a split second.
Jaclyn was forced to let go and spring away within heartbeats of Isaac losing his grip on the vacuum, but they'd created an opening for me, and I didn't second-guess the opportunity. I landed on the werewolf's back and managed to set both sets of feet talons and one hand into the rock-hard slabs of muscle before a violent spin nearly threw me free again.
I was too low to reach its neck with my fangs, so I sank my left hand further up and freed my right hand. It was like trying to scale a vertical cliff in the middle of an earthquake. Every time I tried to reposition an appendage I nearly got bucked off, and my presence made it harder for Isaac or Jaclyn to get in and land any kind of strike.
I couldn't get to anything really important from behind the werewolf, its ribs were just too strong. I was bleeding it out, but I was starting to wonder whether or not I'd get tired and lose my grip before it passed out from blood loss. I needed to get high enough to get to its neck and end this.
I pulled my right foot free and tried for a new foothold when it happened. The werewolf backed into another of the steel support pillars, driving the air out of my chest and cracking at least three of the incredibly strong ribs on my left side. I might have still managed to keep my seat if my head hadn't hit hard enough to leave me seeing stars.
It was like I'd just gone up a weight class. Nothing this thing was doing was anything I hadn't run into before, but it was just so much stronger than me that I was having a hard time staying in the hunt.
Jaclyn and Isaac chased our opponent off me before it could take advantage of how dazed I was. I pulled myself back to my feet and started towards them again when I saw it start to happen.
Alexei and the wolves had managed to divide the two vacuums they were fighting, and although they were all bleeding and showing signs of exhaustion, it looked like none of them had been seriously hurt yet. I would have chalked it up as our team being ahead on points, except for the fact that I got a good look at Jasmin as she nipped at her opponent and then backed away to avoid another slash that would have opened her up from nose to tail.
She was frustrated. This kind of hit-and-run combat went against every instinct in her body. Hybrids learned to bleed out their opponent where possible before going for the clinch that could end the fight. Wolves, the really, really good wolves at least, quickly figured out that doing anything halfhearted was a good way to miss your opportunity. Jas had been fighting Isaac, James and me for years. For her, this was just that same kind of fight against an opponent that was a little bigger and quicker than her pack mates.
I'd sparred against Jasmin for far too long not to see the signs. She'd decided she had her opponent's measure and that it was time to end the fight. I knew I was endangering Isaac and Jaclyn, that with just two of them that they weren't going to be able to keep up the pressure, but I couldn't stand by and do nothing.
I sprinted towards Jasmin and the other wolves with every ounce of speed my hybrid form could muster, but I was still a dozen yards away when Jasmin planted and made her move. It was one of the most impressive lunges I'd ever seen. Her timing was perfect and she was fully committed, but she'd acted out of reflexes that had been trained before her current state of weakness had set in.
Her trajectory was perfect but it lacked that extra edge of speed that had characterized Jasmin for as long as I could remember, and that was her undoing. Jasmin was still a few inches away from her werewolf's throat when its claws came around and knocked her out of the air.
I could see the trajectory of the werewolf's other hand. That thing was going to continue the spin it had just used to bat her aside, and then it was going to sink the claws on its left hand all the way through her and into the floor. I willed my legs to move faster, reached with all that I was towards the werewolf in a futile effort to save Jasmin, and then something flickered inside of me. It wasn't quite like the singularity in the werewolf ahead of me; it was more like a conduit, but it still futilely tried to pull at the life force of the werewolf.
It was like standing in a wind tunnel. My singularity was less powerful than its singularity, but that was okay, I'd never expected it to help me today. I took one last step and threw myself into the werewolf with all of the force I could muster.
I knew it was a vain effort. The best I could hope for was that the impact would ruin its aim, that the claws would miss Jasmin by a few inches, but that wasn't what happened. I hit with my shoulder solidly under its armpit and somehow countered the force of its spin.
Jasmin rolled out of the way as the werewolf's right hand came back around, carving furrows into the floor, and then the talons on my left foot sank six inches into its leg. In a display that was more aggressive than anything else I'd seen out of Jess since Oblivion had wiped her mind clean, she lunged, grabbing our werewolf's right forearm and pulling in an attempt to overbalance it.
It was the final, infinitesimal straw and the werewolf's left leg came up off the ground as it overbalanced and started to fall. I took advantage of the fact that it wasn't going to be executing any crazy changes in direction and pulled myself further up its back in a sharp, violent motion. In the instant I had remaining before we hit the ground, I set my claws and talons as deeply into it as I could and tucked my chin.
The impact when we hit knocked the wind out of me again, but this time I was ready for it and simply held on and waited for my ride to start rolling to its feet. In the split second between when the werewolf started the motion and when it was set enough to change direction, I let go with both hands, reached forward, and ripped its throat out.
The rest of the fight was bloody and by no means guaranteed, but we managed to come out victorious and, even more astonishingly, managed not to lose anyone. I'd been bucked off a second later, but I hadn't stuck around to wait for it to bleed out. Instead, I'd dashed over to Alexei, Jane and Tasha's werewolf with Peter only a couple of steps behind me.
With five of us focused on the next werewolf while Jasmin and Jess kept the first one distracted until it finished bleeding out, we managed to bring it down fairly quickly. Alexei pulled it out of position and then Tasha had hamstrung it. Once it lost its usual mobility, Peter and I hit it from behind and brought it down.
The last two fights ended at nearly the same time, but they'd been the ones where we'd almost lost someone. Brutus and Arnold had been slowly wearing their opponent down over the course of the whole fight, but they'd been equally tired and bloody. Brutus had been a second too slow on one of his dodges at the very end, and the werewolf he'd been fighting had opened him up from his stomach all the way up to his right shoulder. The shock had forced him back into his human form and only the fact that the strike had missed his heart and left lung had kept him alive long enough for Jane to stabilize him.
Arnold had ruthlessly taken advantage of the opening that the werewolf had allowed to develop while it was attacking Brutus, and darted in and clinched with it from behind. That sliver of the fight was over a few seconds later.
Peter had bypassed Brutus and Arnold's fight and gone to help Jaclyn and Isaac along with Jasmin and Jess. He'd gotten a little too close there at the end, but had bought Jaclyn the split second she'd needed to get in and hamstring the oldest werewolf.
Both packs had blood
and medical supplies back at the planes, but I hadn't been positive that either Brutus or Peter would make it that long. Jaclyn had yelled her goodbyes as her entire pack, save Tasha, had boarded their plane and then taxied away within seconds of the door closing.
It had been a more abrupt end to our first joint operation than I'd expected, but I'd understood her reasoning. A severely wounded wolf or hybrid was perfectly capable of completely losing control of their beast. It usually resulted in death for the injured shape shifter and an incredible amount of collateral damage. Jaclyn's presence on that plane was the best way to ensure nothing got out of hand while they were in the air.
Tasha and I watched the plane take off and then headed back over to where Jess was bandaging up Jasmin. Isaac was already taped up and resting but neither of the two of us had been bleeding bad enough to require immediate aid.
She'd pulled jeans and a tank top on while still in the limo, but both were covered in blood now. I grabbed gauze and tape and tried to see to her first, but she playfully knocked my hands away and started working on my chest.
"So, just out of curiosity on the part of your potential future wife, how did you do that?"
"Do what? Survive my first werewolf fight?"
"No, how did you stop that thing from killing Jasmin?"
"You saw that?"
"Yeah, I saw it. I expect Peter did too which probably means the rest of my pack will know about it before the plane lands."
"I'm not sure. I hit it with everything I had, but I didn't expect it to even notice the impact. All I can figure is that it stumbled a little. That, or maybe it had been injured more than anyone realized."
Tasha gave me a considering look before moving around to deal with the huge gash in my left lat.
"It didn't look like a stumble from where I was standing."
Chapter 10
Adriana Paige
Upper East Side
Manhattan, New York
Dominic wasn't happy with me. She wasn't pissed, but she didn't approve of the hijinks I was dragging her into. She was on the phone with James, and based on what little bit I could overhear, he wasn't a fan either.
Her smooth alto voice had been getting more and more frazzled as the conversation went on. I finally walked over to her room and gently took the phone away from her.
"James, this is Adri. I know this sucks, but I don't know what to tell you. Alec told Dom to keep an eye on me and if we're going to avoid a super-awkward, creepy vibe that will completely ruin my social life, then this is the best bet."
"So you're going to force my girlfriend to cheat on me just so you can date some guy?"
James' voice was even more surly than normal, but I took a deep breath, perfectly aware that he'd hear it, and hit him with the zinger I'd spent the last half an hour perfecting.
"No, James. She's not cheating, she's chaperoning. If you really think Dom is going to do anything with some random guy, then you don't know her as well as you should. I know the situation isn't ideal, but the alternative is that I just stop dating anyone because Alec is making you guys babysit me. I'm not giving him that kind of control over me, so if you have any problems with what's happening then I propose you go to Alec and ask him to give Dom permission to leave me alone tonight."
That shut him up immediately. I'd been getting the vibe that there was more unrest than normal in the pack, but apparently Alec was still the uncontested top dog. I waited for a couple of seconds to see if he'd respond before looking over at Dom and raising an eyebrow. She was shaking her head so my course was clear.
"Goodbye, James. Dom will call you when we get done with the date. I'll try not to keep her out too late."
I hung up the phone and handed it back to Dom. My closing jab hadn't been very fair. Given that the guys had to be in Brooklyn for a late show, I knew that we wouldn't be gone for very long, but James was just one of those guys who begged for you to let some of the air out of his tires.
Actually, I hadn't been fair on a couple of levels. James was a jerk sometimes, but I'd been meaner than I normally would have been. The problem was that he'd touched on some of what bothered me so much about the date with Albert that was scheduled to start in less than an hour.
Albert wasn't just 'some guy.' He was a very good friend, but it wasn't like he was the love of my life or anything. I didn't feel entirely good about how I'd pushed the issue with James, not given that I was pretty sure I was going to have to tell Albert that I didn't really want to date him.
The real problem was exactly what I'd said on the phone though. I really liked having Dom around, but if I wasn't careful I'd just swear off guys altogether and I knew that wasn't healthy. I didn't really want to date right now, but I needed to keep the option open or I'd just end up more lonely and bitter than I already was.
It all made a ton of sense on paper, but I couldn't help but feel like I was...I don't know. Cheating wasn't the right word for it, but I still felt some kind of bond with Alec and something about the thought of dating other guys still made me uncomfortable.
Dom walked out of her closet and sighed unhappily.
"I have absolutely nothing to wear here. I didn't expect to miss Rachel's handiwork quite so much. For a while there, every time I walked into my closet there was some new surprise waiting for me."
I needed to respond, but I couldn't quite seem to get any words out. Dom gave me a concerned look.
"Are you going to be okay, Adri? I know James seems unhappy right now, but it's not like he's going to fly out here and confront you. By the time I make it back to Utah, he'll have had plenty of time to cool off. I appreciate you ending the conversation; I don't think I would have been able to get off the phone in time for our date otherwise."
I put my hand on the top of my head and sighed. "Yes—no—I don't know. I feel really bad about all of this and having you thank me for pissing your boyfriend off isn't helping. I mean, I should feel guilty about that, and I do. It's just that there is so much right now to feel guilty about. It's all throwing me for a loop. Why is this so hard?"
Dom walked over, sat on her bed, and pulled me down next to her. "It's hard because you still love Alec. There isn't any use denying it; there have been plenty of signs over the last week or so."
I shrugged uncomfortably. "I was the one who walked out on him. It doesn't feel like I should be able to say that I still love him after doing that to him."
"That doesn't change the facts of the matter. You still love him, and I can understand why you left without necessarily agreeing with all of your reasons. In many ways, you left because you love him."
This was the first time Dom had come so close to condemning me for leaving. I didn't want to know the details, but I knew I should be brave and face her criticisms.
"You don't think I should have left. What should I have done differently?"
Dom pursed her lips and thought for a few seconds before shaking her head. "The real question is whether or not you still feel like your original reasons for leaving are valid."
She was right. It was hard to nod. The decision to leave Alec had been the hardest thing I'd ever done. In some ways it was even more difficult to reaffirm the decision now that I knew how much grief it had caused the rest of the pack, but I couldn't see any other course of action that I could have taken in good conscience.
"I guess so. It's hard knowing my leaving hasn't helped, has made things worse in a lot of ways, but I couldn't just stand by and do nothing when I thought Alec was headed down such a dark path."
"There is your answer. What I think doesn't really matter, Adri. You stayed true to yourself. That is what is most important. How can I claim to still be your friend if I criticize you for being the best you that you can be?"
I found myself smiling a little. I gave Dom a hug and pointed at the hall. "There is a perfectly well-stocked closet in my room. You and I are close enough to the same size that there's bound to be something in there you can wear. Not only that, if you're goin
g to wear something out of my closet then it will give me an excuse to wear one of those ridiculously gorgeous sweaters Rachel bought me."
A few minutes later we were both dressed in jeans and sweaters courtesy of Rachel. Dom had picked out a soft gray sweater and I'd picked out a green one that was almost the same shade as the dress I'd worn to the Ashure Day festivities.
I'd told Albert that he and his band mate could pick us up at my house, because I hadn't wanted to have him come up and think I lived here. It was the perfect refuge from the city, but that didn't mean I was comfortable with other people knowing that I hung out here. It felt like a lie, like I was pretending to be rich.
As we walked from Dom's building over to mine, I started to become uncomfortable even with the idea of Albert and his friend coming upstairs to pick us up. It felt a little odd to have a boy come to my house while my mom was nowhere in sight.
"Hey, Dom, do you mind if we just wait downstairs for the guys?"
"That's fine. Something wrong?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess I'm just feeling odd. This is my first date since Alec. Isaac and I hung out with Albert a little while ago, but this feels different."
"No worries, Adri. We can wait wherever you want, but I like the idea of inside better than outside. I never thought I would miss the heat so much, but this city has some really cold weather."
My feeling of unease started to fade away after the boys picked us up. Albert's friend was an overly skinny redhead named Daniel who was the band's drummer. I kicked myself for not having dressed down a little when I saw them. They'd obviously made an effort to look nice, but their wardrobes ran heavily toward rock star casual. Albert didn't seem to mind though, and Daniel didn't complain because he was too busy trying to come up with something to talk about with Dom to notice if the sky had fallen.
We walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, and then all sighed in relief once we were out of the cold. It was obvious the boys wanted to start out in the section of the museum that housed all of the medieval armor and weapons, but they graciously agreed to let us girls lead the way up to some of the Renaissance paintings.