Page 112 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

She giggled and tried to scoot me back with her ass, which had the opposite effect and only made me want to grab onto her tighter. “Stop,” she laughed, “I’m going to cut myself.”

“Fine,” I groaned, relenting.

All of a sudden, the lights went out.

Cam yelled from the basement where he was watching the Thursday night game. “What the hell, guys? Did one of you trip a circuit?”

My eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, and a blur of movement outside the window raised my hackles.

“They’re here!”

The window closest to us broke and a canister came flying through. It landed on the ground next to us with a hiss and began spewing a noxious smoke, dulling my senses.

More canisters were thrown through other windows around the room. I grabbed Marlowe and tried to run upstairs, but large males dressed head-to-toe in black came pouring in through the front and back doors. Two males were barreling straight for me when Cam came snarling up from the basement, shifting into a wolf and grabbing the first male he could see around the neck, dragging him down to the ground and ripping him apart.

Archer shifted next, leaping down from the upstairs balcony and grabbing onto a man who had reached out for Marlowe.

They were covered in kevlar and armed to the teeth with various weapons, swiping expertly at us with large, silver blades.

These males were far too advanced for commune shifters.

With the smoke filling my nose, I couldn’t smell anything, but the light of the moon flashed across a knife, illuminating one of the intruders’ faces, and his violet eyes narrowed at me.

Vamps.

Nolan was right, her bloodsucking ex had managed to recruit a small army to get Marlowe back.

I kept Marlowe above me on the stairs, creating a bottleneck so I wouldn’t be overrun. A vamp swiped at my stomach with his blade and I backed out of the way, countering with a kick to his gut that sent him straight into Archer’s waiting jaws.

My wolf was practically kicking down the door to come out, but I resisted. One of us still needed a human mind and opposable thumbs.

“Marlowe, get to your nest and call for help!”

She stumbled up the stairs, tripping in the dark and the smoke, but I heard her footsteps make it to her room, her door slamming shut and locking tight.

Knowing she was out of harm’s way for now, I grabbed the arm of the next vamp who tried to thrust their knife into my heart, twisting it behind his back, then pushed him into the outstretched blade of the next attacker.

More kept pouring in, and I didn’t know how long we could hold them.

I screamed down the pack bond –Nolan, you asshole, get here now!

56

NOLAN

“Moving on to the approval of the minutes from our last meeting. Do I have a motion?”

“I motion to approve the minutes.”

“I second.”

“All in favor?” I looked around to the council members with their hands raised in the air. “The minutes are approved.”

Normally I loved these meetings. There was something so inspiring about watching people engage with their local government. People who felt passionate enough about a topic that they took the time to research and write down their thoughts, overcoming any fears over public speaking to address us and their neighbors.

Even if those topics were stupid or petty, it was still a privilege to be a part of it.

But tonight, I just wanted them all to shut up so I could leave.

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