He killed her; he killed her right in front of us. I can’t take my eyes off her limp corpse. My once bubbly friend is dead. Angie steps back, bumping into me, making me look away from Jasmine’s body, when the other two wolves step into the gym. All three are stalking us. One is female, the other two are male.
“We need to shift,” Angie murmurs, before she suddenly shifts. Her clothes shred to pieces as she jumps into her wolf form. The moment she shifts, the sandy-brown wolf lunges at her and she sidesteps, attacking the she-wolf. They dart in and out testing each other for weaknesses.
I look around for something to use as a weapon, and spot a broom leaning on the wall next to the bathroom door. I run for it, my sneakers screech on the floor, before fangs sink into my shoulder, claws tear through my back and the creature slams into me from behind, knocking me face first onto the ground. Instinctively, I shield the back of my neck and head with my arms.
I scream, as it tears a chunk of flesh from my arm. I roll, yanking myself from his hold. My blood stains his muzzle and I glare up at it. I shove my feet under its ribs, kicking it off.
My attacker falls on his side and I scramble to get up, when I am attacked by another wolf from the side, and I am thrown forward to the ground. Angie is still viciously fighting with the she-wolf, but I can't see which of the two is winning. I am too focused on the two wolves pursuing me, caging me in.
I scramble backwards on my hands and feet, slipping on my blood as it oozes out of my wounds. I fall back on my elbows and stare at them, I'm frozen in place. A feral growl rips out of the brown one, and he lunges straight for my face. I close my eyes, waiting for my death, this is it.
A furious roar rings through the gym, and the other wolves whimper. Fur brushes past my face.
Keeping my eyes closed I focus on the sounds around me. The fighting is intense. One of the wolves is yelping with a high-pitched whimper, but whoever is fighting them has no mercy. Each cry is weaker than the last.
Opening my eyes, I see a massive gray wolf fighting both my attackers while protecting me. Getting to my knees, I turn, attempting to get to my feet, only to see Angie unconscious on the ground. The female she-wolf stands over her, but the fighting behind me has frozen her in place.
I'm not losing another friend to these monsters. I stagger, regaining my feet and prepare to rush to help Angie. The she-wolf’s head snaps in my direction. Her lips pull back from her sharp teeth and I hear a sickening snap behind me. A wolf has fallen. The she-wolf snaps at me.
I drop to the ground as the wolf lunges through the air, and I wait for the right timing. Just like Angie learned, I'm not entirely as helpless as I look. I kick her square in the snout and she falls back, shaking her head and trying to gather her surroundings again.
She growls deep in her throat before staggering toward me.
Maddox dives past me. He tackles the she-wolf to the ground and rips into her neck. He flings her away from me, straight into the steps next to the bleachers. Her body makes a dull thump when she hits, but she stays still.
I take a moment to glance around the battlefield. Angie is lying on the ground, her thigh ripped apart badly. A single flap of skin is all that's holding it together. I raced to her side.
Maddox and the gray wolf are teamed up and fighting the big black rogue. My mother races in and to my side, shifting back as soon as she gets to me. She helps me wrap Angie up and to stop the bleeding.
The she-wolf is lunging at us, I didn't even hear her get up.
Mom tries shifting, but is only part way through when the other wolf barrels into her. Mom's forced back into human form. She punches the wolf in the nose, the same spot I hit, and the wolf yelps. Mom's not done yet. Her claws slide out and she sinks them into the she-wolf's side before rearing back and using her forehead to head butt the wolf. The she-wolf cries.
Angie wakes up and screams when I push harder on her leg. My hands are drenched in her blood. I almost start crying when she slowly starts to heal.
My mother keeps the wolf from us, fighting in her human form, her skill is unlike any other. The she-wolf doesn't stand a chance. Mom tosses her to the ground and continues to rain blow after blow. Despite being in human form, she has dominated the fight with ease. It is clear why mom has such an excellent fighting reputation. All of that training she'd drilled into me has purpose.
Bones snap behind me and I look to see who it is. What I am not expecting is to see the gray wolf that saved me, Mateo.
Mom is about to deliver the killing blow. Her claws glisten in the lights of the gym. Mateo throws himself in front of her, stopping her. Maddox is still tearing the other wolf apart, but I can't tear my eyes away from what's going on in front of me.
The she-wolf rolls off the ground and stares at Mateo as he slowly approaches. He holds his arms out like he's trying to cage a wild animal, and there's a sense of desperation in the air. "Don't," he warns. "Don't do it."
She tilts her head to the side and sniffs the air, hesitantly, she takes a step toward him.
"Mate," he whispers.
She shakes her head and in doing so her eyes catch sight of Maddox and the other wolf. A strangled noise escapes her and she lunges at the two.
Mateo intercepts her at the last second, grabbing her, but she bites into his arm before tossing him off.
Maddox pulls away from his enemy but instead of attacking her, like I was sure he would, he sidesteps her and ignores her attacks. He only evades and blocks.
Mateo gets up, grabs her around the stomach, and rips her backwards. She whimpers, snapping her teeth at his face.
Maddox pads over to me, sniffing my back and shoulder, and I look back at the black wolf he killed lying not far from us. He shifted after his death. He was an older man, maybe in his 50’s, his body is covered with fresh wounds. He had put up a hell of a fight. In the end, he was no match for my Alpha, although it made me wonder who he was to the she-wolf. She keeps trying to escape Mateo to get to the man on the floor.
“I’m alright,” I tell Maddox as he sniffs and licks my face. My hands are still wrapped around Angie’s bare thigh, holding her skin together as she slowly heals. She coughs and the place falls silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Mateo, struggling to hold his mate down
Ezra shifts back to help me. “Shirley, are you alright?” He calls out to my mother.
She is battered and bruised, but seemingly not from this fight, otherwise she is okay. She gives him a thumbs up, getting to her feet.
“We need to get Angie to the clinic,” Ezra says, scooping her up, he holds her leg with one hand so her slow healing can continue.
“You’re okay, Angie,” I tell her, brushing her hair from her face.
Walking toward the gym exit, I stop when I see Jasmine laying dead in a pool of her blood. Frozen, I look down at her, unable to believe she is truly gone. Her eyes are open wide, staring vacantly at the ceiling, and sharp stabs of pain radiate through my chest at seeing my friend dead.
Seeing her drained of life, my legs give out and I hit the ground beside her. Gone is the adrenaline of the fight. I am faced only with the consequences, and her loss. Brushing her face with my fingers, my mother comes over, grabbing me under the arms, trying to pull me up and away from her. I can't leave her here.
“Come Kat, we will send someone back for her,” she assures me, I shake my head.
“Please don’t leave her here,” I plead, looking up at my mother. She looks back at me sadly, before looking at Jasmine, her eyes turn glassy. She clears her throat, trying to pull me away again.
“Kat, now,” Ezra calls, and he stops at the doors, looking back at me. Tears roll down my cheeks, and a sob escapes me.
“We need to go, baby,” Mom whispers.
I nod, leaning down and kissing Jasmine's forehead before letting my mother pull me to my feet and toward Ezra.
My head spins violently. The room tilts and my vision dims. Pain radiates down my neck, I clutch it, staggering on my feet as I try to blink.
My mother clutches my arm, holding me upright, and Ezra turns to look at Mateo, still holding down the she-wolf.
“Your mate can’t come back to the Packhouse until she has calmed down,” Ezra informs him, and Mateo nods, while she snarls and thrashes in his grip.
However, she is the least of my concerns. I can’t pay attention to my surroundings, consumed by the rush of coldness numbing every part of me, I stumble. My surroundings are blurring, and I am choking, drowning.
“Kat? —Shit, Shirley, take Angie!” Ezra’s voice is frantic, yet it sounds distant as if through a long tunnel, maybe my hearing too is waning.
Tingles rush over my skin, I try to see, blinking hard, but my vision grows darker with each heavy flutter of my eyelids.
“I don’t feel too good,” I mumble, my tongue is thick in my mouth, Blood coats my tongue. A choking gasp escapes me, and I pitch forward, losing the feeling of my body.
I expect the impact of the hard floor.
Ezra scoops me up before I hit. "Kat!" His voice vibrates with his panic.
Mom gasps. "Jasmine?" she whispers, her voice rings in my ear and I plunge into the waiting darkness.