Page 77 of Junkyard Dog

“I’ll leave right now,” he growled, narrowing his eyes as the light disappeared. “Drop. Dive. Go.”

He held his breath until she relented. “Drop, dive, go. Got it.”

Stepping back, he fell to all fours and transformed, keeping to the middle of the small cavern to avoid inadvertently knocking any loose stones and worsening the situation. He wedged one paw under the large rock, bracing his front legs on one side of the opening and kicking his hindquarters up to the other.

Three. Two. One.

*

What the hell?

Charlotte’s immediate confusion over the soft fur skimming over her back was overcome by the adrenaline that coursed through her while she propelled herself away from the shower of sand and pebbles falling onto her and Alex.

Drop. Dive. Go.

A low growl echoed in her ears as she shimmied through the dark cavern, away from the fallout of the heavy stones Alex was holding at bay. “I’m out!” She heaved, scrambling against a smooth surface and peering into her dusty prison. “Alex!”

The rumbling of stone collapsing in the cave reverberated through the Chasm, an animalistic snarl tearing across the air as she recoiled from the burst of debris barreling through the narrow opening. She squinted in the darkness, the faint light of her flashlight obscured by a fallen rock and a black mound. “Alex?”

The mound lifted its familiar head in her direction.

She flattened herself to the stone, eyes wide. “What the hell?” She pushed herself to her feet, crouching under the low overhang and taking a step toward the beast.

Butch arched his neck toward his hind legs, his huge front paws twisting behind him to push against the boulder holding him down. Inching closer, she ran her thumb over his ears, grabbing her flashlight to look through the crevices. “Alex?” she called out, trailing the trapped legs of the dog with her fingers. “Alex?”

Butch’s head lowered, his muzzle dropping against her hands as he yelped and nattered. A rising panic was building in her stomach as Alex remained silent and out of sight, her mind conjuring up gruesome images she needed to shake from her head. “Okay, boy,” she whispered, forcing herself to remain steady while she scanned the stone. “Let’s figure this out.”

*

Alex’s ears liftedas the sounds of his brothers grew closer, their snarls and barks bouncing off the cavern walls while the scent of the Pirithous filled the enclosed space. He snapped his jaws at his trapped legs, narrowly avoiding Charlotte’s hands as they pushed fruitlessly against the boulder crushing his hindquarters.

“Calm down, Butch,” she crooned as she stroked his ears, oblivious to the faint stumbling gait drawing nearer. She turned her attention back to the stone. “Come on, Alex. Say something.”

The shuffling feet of the approaching intruder competed with the clicking of paws over the rock path. He strained his eyes in the faint glow of the flashlight, scanning the small entrance for the Pirithous before howling out for his brothers. Bo’s gravelly snarl answered back, his barked warnings closing in as he alerted Alex to the Pirithous’s proximity.

Warnings that were unnecessary as the feral form of the bloodline crept into the cavern, its blackened eyes locking on to Charlotte.

*

Charlotte froze, herfingers wrapped tightly around her flashlight as Butch’s howling morphed into a territorial growl. She could hear Not-Butch’s raspy barks echoing through the Chasm, the combined sounds almost drowning out the gurgling panting at her back. She rose to her feet, turning to illuminate the intruder crouched in the entrance, his strange eyes squinting as the light bounced off them.

Butch snarled, his hackles rising as he pushed himself up on his front paws and drew the attention of the hunched man. She stepped closer to Butch, adjusting her hold on the flashlight. “I’m a US Park Ranger, sir. I’m going to need you to exit the area and return to your vehicle. The safety of the Chasm is compromised due to th—”

The man launched himself across the cave with inhuman speed, latching on to Butch’s neck with his arms and teeth. Butch’s enormous claws tore at his attacker’s back, drawing a foul-smelling blood that watered her eyes and coated her tongue. Angling the blunt end of her light at the man, she brought it down on his head, earning a shriek of fury from him. He released Butch, his black eyes zeroing in on her as she stepped in front of the trapped dog and swung her makeshift weapon, Butch’s bloodied paws attempting to nudge her aside.

The man leapt at her, the odd bend of his legs propelling him forward with enough force to knock her backward over Butch. She scrambled over the howling animal, her flashlight rocking against the corner of the cavern while the man’s hands grasped for any part of her he could grip. As he took hold of her leg, she pummeled him with her fists, using her legs to boot out his malformed shins and keep him unbalanced enough to avoid gaining the upper hand.

“Don’t even think about it,” she growled as his attention returned to the injured beast in the corner. Hooking his ankles with her feet, she yanked the man to the ground, clambering over his warped body to place herself in front of Butch and holding her ground as the misshapen teeth closed in on her.

She brought her arms up to protect her face and throat, taking an involuntary step back as hands wrapped around her attacker’s neck and jerked him backward into a snarling heap on the floor. Two men, naked as the day they were born, dropped onto his mangled body.

Two naked, familiar men.

“Al—”

“Bo,” one barked back, the effort of restraining the feral man apparent in his gravelly voice. “Stay the fuck back.”

Butch nudged her arm with his muzzle and she crouched beside him, assessing his trapped hind legs with her hands and watching as Alex’s brothers twisted and contorted their bounty until he was immobile.

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