Page 117 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

I couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped me as I looked at his miserable excuse for a weapon. Rolling my shoulders and squaring up, I took a deep breath and pointed my chin at him. “Let’s go then, Sparkles.”

He rushed towards me without hesitation, and I easily dodged his attack, rolling out of his reach and clocking him on the side of his head with a satisfyingthud. He dropped like a rock, out cold.

“Pathetic,” I muttered. I made quick work of his neck, snapping it with brutal efficiency. There was no time for guilt.

I stood back up and turned my head to the real target.

The back door of the car creaked open, and a large figure shot out like a coiled spring, his fanged mouth wide in a vicious snarl. He slammed into me, another knife in his grip. The force pushed me back a few steps, but I dug in my heels, holding my ground as I grunted from the effort.

A high-pitched whine from the female inside made my stomach churn.

“Marlowe?” I asked, leaning down and looking around the vamp that was struggling against me.

“Julian?” she whimpered back, her face pale. She clutched at the wound at her neck, crimson drops trickling down her skin.

Her sweet perfume was laced with fear, and combined with the sound of her shaky voice saying my name, I filled with rage and purpose. I refocused on the bloodsucker in front of me. That washerblood on his unworthy lips.

“She’s mine!” he screamed, his violet eyes blazing. “You won’t touch my Lunessa!”

Lunessa… This vamp really thought he could have an omega shifter? Really thought he could take her away from her own pack?

Wherewasher pack? How had he managed to get her away from Cam? There was no way two vamps could subdue four alpha males protecting their omega.

But I had no time to consider what had happened at Cam’s house. The vamp swung wildly with his weapon, and I sidestepped before the blade could slice through my coat. He snarled and lunged at me again, but I pushed his elbow up and got him with an uppercut to the jaw. His fangs pierced through his lips and he screamed, blood spraying across the snow.

“You’ll pay for that,” he lisped, wiping his chin. His eyes turned red in the moonlight, and he took a running jump ten feet in the air, floating impossibly and defying all laws of gravity as he pointed at me. “You’re dead!”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I growled, trying to brace myself. We definitely never went over how to defend against flying opponents in my boxing classes.

The vamp grabbed the hilt of his knife with two hands and plummeted towards me. I managed to grab hold of his wrists when he landed, but the force sent me backwards and I landed hard on the ground, my lungs straining for air.

He jabbed a knee into my stomach and lowered himself towards me, the knife inching closer and closer to my chest as I struggled to push him back. The blood from his mouth dripped on my face and he smiled. “It seems the Moon favors me tonight, mutt.”

I braced for death, cursing myself for not being strong enough to defend my people. To save Marlowe.

But before he could plunge the blade into my heart, he gasped in pain.

“Think again.”

Marlowe stood behind him in triumph, the moonlight outlining her glorious halo of wavy hair, her hazel eyes focused and strong. The driver’s silver knife was sticking straight out of the vamp’s back.

He hissed in pain as he tried to reach around and grab it, and in his distraction I saw my victory. I wrenched the weapon from his hands and then shoved it through his ribcage.

He fell back, clutching his chest and gasping for air. When he turned towards Marlowe, the fury faded to violet in his eyes and he whispered hoarsely, “Lunessa?”

Marlowe trembled with anger, her small hands balled into fists at her sides. “I’m not your Lunessa,” she spat.

He closed his eyes in defeat, dropping onto the ground. Warm blood stained and melted the snow around him, forming dark, demented wings.

I exhaled steaming clouds from the exertion of the battle, and I focused my gaze on Marlowe. All at once, her resolve shattered and she gasped, about to crumble when I leapt up and caught her before she hit the ground.

“I’ve got you, it’s okay,” I said, hushing her burgeoning sobs. “You’re safe now.”

“My pack… my pack…” she cried.

I led her back to my truck. “We’re going there right now. I’ll get you back to your alphas.”

“No,” she screamed, grabbing me by the shoulders. “They’re under attack, he said he’d kill them!”

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