Page 36 of Under A New Moon

Wolves rushed past them, and he caught the eye of one of them briefly. There was a promise in that look that said, "We kill them, then we kill you."

He didn't want to give the wolf time to fulfill that promise. But with wolves behind them and heavily armed agents in front, there weren't a lot of options.

One wolf decided to try to make a run for Galen. She was all claws and fury, ready to ignore the flying bullets if it meant catching her prey. Unfortunately for her, the bullets didn't ignore her.

Galen didn't know if she was just caught in the crossfire or if an agent had aimed at her. Either way, it didn't matter. She ended up just as dead. Then Galen saw it. A manhole cover. A way out.

It happened to be on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Between them and it was a pitched battle with bullets whizzing through the air. But it was either that or an attempt to run down empty streets with no cover and hope they didn't get shot in the back.

He didn't have anything resembling a great option, so Galen chose the least awful one. There were at least a few parked cars that they could duck behind and hopefully avoid getting filled with new holes in exciting places. It wasn't like death by bullet or death by claw made much of a difference.

Pointing to their exit and shouting over the rapid gunfire, snarls, pained howls, and blood-curdling screams, Galen said, "There! We have to get there!"

Darla looked at him like he'd just suggested they walk off a cliff. Unfortunately, she wasn't too far off.

"Are you fucking crazy?" she asked.

If Galen didn't have the ears of a wolf, her question would have been drowned out. But he could pick out the sound of her voice within the chaos.

"I don't see a lot of options," he replied.

Darla peered over the edge of the dumpster, her eyes darting around frantically for some other option.

"Fuck!"

Darla had an amazing ability to cram a whole lot of meaning into that single syllable. There was anger, resignation, fear, and determination all swirled in there.

"On three?" Galen asked.

Darla nodded.

"One." Galen focused on the manhole cover. He could open it, shove Darla through, and hopefully follow her before someone killed him.

"Two." He could hear her heartbeat racing as her body geared up for the mad dash across a battlefield.

"Three!" Galen burst out from between the dumpsters. He tried to stay low and move as fast as he could without leaving Darla behind. Bullets whizzed past him and pelted the door panel of an old pickup truck he dove behind. The tires popped as the vehicle became the target for at least one PEACE agent. But there was a yell, and the shooting stopped.

Although the wolves had been trying to kill them, he had to be thankful one of them took out their shooter. Just before they moved across the street, a wolf bore down on them. Galen didn't have time for this. It was killing one of his own, but it was something he'd, unfortunately, had to get used to.

He grabbed the wolf by the throat and squeezed until he felt something snap under his palm. Then he had a gruesome thought.

"Stay behind me," Galen said as he burst onto the street using the body of his fallen brother as a shield. It worked well enough to get them to the next car, near the manhole cover. Casting the body aside, he looked at Darla and said, "I open it, and you go in first."

She looked like she was ready to argue, but she knew his claws would pry it up easier than her hands. She nodded, and they moved. He opened the sewer, and she rushed in.

Just before he jumped in, he felt a bullet graze his shoulder, stumbled, and barely grabbed the ladder before falling all the way down. The manhole cover fell back into place, and their world became very dark.

Thirty

Darla

This is crazy and I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up.

Her nerves were completely shot, and she began shivering. She knew instantly it was the shock of everything that happened and that she’d just been through. The adrenaline that coursed through her veins came with a price; when it plummeted, the price was shock.

“Are you okay?” Galen had noticed the shivering that couldn’t be from the temperature difference.

“I’ll be ok. We just need to keep moving because I don’t know how long I can take the smell down here.” She tried to clear her throat as if any amount of clearing could overcome the ammonia and hydrogen sulfide; also known as rotten eggs blended with rotten diapers.

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