A slight shift of the beast’s eyes to his right was the only warning Chris had before two smaller beasts lunged for him. He dropped to his back before either one could reach him and brought his feet up, slamming into the beast closest to him and knocking him into his partner, sending them flying through the air towards the fire, but somehow they managed to miss the fire.
They landed a few feet away and quickly scurried to their feet to make another go at him.
“Goddammit!” He didn’t need this bullshit tonight. His eyes shot over to his father to find the man tossing a beast into the fire as he kicked a large brown wolf trying to take a bite out of his side.
“Chris!” Izzy screamed, drawing his attention as three large beasts, including the leader advanced on her.
“Fucking bastard,” he said, pulling out his gun and shooting the two beasts that were coming back for more in the head, instantly killing them both. He got to his feet and shot the next bastard that made a move in his direction as he ran to Izzy.
As the bastards moved closer she did something that shocked the hell out of him and he probably would never forget as long as he lived. She dropped to the ground and got into the fetal position. Hearing about it and seeing it in action were two totally different things.
He couldn’t f**king believe what he was seeing.
“Get up!” he yelled, stepping back and shooting a brown and grey stripped wolf that came charging towards him, jumping over it before it dropped to the ground.
“No!” Izzy screamed, over the load roars and snarls.
“Get up and do your f**king job!” he snarled, grabbing the beast that was closing in on her by the hind leg and yanking him back so he had a clear shot to the head. He didn’t hesitate in pulling the trigger.
“Go to hell, you jerk!” Izzy yelled, curling tightly into herself.
“Fight back!” he ordered sick of her bullshit as he grabbed another wolf and shot him, but not before the bastard slashed his arm, making him drop the gun and stumble back as intense pain shot through his arm.
The leader flashed him a triumphant smile as he opened his mouth wide and dove for Izzy’s bare neck as his mate coward on the ground.
“No!” he roared, running as fast as he could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Not nearly fast enough.
Chapter 13
She couldn’t look away as the largest wolf she’d ever seen came flying through the air towards her with its jaws wide and its intentions clear. It was going to rip her apart and she was helpless to do anything to stop it.
As she cringed into herself even more she couldn’t take her eyes away from the large wolf or get off her ass and run for her life like she knew she should. She was absolutely frozen on the spot. Even the jerk’s demands for her to get off her ass and fight back, was he serious?, didn’t help. Hell, she barely registered half the things he said as he screamed at her. The only thing going through her mind at the moment was the menacing growl as the beast got closer and closer until she could smell his warm stale breath and she knew she was seconds from getting her throat ripped out.
Her breath caught in her lungs as she felt her heart pound in her chest as the fangs came within inches of her face. She tried to squeeze her eyes shut, but they wouldn’t listen to her. She did not want to see this. A sob escaped her as its hot breath tickled her chin and neck.
“Get the f**k up now!” Chris roared, from somewhere behind her, but not close enough and she knew by the sounds of the snarls and growls coming from behind her that he was busy and wouldn’t get to her in time.
This is it, she thought with a strangled cry as she felt sharp teeth close around her neck. This is how I’m going to die….
Just as she accepted the inevitable the beast was suddenly shoved back away from her, leaving several long cuts on her neck that barely stung more than a paper cut. When she looked up at the man who’d dragged the beast off of her she was surprised and oddly disappointed to discover that it hadn’t been Chris that saved her. It shouldn’t matter who saved her as long as someone had, but for some strange reason it just did.
“You must be out of your f**king mind going after someone in my family,” Ephraim bit out as he dragged the beast back by means of a headlock and…..
Holy shit……
Ephraim’s hand was lodged in the beast’s mouth. It suddenly dawned on her that she should have sustained more damage from its teeth when it was pulled away from her. Apparently, Ephraim had stopped it from clamping down and tearing out a good portion of her throat by lodging his hand in its mouth to stop it from being able to close its jaws around her throat and killing her.
She knew the man was incredibly strong from watching him fight the other wolves not five minutes ago, but the beast in front of them was taller and larger than either man when it was on its hind legs. Surely it was able to overpower the man, she thought as she slowly sat up, pressing a shaky hand to her neck and wincing when she felt the warm liquid running down her neck. Her eyes locked on the struggling beast as it tried to lunge at her and finish the job, but Ephraim thankfully held the beast back.
In that moment he had her undying gratitude. She looked away from the beast and watched as he struggled to drag it away from her. His eyes glowed bright red and thanks to the large fire she could clearly make out the two long white fangs in his mouth and knew that it didn’t matter that the man before her wasn’t human. He saved her life and she wasn’t such a bitch that she’d look down on the man or whatever the hell he was because he wasn’t human. Now the rest of them…..
Scared the ever loving hell out of her.
“Son of a bitch!” Ephraim yelled as the beast broke free.
No, not exactly broke free, Isabella realized a second later. It bit off Ephraim’s entire hand, she realized as bile rose up in her throat at the site of his bloody stump.
He reached out, ignoring his injury, with his other hand and tried to grab the wolf by the fur, but by that time the beast had already lunged towards her, intent on finishing what he started. She fell back on the overgrown grass, holding her hands up as if it would do any good in stopping the crazed beast from ripping her to shreds.
“You’re f**king dead!” Chris snarled as his foot shot out in front of her, connecting with the beast’s face, sending him flying backwards. He didn’t even spare her a glance as he stepped over her and went after the large animal. As he moved away from her she noticed that his clothes were ripped and stained with blood, his or the beasts he’d fought, she had no idea.