Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I rammed into the men, sending bodies flying. I was huge after all, and the attack had Matthias’s men scrambling, some running away, others on the ground, dazed, hearing his repeated order to shoot, but helpless to do so.
Cole was right behind me, now shifted to his wolf, with the rest of his pack falling on the men, howling for blood.
“Kill them all!” my mate roared, having shifted back to a man for a moment, enough time to give the order, before he was his wolf again, and going straight for Matthias.
Reggie led the others, attacking the rest of the distressed Haviland Pack.
I ran over anyone who tried to use their guns, and kept an eye out for any of the Swann pack that seemed to be in danger. I saw a brief flicker of Reggie fighting Tuss Haviland out of the corner of my eye, saw him get thrown to his back and pinned to the ground, Tuss’s long serrated hunting knife buried deep in his shoulder. I was about to go to him, but suddenly there were three women there with bats, and Tuss took blows to his head, back, and sides. It was brutal, and when he jumped up, hurling them all off him, that gave Reggie the moment he needed to yank the blade out of his shoulder and grapple Tuss’s legs out from under him, taking him down and continuing their battle.
Right after noticing Reggie, I felt something course through me, a feeling of dread I couldn’t describe. My first thought was Cole, and I instantly turned my attention to where he was and saw him viciously attacking Matthias while the older man was desperately dodging, looking for any opportunity to counter him.
Cole was brutal in his attacks, snarling in a rage. Matthias was going to die, and none of the threats, promises of retribution, or curses he was shrieking at the son of the alpha he murdered were going to save him. Everyone had heard him confess to the killing, and in that moment, all Cole was, was wrath. The issue, though, was that as focused as he was on delivering revenge, he didn’t see his own peril.
The enormous man next to Matthias moved with a speed that belied his size and grabbed Cole, wrenching him away from Matthias, holding him as Matthias pulled out a handgun and emptied the magazine in his chest.
Cole’s cry, half for himself, half for the need to avenge his father, was painful to hear.
“Kill him!” Matthias roared the command, and the large man dropped Cole on the ground and bent to drive a knife through his heart.
Impossible to allow anyone to take the mate from me I’d waited through a thousand lifetimes for. I was at Cole’s side in a heartbeat.
The mountain of a man had barely a fraction of a second to see me as his head was torn from his body. The kill so fast he remained standing a moment before his headless corpse collapsed slowly, landing with a thud, pumping blood into the earth.
I quickly flung the shocked Matthias down and then went to Cole, who had shifted back to human form from his injuries and looked weak.
I moved to stand over him as he looked into my eyes and smiled. The bullets were in the dirt beside him, expelled with the shift. I exhaled once, then again, watching the wounds carefully, seeing them heal.
Cole shifted back to his wolf, pressed his muzzle into my fur for a moment, and then turned toward Matthias and attacked him.
He had Matthias down in seconds, his jaws clamping closed around his throat, and the alpha went from thrashing and screaming to dying in a gurgling spasm of blood and gore. It sounded even worse than it looked.
I became a man once more, ran to grab Matthias’s phone, having left mine at home, and called the shelter. Crystal picked up on the fourth ring.
“Coille Women’s Shelter,” she said, her voice shaky.
“Crystal,” I gasped. “Are you––”
“Oh, Mere, you missed all the excitement.”
“Tell me.”
“There were two men out front with assault rifles. Can you imagine?”
Sadly, I could.
“But you know, me and Opal, we—wait, hold on one second.”
Opal was Crystal’s assistant at the shelter. She had been a resident there herself for three months two years ago and had been thrilled when offered the job.
“Sorry ’bout that, but as I was saying, me and Opal got out the guns you bought us that shoot those beanbag rounds, snuck around behind those men and shot ’em in the back.”
I went to my knees in relief.
“And when they fell forward onto the property, well, you know…” she said with a grunt, “they both passed out cold, as drunk men will.”
“We both know they’re not drunk.”
“Yessir, we do, but you like this ruse, and I like keeping your secret, so here we are.”