by Kim Fox
Joan’s grizzly had the power, size, and pure savage ferocity on her side but the wolves were used to fighting as a pack. They took turns coming at her in waves, snapping, biting and clawing, and then retreating as she turned to retaliate.
“You have to go,” Rory said, turning to his mate as he kept his wolf close to his skin’s surface. Candice was a small fox shifter and no match against a pack of wolves. She wouldn’t stand a chance in a brawl like this.
“I’m staying with you,” she said, her voice firm and unmoving.
Rory huffed out a frustrated breath. There was no time to argue with her. He had to help his friends. Cole and Ashton were beside Joan now and the three of them were being overtaken by the mess of wolves. They were fighting for their lives but there were too many of them and the wolves were starting to get the upper hand.
“Rory!” Ashton said as he landed a right hook on the side of a wolf’s head. “A little help here cowboy!”
A wolf whimpered as Cole’s grizzly bear chomped on its hind leg and tossed him aside. Two wolves jumped on Cole’s back, sinking their teeth into his thick skin before the injured wolf even hit the ground.
Rhett was running over with his cloud of ravens following him. Two wolves spotted him, split from the group and were sprinting over to intercept him.
“I have to go help,” Rory said, desperate for Candice to leave. “Go stay with the women.” He pointed to Jennifer and Lauren who were watching with horrified looks on their faces.
Candice took one look at her terrified friends and nodded. The girls were humans and would be completely helpless if the wolves decided to attack them.
Rory turned back to the fight as she ran over to the girls. He ripped off his shirt as he sprinted, letting his wolf come.
He spotted the gray fur of Drake’s wolf in the swarm of animals and ran right for him.
It was time to end this threat to his mate and friends for good.
***
Candice ran over to Jennifer and Lauren and stood in front of them with her heart pounding. If any wolf shifters tried to come over and hurt her friends, they would have to get through her first.
“Go inside,” she said, feeling the panic taking over. “Escape through the back door and keep running.”
Jennifer and Lauren were looking at her with wide eyes, looking shell-shocked as they stared at her.
“Now!” she shouted, breaking them out of their trance. They shook the confusion from their heads and sprinted inside, disappearing through the door.
Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest as she spun back around, blinking rapidly as she watched the fight.
Rory was right. She wouldn’t stand a chance among those killers. She wanted to help but she was powerless against the wolves. But she could help the girls.
She would stay here and guard the door so they would have time to escape.
The scene was so chaotic. Her eyes darted around; she had no idea where to look.
Rhett had a wolf’s head under his arm as he punched another wolf in the face. Dozens of his birds were flying over his head, squawking and cawing like their world was on fire.
A large dark wolf was biting Cole, hanging from his back leg as Cole swatted at another one, sending him skidding across the dirt with a yelp.
Ashton looked like Muhammad Ali as he bounced around on his toes, landing punch after punch on the army of wolves, all while avoiding their snapping jaws.
Candice’s eye fell on Joan as she searched for Rory. The alpha bear was on a rampage, tearing through the sea of wolves like a great white shark ripping through a school of minnows. There was at least a dozen of the largest wolves on her, trying everything to hold the crazed bear down. Any wolf that tried to get close got crushed by her devastating paws or got sliced up by her razor sharp teeth. More wolves ran over as four or five backed away from her, too bloody and hurt to continue in the fight.
Candice gasped when she spotted Rory’s wolf. He looked so helplessly small as he circled with Drake’s huge wolf, way too close for Candice’s liking.
She was frozen, feeling like she was rooted to the spot as she watched with her limbs shaking. This can’t be happening.
Drake was the first to pounce. He landed on Rory with his mouth open, his ferocious teeth shining in the sun. Rory fought back as hard as he could but he was quickly overpowered by the much larger alpha.
More wolves joined in, seeming to sense her mate’s vulnerability. They jumped on Rory, sinking their teeth into his back and legs.
Candice ran forward, tears streaming down her face as she sprinted to help her mate. She lowered her shoulder and smashed into Drake’s wolf just as he was about to take a chunk out of Rory’s neck. The collision knocked Drake’s wolf off balance but he quickly turned and faced her with a snarl.
Rory’s fur was matted with blood as three large wolves pinned him down, attacking him viciously. He fought them as hard as he could, trying to get up to save his mate but they were too strong and he was already too badly injured from his fight with Drake.
Candice’s heartbeat was thrashing in her ears as she turned to Drake’s wolf. His head was low as his fierce eyes were locked on her trembling body. The long hair on his back was standing up straight as he stalked forward, growling like a rabid dog.
The rest of the Wilde Crew weren’t doing so well. Candice could see Cole out of the corner of her eye getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of the wolves. Ashton’s punches were coming slow and heavy, the bounce in his step gone as he succumbed to exhaustion. The wolves seemed to sense his tiredness and were closing in on him.
Even Rhett and Joan were having trouble fighting off the beasts. There were just too many of them and they fought as a pack. The Wilde Crew were each on their own, getting outclassed by the cleverness and strategy of the wolves. The Tracker Pack would distract and attack from behind, always getting out of the way as the Wilde Crew member turned and tried to retaliate. As they turned another wolf would always come attacking from behind. They were fighting as a team and The Wilde Crew weren’t. And that was why they were losing.
“Easy,” Candice whispered to the snarling wolf that was stalking her. Drake’s wolf was a heartbeat away. He lowered his body, his paws digging into the grass, and pounced.
“Bad dog!” someone screamed from behind her. It sounded like Lauren’s voice.
A bright green avocado flew over Candice’s shoulder and landed with a smack on the wolf’s eye. Lauren and Jennifer popped up on either side of her, screaming at the alpha wolf to get back.
The wolf shook his head as he blinked his eye. He growled at the three girls before getting ready to pounce again. Jennifer pulled out a butcher’s knife and waved it in front of her like a sword as Lauren threw another avocado at the wolf, this time missing by a mile.
Drake’s paws dug into the ground again, signaling a pounce when the fourth Wilde Crew female came just in time. Joan’s bear slammed into Drake sending him flying to the ground with a yelp.
Candice took a breath of relief as the giant grizzly stood between the three girls and the psychotic wolf.
Cole and Ashton ran over when they saw their women in the middle of the fight. Rory fought to his feet and clawed his way over, arriving just as Rhett did with his birds circling in the sky.
The whole Wilde Crew were bunched up together, bleeding and exhausted. Their breaths were ragged as blood poured from open wounds. Ashton could barely hold his bloody knuckles up as he looked around with weariness seeping into his bones.
Cole’s bear sat down, too tired to stand.
The wolves, on the other hand, were regrouping, looking fresh and alive now that their enemies were showing signs of weakness. Their tails were up as they bounced around, slowly closing the distance between them and The Wilde Crew.
Rhett glanced at his mate as dark red blood seeped from a deep gash on his upper arm. “If you have any ideas fearless leader,” he said in a tired voice, “now is the time.”
Joan’s bear was covered in blood, her thick fur matted with sticky red. But Candice didn’t think that any of the blood was hers. She was too powerful for that.
But even powerful bears got tired. And she looked exhausted.
Drake’s wolf was at the head of the pack. His body convulsed violently as his head shook, thrashing around wildly. His fur retreated into pink skin and in a flash he phased back into his human form.
“You fools,” he laughed, his bright eyes loving this. He was on the brink of victory and he knew it. The excited wolves behind him knew it too, and so did The Wilde Crew.
They had nothing left.
Their tanks were empty.
Drake turned to his eager pack of killers and grinned. “Maul them.”
The girls screamed as the wolves came sprinting across the grass like an unstoppable wave of teeth and claws. Cole’s bear got to its heavy feet, barely able to keep his head up. Ashton sighed as his shoulders drooped down, with Rhett leaning on him for support. Rory’s wolf was limping heavily as he stumbled next to his exhausted alpha.
Candice cringed as the wolves advanced. She should have been wishing that she had never come to Montana. She should have been cursing the day she stepped foot on The Wilde Ranch but she wasn’t. She loved every one of her friends and of course, Rory. She would gladly die for only one heavenly moment spent with him.
She stepped forward, placing her hand on Rory’s back, feeling his soft fur through her fingers as the wolves rushed toward them. She was going to die beside the one that she loved and she couldn’t ask for a more beautiful death.
The onslaught of wolves was a heartbeat away when their snapping and snarling was drowned out by angry caws. A furious whoosh thundered over Candice’s head as dozens of angry ravens dived down like black missiles, smashing into the pack of wolves in a ferocious fury of feathers and snapping beaks.
Candice watched with a gaping mouth as the dark cloud of birds attacked the wolves, swarming over them as they pecked at their faces and bodies, driving the wolves back. They were fearless and attacking recklessly, sacrificing themselves to save their beloved crew.
The wolves thrashed around as the birds fought relentlessly, dipping and swooping in as they flew from wolf to wolf, never staying in one place long enough to be swatted down. The wolves finally broke, retreating as the birds continued the attack.
Drake gave Rory’s wolf one last dirty look before phasing into his wolf and running away to join his pack. The birds chased them past their motorcycles and off of the Wilde Ranch, not even stopping as they entered the forest, sprinting away as fast as they could.
Candice was watching with disbelieving eyes as the cloud of ravens soared over the trees in the distance and disappeared a minute later as they turned around the mountain, still following the retreating pack.
“Wow,” Rhett said, still staring at the horizon as Cole, Joan, and Rory phased back into their human forms. “I didn’t even think those birds liked me.”
“They’re part of the crew,” Joan said, turning to him with a smile. “They love all of us.”
Rhett pulled off his shirt and gave it to Joan to put on so she could cover her naked body.
Candice’s eyes fell on a few birds that were lying still on the grass. They hadn’t survived the attack. Her eyes watered as Rory stepped up behind her and wrapped his comforting arms around her shaking body. He kissed the back of her neck before pulling her in for a tight hug. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest against her back.
Cole and Ashton were checking on their girls as Candice’s stomach hardened. This isn’t over.
Candice wiggled out of Rory’s embrace and turned to him. “He won’t let you go,” she said. Drake would let every wolf in his pack die before he let Rory get away with this. “He’s going to come back.”
The look on Rory’s face told her what she already knew. They would always be in danger while Drake was out there. She would never feel safe. She would never feel secure.
Every time that they were having a romantic meal or enjoying each other between the sheets she would be wondering if Drake was outside, if tonight was the night that he would come for revenge.
“She’s right,” Joan said, looking like a kid in Rhett’s over-sized shirt that ended at her knees. “We have to cut off the head of the monster.”
Rhett turned to Rory, crossing his muscular arms over his massive chest. “What will the Tracker Pack do if Drake is gone?”
Rory swallowed hard as he thought about it. “Husk would probably take over. He’s the second of the pack now.”
“Would he play nice?” Joan asked.
Rory nodded. “I think so.” He had always been on good terms with Husk. Husk was tough as nails but he was also a romantic and wouldn’t want to keep a fellow shifter away from his mate.
He also hated Drake so it wasn’t likely that there would be any animosity there.
“Good,” Joan said, nodding. She turned to Rhett and grinned. “Do me a favor, my love.”
Rhett smiled. “Anything.”
“Bring that mangy mutt back here.”
Rhett grinned before his face went still, his eyes glowing a bright white. The skin shifter was sliding into the alpha wolf’s skin, channeling him so that he could bring him back.
“This time,” Joan said, turning to the crew, “we fight as a team.”
“That’s not The Wilde Crew’s way,” Cole said with a chuckle.
Rory stepped forward with his head held high. “It is now!”
twelve
“There he is,” Joan said, pointing in the distance. There was a lone wolf sprinting across the field by the highway, kicking up dust as he ran towards the ranch.
Rory shook out his hands, feeling the burn of all of the open gashes on his body that were courtesy of Drake’s teeth. He had been shocked at the alpha’s incredible strength when they met a few minutes earlier.
Wolves shouldn’t be that strong.
Joan stepped up beside him, making him instantly feel better. How could he go wrong with her berserker bear in his corner?
Rhett brought Drake’s wolf down the road and back into the Wilde Ranch. He stopped a few yards from them and winked.
“Make him run into oncoming traffic,” Cole shouted to Rhett who was still channeling the wolf.
“He can’t,” Joan said. “If the wolf dies when Rhett is still in his skin, Rhett will die too.”
Rhett released his hold on the wolf and walked over in his own body, his eyes back to normal.
Drake’s wolf shook his head, looking around in confusion as he was probably wondering how the hell he got back there.
He reared back on his hind legs and phased into his human form.
“Welcome back,” Joan said with a smirk on her lips.
Drake’s eyes narrowed as his eyes darted around. “Dark magic,” he whispered.
“Not exactly,” Ashton said, slapping a hand on Rhett’s shoulder. “Just our secret weapon.”
Rory stepped forward in the space between The Wilde Crew and Rhett. “You’re not my alpha anymore,” he said, his voice firm with authority. “If you or any of the Tracker Pack ever come back here again, we’ll kill you.”
“You disgust me,” Drake said, spitting on the ground. He looked at The Wilde Crew with loathing in his eyes. “A wolf belongs in a pack of his own kind, not in a makeshift crew of losers. But you,” he said, narrowing his gray eyes back on Rory, “you belong here. You always were a fuck up.”
Rory raised his chin, standing proud. “I do belong here,” he said. “And we’re all proud to be fuck ups.”
Drake’s eyes fell onto Candice, making Rory’s pulse race. “Only you would mate with a fox shifter,” he said, spitting out the last words like a curse. “It’s unnatural. It’s sinful. A wolf shifter should mate with a wolf shifter. Not a bear shifter, or a human, or a fox. No wolf in my pack is allowed to mate with another species. It’s a sin punishable by death.”
A
cold shiver snaked through Rory’s body. Drake still considered him a part of the pack. He always would. Letting Rory leave on his own terms would be admitting defeat. It would make Drake look bad and an alpha wolf couldn’t afford to be made to look bad.
He would never leave Rory alone and the threat had been clear. He would kill him and Candice the first chance that he got.
“Alright,” Rory said, taking a deep breath as he squeezed his hands into fists. “This ends now.”
Drake nodded, flexing his arms as he paced from side to side. He wasn’t phasing this time. Not with Rhett nearby.
His crew stepped up to his side. Rhett, Cole, Ashton, and Joan. They were all there for him, fighting to the end.
Drake lunged forward, attacking first. Ashton stepped up and threw a devastating right hook that landed with a crack on Drake’s chin, making the wolf shifter stumble back. Rhett grabbed his legs in a tight squeeze as Cole took him from behind, pinning his arms to his ribs in a bear hug.
“Rory!” Drake barked, staring into his eyes. “Attack that fox shifter,” he commanded. “That’s an alpha order!”
Rory’s chest tightened as his old alpha’s words brushed past him like a harmless breeze. He didn’t want to think how he would have reacted to that order earlier but his bond with Candice had changed all of that. He was no longer a slave to Drake’s commands.
“There’s only room for one alpha on this ranch,” Joan said, stepping forward. She grinned as her body began to shake and jerk around. “I’ll let you guess who it is.”
Her maniac grizzly ripped out of her, shredding Rhett’s shirt as it fell from her furry body.
Drake’s eyes widened as he looked up at the bear approaching on its hind legs, roaring like a rabid monster.
Rory held onto Candice’s hand as he watched Rhett and Cole struggle to hold Drake in place as Joan stomped forward on her massive paws. His breath froze as Drake turned to him and Candice with hate-filled eyes. Beads of sweat were rolling down his cheek as the thick vein in his neck twitched.