“Anna, run!” he yelled.
She didn’t understand. They’d just shared everything. They’d been connected and happy. They’d satisfied each other, so why was Titan shredding his skin right now? Annalise forced her legs to move and bolted for the door as the massive grizzly ripped out of Jax and bellowed a roar that shook the house. With a gasp, Annalise threw open the door. She could hear him coming, his nails scrabbling across the wooden floors, the cabin shaking with every step he gained on her.
Outside, there was movement on her right. The panthers were coming. She didn’t know which ones, but three solid black monster cats were barreling toward her so fast they nearly blurred. There was panic in the first’s eyes. Ben?
She leaped off the porch as Titan blasted through the front wall. Splinters and logs exploded outward. Her back stung, but she had no time to favor anything. She had to put distance between her and the grizzly. Her middle turned molten, and with no warning, She-Devil burst from her skin. She pitched forward and landed on all fours, then spun around. She-Devil wasn’t a runner.
There was war. Awful war. The panthers and grizzly were all tearing each other to shreds. Red Havoc had come to protect her, but the beast they were defending her from was the beast she adored. Who did she hurt? Who did she side with? Who did she sink her claws and teeth into?
Confused, she sank to her belly in the mud and hissed, frantic gaze going back and forth between the panthers latched onto the bear. Green rage flashed in his eyes as he latched his massive jaws onto one of the panther’s legs and ripped the cat off him. The panther slid off-balance through the mud and tried to struggle to its feet, but his back leg was clearly broken. He couldn’t even put pressure on it, and it was stuck at an odd angle. The constant growl in his throat sounded pained. Was that Anson?
“Shit! Stop!” Jax’s voice echoed across the clearing.
Stunned, Annalise looked over to find him completely human, on his knees in the grass, streaming red from a cut across his chest but otherwise looking in fine health.
He held his hands up to stop the two panthers stalking closer. “I’m in control! I’m in control again, but you’ll bring the bear back if you don’t stop!” Jax gripped his stomach and doubled over. He needed help. The panthers would kill him in his human form, or draw Titan out again and start the battle all over.
Annalise bolted for him and skidded to a stop between Ben and Jax. She flattened her ears against her head and hissed, then slapped a claw at Ben’s face when he got too close. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she couldn’t watch them fight again and do nothing. She-Devil’s instincts were too big, too wild, too much to stand aside and let this happen.
Fuck. Consequences.
Jax was hers, monster and all.
As Ben Changed back, he let off a panther scream that morphed into the word, “Fuuuuck!” His human face was red, his veins popping in his neck, his eyes bright gold and furious. He ran his hands through his blond hair and then gripped the top as he paced, eyes on Jax, who was still on his knees behind her.
“You were with her for fifteen fuckin’ minutes, Grizzly! And you tried to kill her.”
“Bite her,” Jax corrected.
“What?” Ben yelled.
“I want to claim her.”
“No!”
“I know!” Jax yelled, standing gracefully. “I told her to run. I stopped myself, but the bear pushed for the bite.”
“Uh, guys?” Anson gritted out from where he was lying like an upended turtle in the mud. “My leg hurts so bad.” He rolled back and forth on his back, like that would ease the pain. The bruising and swelling was already getting bad. Indeed, it looked awful. Jax had snapped it in his jaws. They needed to call 911!
“Mother fucker cock chafer asshole licker bag of dicks Gray Back!” Anson yelled.
Barret was human now and snorted. Hands on his hips, eyes shining with hunger, he announced, “We should kill him.”
“Kill me?” Anson screeched.
“No, you dumbass,” Barret said. “The Gray Back. He gave us good reasons…right, Alpha?”
He swung his attention to Ben, who sighed. “Barret, we can’t just kill everyone. It’s not a solution for everything.”
“I never get to have any fun!” Barret the Hillbilly Serial Killer yelled, and then he stomped off toward his cabin.
As Annalise forced herself to Change back, Jax made his way smoothly over to Anson.
“Don’t touch my cat,” Ben demanded, following him closely. “Attack him while he’s on his back, and I will let Barret have you!”
“I’m not attacking him. I told you I’m in control right now. You keep calling me a Gray Back like it’s a cuss word. Well, asshole, being raised in that crew is about to benefit this mother fucker bag of dicks Red Havoc panther. Quit squirming and man up,” Jax muttered, feeling along Anson’s leg.
“Don’t touch me!” Anson kicked at Jax and screamed in agony when he connected.
“Big and dumb. Way to kill the panther stereotype, you pansy,” Jax said. Was that amusement in his voice? What the hell was happening?
“Why are you smiling like that?” Anson said, curling his fists against his chest and shrinking back into the mud as he looked up at Jax suspiciously.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Jax gripped Anson’s calf in both hands and twisted his shoulders sharply as he set the bone. Snap!
Anson screamed. And screamed.
Jax ignored it even though it must’ve hurt his ears to be that close to the sheer and monstrous volume of Anson’s pained yell. “You all talk about Gray Backs like they’re so different from you. False. You’re the Gray Backs of the panthers. Fuckin’ C-team.” Jax pointed toward where Barret was kicking the side of his cabin over and over. “You have Murder Kitty…” He jammed a finger at Anson. “Pussy Panther.” And where are your others, Alpha? Lynn could be a freaking figment of your imaginations for all I know, Jenny is standing on your front porch grinning like all this is funny—the bloodthirsty female—and where’s Greyson? Oh wait, there he is, sitting in that tree watching the fight. Smiling. Like a psychopath. And Ben, don’t tell me fighting like that didn’t feel good. I feel fucking great after that.” Jax pointed at all of them, his dark eyebrows arched up. “C-team.”
“Screw you, we’re A-team panthers,” Anson muttered in a hoarse voice as he felt over his calf with searching fingertips. “And good for you, Psycho Bear. You get your kicks from breaking bones.”
“I re-set it, didn’t I? That skill? It’s one all the Gray Backs have. You’re welcome.”
“How often do you break each other’s bones?” Ben asked an octave too high. His face was still the shade of a cherry.
Jax shrugged his shoulders and didn’t answer.
Anson rolled up to a sitting position. He was a butt-naked, muddy mess. “You didn’t make up a rude name for Princess Panther.”