“Nicholai, I swear to God if you do not let Chesca finish her off—” the old woman started but was silenced by a snarl from Nicholai's throat.
Noticing everyone's attention was now on the arguing pair, I took a step into the arena and away from the man supposedly guarding me. When he made no move to stop me, I took a couple more steps. When still no one stopped me, I quickly crossed the space to where Kit stood, warily watching her former opponent as the huge animal slinked behind Nicholai, her tail hanging low between her legs.
“Hey,” I murmured as I came up behind Kit. “I'm here, love.”
She didn't take her eyes off the defeated wolf, but reached her hand out to me, and I took it in mine. Her body was running with small, barely noticeable trembles, and now that I was close, I could see her chest heaving as she panted. There were several tears in her clothes where Chesca had landed blows with her metallic claws, and Kit's body must be running overtime trying to heal them all.
Stepping in close, I wrapped an arm around her middle and pressed my body to her back. The beast in me was still raging, demanding I defend her, that I kill anyone who might be a threat, but her nearness helped me keep him contained.
“River,” she whispered, leaning back into me and relaxing her tightly wound body just a tiny bit. “You're here.”
“Always, love,” I swore, “always here.”
The tension seemed to be draining out of her quickly, and I suspected if I wasn't there holding her, she might have collapsed.
“—stupid, stupid woman!” Nicholai's voice drew my attention back to the argument going on between himself and Granny Winter. “I sent her here to see Victor! He would have known in a heartbeat who she is! Where the fuck is he, anyway?”
“He's on vacation,” the old bitch snapped back. “He deserves a vacation once in a while, you know!”
“Oh my fucking lord, woman.” Kit's former teacher sounded like he wanted to strangle the old bat. I didn't blame him.
“If you two don't mind,” Caleb drawled, having approached with the rest of our team. “We have had just about enough of your hospitality, and our girl looks like she's half-dead on her feet. Can we wrap this up?”
Kit was indeed looking half-dead, or at least extremely exhausted as she sagged slightly in my arms and began shivering.
“Here,” Vali murmured, holding out the leather jacket that Chesca had so dramatically tossed aside at the start of the fight. Between the two of us, we gently threaded Kit’s arms into the jacket and zipped it up. Closing her back into my arms, I held on tight.
33
KIT
Tiny pricks of pain crawled over my skin as my body fought to heal itself from the cuts Chesca's claws had inflicted. As with the last time I had caught the sharp end of those metal tipped weapons, my body was healing way more slowly than usual and seemed to require a ton more energy, leaving me feeling weak and tired.
Thank God the guys are okay.
I could sense them all around me as River and Vali helped me into a jacket to ward off the icy wind, then River wrapped me tight in his arms. He made me feel so safe, so loved, I never wanted to leave.
Sadly, and I suppose unsurprisingly given the circumstances, the reprieve was short-lived as shouting started up and someone came sprinting into the clearing and collapsed at Granny Winter's feet.
“Quick!” The young man panted. “Please come quick! They're taking the pups!”
Panicked cries and shouts went up from the spectators, and suddenly the clearing was in chaos with people yelling and running back towards town, a good majority of them shifting into impossibly huge wolves as they ran.
“What's going on?” I asked, pulling myself together enough to stand a little straighter without River's assistance.
“Yes, James, please take a breath and tell me what you're talking about.” Granny Winter scowled, taking charge of the situation once more.
“Some men, they came in via the mountain road with trucks and weapons, and they started going from house to house, grabbing people and throwing them into the trucks. They're taking the pups, Granny. The little ones!” The man had tears streaming from his eyes as he relayed this news, and the townsfolk still gathered around flew into a panic.
“What does he mean?” I demanded as Nicholai’s body burst into his fox form, confirming that suspicion, and took off towards the town. Granny Winter was left standing before us, her face chalky.
“The children,” she whispered, sounding terrified.
My gut churned with the awful certainty this was connected to me, and I couldn't just walk away, leaving these innocent shifters to their fate. Despite them all happily trying to have me murdered, I needed to help. Gently pushing River's hands aside, I took a couple of steps before regaining my balance and then used my speed to move, just like I had done during my fight against Chesca.
The trees blurred around me as I pushed myself faster, following the sound of shouting. When I reached the main street of the town, I skidded to a stop, staggering and almost falling at the sight that awaited.
Several large trucks were stopped in the middle of the road while heavily armed men systematically shot townspeople with tranquilizing darts then threw their unconscious forms into the backs of the trucks.
In the middle of it all, staring back at me with a gloating grin firmly on his face, was Simon.
“Nice of you to join us, Kit,” he called out, his beady eyes running over me and making bile rise in my throat. The guys were still probably a few minutes behind me, so I was on my own facing down this man who had once been close enough to be a brother to me. Since he had left me locked within my traumatic memories back at Blood Moon, I had dreamed of getting my hands around his scrawny neck.
A cruel smile crept across my lips as I stared him down, stalking a little closer, and I saw his eyes shift nervously. One thing clearly hadn't changed: he was all false bravado.
“Simon.” I grinned wickedly. “How good of you to save me the trouble hunting you down.”
“Uh-uh-uh,” he tsked, snatching a small person from the arms of a passing mercenary. “Come any closer and I'll snap this little freak's neck.”
The little girl he was holding was still conscious, and the poor thing was utterly terrified. She looked back at me with huge eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched a bunny to her chest and Simon’s disgusting hands held her firmly by the neck.
“Si, what the hell are you doing here?” I asked in a vaguely less threatening tone of voice. Maybe if I could play to his mental instability, I could get him to let the little girl go. As he had made abundantly clear the last time we had met, part of him just wanted to be loved.