“How’s that feel?” Wheeler growled.
None of the other men moved. Their guns remained steady, locked on their targets. They weren’t a true pack; they didn’t care what happened to the other men in their group.
Wheeler crawled off the man and put the gun to his crotch. “Feel like another turn, sweetheart?”
A click sounded, and the man wet his pants. Someone in the group chuckled before saying, “Jesus, Kellerman. Take it like a man.”
Wheeler checked the chamber and then tossed the gun on the ground as if it was useless.
The leader tapped Reno on the shoulder with his gun. “I think it’s you, big boy.”
Wheeler launched to his feet and kicked Kellerman in the balls before positioning himself behind his woman, hands resting on her shoulders.
“Shoot ’em all,” someone suggested. “Isn’t that the plan?”
The barrel of the man’s gun slid up to Reno’s cheek, raking over his skin. April squeezed her hands into tight fists.
“That takes the fun out of watching them bargain for their lives. I’d like to give you men a chance to reconsider if this is the pack for you. It’s not too late to join our unit. The first one to turn over the Packmaster will get a free pass. You have my word.”
“Then that would be me,” Austin said.
Reno’s eyes swung up. “Don’t cover for me, brother.”
The leader flicked his gaze between the two men, and a look of irritation flashed in his eyes.
Another man put the barrel of his rifle beneath Maizy’s braid and flipped her hair around. “I say we take the bitches and go, Swanson.”
“You do as I say,” Swanson, their leader, commanded. “We have explicit orders to kill the Packmaster, and I’m not going back to Judas, saying we think we got him, but we’re not sure.”
Reno and Austin shared a glance. Reno wasn’t going to give up his Packmaster; that wolf would take a bullet for his brother.
And Austin would tear down the world for his pack.
April sprang to her feet. “Why don’t you put the guns down, and let’s settle this Shifter style?”
A few men quietly laughed.
Swanson regarded her with amusement. “Sweetie, you couldn’t handle me.”
Maizy stood up. “I think it’s you who can’t handle us. Years from now, you’re going to have to tell this story over and over again. Either people are going to see you for the cowards you are, or you’re going to lie and leave out the part with the guns. Then each time you tell the story it’ll change, because that’s what happens to a lie until you’re caught. You guys are real brave standing there with your guns pointed at unarmed Shifters who are more than willing to fight with dignity.”
Some men didn’t care about honor and dignity, but deep down, Shifters were a different Breed. It’s all we had. I could already smell the shame in the air as the men looked between one another, some lowering their guns.
Austin folded his arms. “Seems like you boys have a dilemma,” he said. “If you want to settle it like men, then I’ll be more than happy to put every dog in his place.”
With that last remark, he threw off so much alpha power in his voice that it rippled through the air and raised the hair on my arms. Everyone there felt it.
Everyone knew.
Austin was the alpha.
He peeled off his shirt, his muscles flexing as shadows danced across his bare flesh. “Did you come from the north side?” he asked, wondering the same thing I was thinking… William’s group.
Swanson tossed his gun down and pulled his bandana off. He didn’t have a single hair on his head. “There’s a breech on the east side. If those men were in your pack, then you have my condolences.”
My relief was quickly replaced with regret that either Lorenzo or Axel had lost more men.
Austin and Swanson approached each other, walking in circles. The men began dropping their guns to the ground, their animals feeling the itch to fight.
Naya, Wheeler, Maizy, Reno, and April all circled the fire with their backs to it, forming a ring enclosed by a much larger one. Realizing I was in a dangerous situation since I couldn’t shift, I backed up close to a gun that was in my line of vision. At this point, I wasn’t going to risk diving into a tent and digging through my pack for my own.
Some of the wind blew smoke from the fire my way, and I blinked as it stung my eyes. Our adversaries began shifting one at a time. Their wolves held their positions, waiting for their leader to make the first move. I counted sixteen against our group of seven.
Austin and Swanson continued circling to my right, and when Austin came into view, he flicked a glance my way. His look didn’t say run—it said fight. Running would only incite the instinct to chase, so I nodded.
A smile played on Austin’s lips, which caught Swanson off guard. “Ladies first. Naya?”
In a fluid movement too fast to track, Naya shifted into her black panther. The wolves barked, and some fell back a step.
“Son of a bitch,” Swanson hissed.