Jordan stood frozen as one man’s hands turned into claws and he buried them into the woman’s back. A blood curling scream filled the forest. The painful sound reached up to where Jordan stood. The man in front of the woman swiped claws across her neck, tearing her throat wide open.
She’d seen enough. She grabbed her camera and took photos of the scene. They continued to tear into the woman’s lifeless body. She gasped at the viciousness in both of the men’s faces. One of them looked up then, glancing right at the spot she stood.
He growled. She ran. Her mind went into a panic. Anger for what they’d done to that woman blossomed inside her, until she could hardly see in front of her. Growls sounded from right behind her.
She continued to run, until her lungs felt ready to burst. Something tackled her to the ground. Pain shot up her side as she hit the forest floor hard.
The baldheaded man grabbed her by her neck, tugged her to her feet and sniffed. “Pack.”
She didn’t know what he was talking about, but she continued to struggle against him as he shoved her to the clearing.
The other man was still there, as was the dead naked woman.
“Look what I found.”
The other guy sniffed and growled from the distance. “Wolfe pack.”
Hate dripped from his voice with the word. What the heck did he smell? She was far enough from him he shouldn’t smell anything. He narrowed his eyes and moved toward her. Fear worked its way into her system, flooding her body with adrenaline. Protecting herself became her sole focus.
A shot rang out. The man moving toward Jordan swayed in his feet. A bullet hole appeared on his shoulder, dripping blood.
Her gaze shot up to spot Emma, shotgun in hand, getting ready to shoot again.
Bald guy gripped her hair and shoved her. She ran to the middle of the clearing, away from both men, tripped on a rock and fell, landing on her hands and knees. Another shot and this time Emma hit bald guy. Shot number three got the other guy again. He was getting closer to her. Fire took hold of her body. She dropped to the ground in pain. Her muscles felt stretched taut. The gunshots sounded far away while her mind focused solely on the pain in her body. She opened her eyes, but everything was distorted and shut them again.
The pain she was going through inside was worse than anything she’d ever experienced. She saw the beast then; a large black wolf with glowing amber eyes. The animal was ready to attack. Then her bones popped, broke and reattached. She’d never experienced so much pain come and go so fast.
The minute she opened her eyes again, she was on all fours. Gunshots continued to ring out. She glanced up. Emma dropped one shotgun by her feet and picked up the other. The two men were bleeding profusely, but continued to make their way toward her.
A new wild rage took hold of Jordan. She didn’t have time to digest the fact she was no longer a human. Nor did she get a chance to grapple over her animal status and what that meant for her future. And she definitely didn’t get a chance to worry over how much that shit would hurt the next time she shifted. Instead, she ran for the bald guy. Focused on his bleeding shoulder, she jumped and tackled the big man to the ground. He hit her on the side. More shots rang out. The anger inside her urged her to attack the man with her claws and canines. She was no longer in control. She felt the strength of the beast take hold. Her attack on the man didn’t stop. The man fought her, punching her every chance he got. But the animal inside her wasn’t deterred. She took deep grueling bites of the guy’s shoulder and arms.
An angry growl sounded, and she was shoved off the man. Her attention was diverted by the other man fighting off a large black and white wolf. Aric. He bit down hard on the guy’s neck, crushing bones and tearing through the guy’s throat. Then he moved to the man who’d hit her. The attack was quick with the other man panting from all the injuries he’d suffered from her animal.
Two dead bodies later and she stared down at her paws, unsure how to go back to being human.
“Tell your wolf you’re in control. Order her back.” Aric’s voice flitted through her mind.
She visualized the angry animal from before and ordered it back. Once again her muscles did the stretching and reshaping that hurt like a bitch for all of a minute before stopping altogether.
Blinking her eyes open to the bloody ground, she glanced up. Aric helped her to her feet. His jaw was clenched tight. She gasped at the suppressed fury radiating off him.
“Aric?” She was practically running into the forest being dragged by him. “Aric!”
Chapter Thirteen