Wolf Obsessed (Betrayed by Blood Book 3), page 15
Mikey swung at the lamp, sending it careening across the room. It smashed to the floor, making me jump.
He stalked toward me again. “Maybe I should get you a little red cape.”
“What?” I blurted, his question catching me off guard.
I inched along the wall, moving closer to the flames and away from the exit as he advanced toward me. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse, but if he was here with me, it would let everyone else get away.
He licked his lips. “You’re Red Riding Hood, and I’m the Big Bad Wolf.”
My stomach rolled, and I gagged as bile crept up my throat. “Never!”
He shrugged. “You say that like you have a choice.”
He continued to close the distance between us. I realized too late that I’d backed myself into a corner. I had flames to one side, the wall to my other side and back, and Mikey right in front of me.
The only option I had was to go through him.
Twenty
Sloane
Mikey threw his head back and laughed.
I put my hand on the wall and kept the other one clenched by my side to prepare for what came next. He’d underestimated me once, and he was doing it again now.
That was his mistake.
I screamed as I sprinted toward him and rammed him with my shoulder. It knocked him off balance and caught him by surprise.
Pain sliced through my arm. I shook it out and turned into him, jamming my elbow backwards, right into his stomach. I lifted my foot and smashed my heel into his foot.
I spun back around, balled my fist as tight as I could, and punched him right in the nose. It crunched, and blood spurted out.
He stumbled backwards, one hand flying to his nose. I shrieked and kicked out, catching my foot in his groin. He doubled over, and I took the opportunity to scurry past him.
He recovered way too quickly. Grabbing my arm, he slung me around and threw me into the wall.
My face slammed against a picture. The glass cracked, and white spots dotted my vision. I stumbled, and the portrait fell to the floor by my feet.
Mikey gripped my shoulders and swung me around. He smacked both his hands to the wall on either side of my head. “Did you think you could escape me that easily? The only way you’re getting out of this house alive is with me.”
My chest tightened, and I couldn’t breathe. He had me completely blocked in, and the flames crept closer to us, now only a few feet away and hot enough that I worried about them as much as I did Mikey.
Smoke thickened the air, making it hard to breathe.
Luna help me, he really would let us die here.
He tangled his fingers in my hair, yanking my head to one side, and leaned in, pressing his nose to my neck. “You smell amazing.”
I gagged. My wolf whimpered, but she couldn’t come out. The wolfsbane still stopped me from shifting.
I shoved at his chest. “Get away from me, you monster.”
It only made him laugh, his disgusting breath bringing me that much closer to vomiting.
I pushed him harder, but he was bigger and stronger than me.
The beefy part of his neck was so close. I might not have my wolf, but I could still bite.
I clamped down with my teeth on his neck as hard as I could. At the same time, I reached for his face.
I dug my nails in, catching him in the mouth. I didn’t know how much damage I could do to his mouth, but I didn’t care. I was going to inflict as much damage as I could. I lifted my knee, repeatedly jamming it into whatever part of his body was unfortunate enough to meet it.
He howled and stumbled back. I advanced toward him, grabbing a small clock off one of the end tables, and tossed it at him. It hit him on the shoulder, and he staggered back again. One more step, and he’d be in the thick of the flames.
I scooted along the wall as the flames closed in. If I didn’t get out of here, I wouldn’t.
I found the hallway, turned around, and sprinted. Mikey bellowed, his footsteps thundering behind me as he hollered my name repeatedly.
I had to make it to the woods. I could outrun him. Maybe.
I couldn’t shift. My wolf was so much faster than I was on two legs.
But I knew these woods like the back of my hand. I had the advantage, and I was damn sure going to use it.
I shoved the screen door open so hard that it snapped off its hinges and partially fell away from the door. Then I leaped off the stairs and landed in a squat.
Mikey was closing the distance fast. I had to keep moving.
The SUVs we’d prepared to escape in were all gone. I was on my own. Lincoln had to be fighting Mikey’s goons. And Sawyer and the rest of my pack were holding the line and fighting Alpha Dane’s men. I could feel him through our bond. He was fighting, but he was safe and from his encouraging mood, things were going our way.
It was up to me to get myself out of this mess.
Ahead, there was a steep drop-off with a rope hanging from the tree that my siblings and I used to swing from to jump into the lake.
If I could get there, I could catch the rope and, with any luck, he would fall right over the edge while I swung over the water. The fall might kill him. The rope hung there to swing us away from the rocks.
My mom hated it because it was so dangerous. I hoped I could prove her right.
My lungs and thighs burned as I blazed a trail through the woods. Mikey was only a few feet behind me, screaming and calling for me like he thought that would actually make me stop running.
My arms and legs were leaden, but I wasn’t going to stop running.
Barks and growls pierced the night air, and the brush moved in the distance, likely from a fight. I dove off the path to my left, not sure who it was, and I didn’t have time to find out.
I leaped over a log and pushed myself faster, harder. Almost there.
A familiar buzz filled my head, and Lincoln’s voice rang out. Sloane, where are you? Please tell me you’re not in the house still. Are you hurt?
I sucked in a deep breath, forcing my screaming lungs to expand even though I wasn’t technically speaking out loud. No, the woods. Mikey is chasing me.
I grunted, ducking down and barely making it under a tree branch before it hit me in the face. Another branch smacked my skin.
I hissed at the sting but kept moving.
It was Sawyer who spoke to me next. Where in the woods? Sloane, there’s fighting everywhere. Be careful. If the wrong person sees you…
I gritted my teeth. I’m making a beeline for the lake.
I squinted. I could see the drop-off in the distance. I was almost there.
I didn’t know how to describe to Lincoln and Sawyer where exactly I was. They weren’t familiar with this land like I was. Telling them I was in the trees by the lake wasn’t going to cut it. There weren’t exactly mile markers.
Ahead, a large fallen trunk blocked the path. With any luck, Mikey would run straight into it.
I skittered underneath it, crawled out the other side, and continued my dash for the lake.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Mikey wasn’t there. My chest tightened. Where was he?
I no sooner had the chance to wonder where he was when something barreled into my side, knocking me off my feet. I flew through the air, weightless.
I hit the ground with a jarring thud, knocking what little breath I had out of my lungs. My vision darkened, and I couldn’t breathe. Pain exploded through my body.
Get up. Fight!
I kicked my legs out, trying to get back on my feet. Mikey pounced and landed on top of me, all but straddling me. He grabbed my shirt collar and yanked me up toward him.
I screamed and slapped him across the face. At the same time, I reached for anything on the ground I could use as a weapon.
Dirt and leaves slipped between my fingers as I clawed at the earth until I curled them around a stick. I gripped it like a knife and then jammed it into his side.
He let go of me as he shrieked like a girl. I fell back to the ground. My head hit something sharp and hard. Spots danced across my vision.
I blinked rapidly. Movement to my right caught my attention, and something flew over the top of me, taking Mikey down with them.
I pushed up on my elbows. It was Lincoln.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I drew in a sharp breath.
Lincoln wasted no time attacking his brother. He pounced on him, biting as he growled. My heart leaped into my throat as the two of them battled, Lincoln in his wolf form and Mikey as a human.
My heart swelled. Lincoln was winning.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat as Lincoln went in for the kill, his mouth inches away from Mikey’s throat.
Rustling to my right drew my attention to a shaking brush. Paws pounded on the earth, and four wolves jumped out a few feet from me.
I scooted back, but their eyes were on Lincoln.
A scream bubbled up my throat. “Lincoln!”
My voice sounded shrill, maybe not even understandable, but it worked.
Lincoln glanced over his shoulder and climbed off Mikey.
His hackles rose, and he bared his teeth at the four wolves.
I squeezed my eyes shut and called my wolf. She was so close, but I couldn’t coax her out. The wolfsbane still blocked her.
I was more vulnerable in this form, but I sure as hell wasn’t defenseless. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to Lincoln.
I reached out and found a stick and a rock. I pulled myself back to my feet and stood with my weapons in hand.
A ferocious growl ripped through the air, and another wolf flew out of the brush and landed in a crouch. I stumbled back, my eyes widening as my heart pounded faster.
Sawyer.
Sawyer put himself between Lincoln and the four wolves.
Mikey got back to his feet and brushed himself off, cackling.
He motioned to Lincoln. “Kill the traitor. I want the girl brought in alive.”
I gritted my teeth and tugged on our link. What are we going to do, Sawyer?
Sawyer stalked forward slowly, closing the distance between him and the wolves. His eyes darted around as he seemed to assess our options.
He growled, his hackles rising as he turned to Lincoln.
Sloane, take out as many wolves as you can. I’ll take out the remaining. Lincoln, you have to take out Mikey and then help out where you can. The only way this works is if none of them gets back to my father.
I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be such a bad thing if he had to stay here. All it would take was for one wolf to get away. If any of them escaped they would go straight to Alpha Dane and tell him Sawyer was a traitor. We could all be together.
I forced the wayward thought away. Now wasn’t the time.
I lifted the stick so it leaned against my shoulder and moved the rock around in my hand like a baseball. There were five of them and three of us, but we could do this. We had to.
I couldn’t let Sawyer be in any danger.
Sawyer’s hackles rose until his fur stood like a mohawk across his back. He inched forward, angling himself toward Lincoln. We have to attack at the same time.
I gripped my weapons so tight my hands hurt. I’ll start with the one closest to me.
Lincoln’s body shook as he snarled. On three.
I sucked in a deep breath as Sawyer started to count.
One. Two. Three.
I let out a battle cry as Lincoln darted for Mikey and Sawyer turned and charged the four wolves. I lobbed the rock at the closest wolf and then, with my stick lifted over my head, attacked.
Twenty-One
Sawyer
My paws dug into the earth as I sprinted across the ground. The wolves were so intent on watching Lincoln that they weren’t paying attention to me.
I caught the first one by surprise, tackling him to the ground and slicing my claws across his underside. I flexed my nails, digging them in as deep as I could. He whined and wiggled, trying to break free.
I bowed my head and clamped my jaws around his neck. The wolf gurgled and then went still.
“Sawyer, what are you doing?” Mikey cried out.
Lincoln tackled him to the ground. It didn’t stop his yelling; it only made his words incoherent.
But his screams had drawn attention to me. Two of the wolves had changed course, and both of them came for me.
Sloane swung at the fourth wolf with a thick branch. She was holding her own for now.
I rocked up onto my back feet and caught the first charging wolf in midair. I rolled with him, dragging him to the dirt so I ended up on top.
He whined and kicked, but he was no match against my strength. I jabbed my claws into his chest while I bit down on his neck, going straight for the jugular.
Blood flooded my mouth and dribbled out the sides as I shook my head. The wolf went limp, and I barely had enough time to move off him before the second wolf landed on my back.
He snapped and bit into my scruff. I yelped as he got a particularly deep bite on my back, piercing the skin.
I reared up on my hind legs, throwing him off. I circled around him, and we glared at each other before we raced head-on.
We caught each other in an embrace, both of us on our hind legs, struggling for dominance. I batted my paw across his face.
He stumbled and started to fall back to his front legs. I used the momentum to force him to his side, using my head to ram into his middle. He yelped and chuffed.
He scampered across the ground, doing his best not to show me his underside.
I ducked my head down and kept pushing until I had him pinned against a tree trunk. He jerked, trying to get back to his feet. I put my front paw on top of him, pinning him down.
He whimpered and struggled as I pressed my weight into him. I chomped, trying to get a good grip around his throat. His legs flailed.
A branch whooshed down by my face, making me flinch. A sickening crack echoed through the air, and the wolf went limp.
Sloane kneeled next to me, her eyes on the deceased wolf. “I don’t know where Lincoln, Mikey, or the other wolf went. Sawyer, they’re gone.”
I forced a deep, controlled breath in as I turned around. She was right. They were gone.
I closed my eyes and focused on my brother. He was still close. I cocked my head to the side, listening. To the right, a scuffle sounded.
Hurry. This way.
I bounded in the direction the noise had come from. I prayed to Luna that Mikey and the other wolf were with Lincoln. I needed my cover with my dad to stay intact.
I had to keep my mates safe. It was the only thing that mattered.
Mikey’s manic laughter spurred me on faster. Sloane’s soft puffs of breath as her feet moved over the uneven earth sounded right behind me.
I sprang through the brush. Lincoln and the fourth wolf were in a heated battle while Mikey watched on like a spectator.
He rubbed his hands together, hooting and hollering like this was a sports event and not a fight to the death. Bones snapped, and the fourth wolf went limp beneath Lincoln.
Mikey’s laughter died down, and he stomped his feet as he trudged toward Lincoln. “I was hoping it would come down to you and me. Dad wants you alive, you know.”
Mikey’s lip curled up in disgust. “Too bad it’s just the two of us now.”
He retrieved something from his back pocket. Oh no. It was more wolfsbane. I was sure of it. Lincoln had been dosed with enough of that to kill him several times over. I wasn’t letting him get poisoned again.
I yipped as I sprang forward, closing the distance. Mikey let out an inhuman shriek when he saw me. He tossed the wolfsbane to the ground, and a plume of it puffed into the air.
I gagged. My eyes watered as the poison entered my nostrils and mouth.
My wolf howled. My bones cracked and snapped as I was forced back into my human form. I collapsed to the ground, everything on fire. My eyes, my nose, my veins. Every muscle in my body twitched and trembled.
Mikey laughed as he writhed on the ground next to me, but it turned into a cough.
Sloane’s voice carried on the air, but I couldn’t understand her. My ears rang, and my pulse thrummed.
A wolf growled. I rolled my head, tensing until I realized it was Lincoln. He was still a wolf. How? He’d been close enough to have been hit with the wolfsbane too.
He met and held my gaze for a long moment before turning to Mikey. We have to kill him, Sawyer.
I rolled so I was looking at Mikey. I had to squint to see him through the haziness blurring my vision. He held his belly as he continued to laugh.
“Dad knows about you, Sawyer. I tried to tell him. You and Lincoln have always been disgustingly close.”
He belly laughed as he hit his palm on the ground. “I was right. I was right about you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut briefly and swallowed, my throat tight.
I know. Do it, I answered after a long moment.
Sloane coughed as she fell on her knees next to me and gripped my arms. “Sawyer, are you okay?”
I blinked at her. She was a blotch in my vision, but her hands felt cool, quelling the inferno in my limbs.
Lincoln stepped over the top of me and stopped in front of Mikey. He lifted a flexed claw and held it over him. He doesn’t deserve a quick death.
Sloane made a noise in the back of her throat. She clutched my hand to her as she looked at Lincoln. “Just finish him. Please.”
Lincoln exhaled loudly and delivered the fatal blow to Mikey’s throat. He gurgled, sputtering as he tried to breathe, and then he fell quiet.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as emotion clogged my throat. Mikey didn’t deserve my sadness. He was a monster, but he had been my brother.
And now he was dead.
At least I could have peace knowing he couldn’t hurt anyone again.
Lincoln sprang off to the right. I’ll be right back. I’m going to check the perimeter before I shift.
He didn’t give either of us a chance to respond before he disappeared.
Sloane leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips. “The pain will pass in a few minutes.”
