Page 203 of Marked

Rick was here.

Down a short hall lined with offices that were still dark, I caught the faint sounds of a struggle. If not for my enhanced hearing, I wouldn’t have noticed it.

I ran to the door, then kicked it in, releasing every ounce of shifter strength I had. The solid wooden door burst inward, and I found Cameron. She stood with her back to the wall, her hand to her throat. Rick was scrambling to his feet. He turned his baleful gaze upon me, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“Bad choice, motherfucker,” I growled.

I leaped forward, slamming my shoulder into his stomach as I tackled him to the floor. Rick brought his fists down onto myback, knocking some of the wind from me. Jesus, he was strong. Before I could recover, he kicked my knee. Had I been human, my leg would have snapped like a stick beneath the power of that kick. How on earth was he so strong?

The blaring of the fire alarm made Rick and me freeze. Looking up, I saw Cameron had pulled a bright red lever. The klaxon sounds and strobing lights disoriented Rick long enough for me to kick him away, and I shifted into my wolf form.

Snapping my jaws, I nipped Rick’s forearm, drawing a small line of blood.

“Rabid fucking animal!” he shouted.

He made to shift, but couldn’t control it. The transformation stopped before it was fully complete, and I gaped at the blasphemous mixture of man and wolf before me. Rick stood on wolf-shaped legs, but his torso remained human, his hands a chaotic cross between paws and fingers. His face was slightly elongated, canine teeth in rows behind human teeth. One eye was a yellow wolf’s, the other one human. He looked like a nightmare vision of a shifter. Some twisted creature that didn’t belong.

After my initial shock wore off, I snarled and pounced on him, clamping my teeth on his chest and driving him backward. He let out a guttural scream and fell back, smashing over some kind of machine I’d only seen in movies. The pain of my bite must have finally snapped him out of whatever madness he was in, and he managed to shift fully.

Snarling, he closed his jaws onto my arm, the fangs piercing my skin, drawing blood and a yelp of pain from my mouth. He was stronger than he had any right to be. As I tried to pull away, a terrified thought speared through me. I might not be able to beat him. What was going on? My rage gave way to fear and uncertainty.

Rick released me, but in a flash, he shoved his muzzle at my throat. A moment before his teeth sank into my neck, another huge furry form crashed into him, knocking him aside.

Cameron.

Her wolf stood, breathing heavily and snarling at Rick. He righted himself and snapped his eyes from her to me and back again. If there was any fear in his eyes, I didn’t see it. All I saw was rage, madness, and anger. He released a howl of challenge and rushed toward us.

Dodging past me, he went for Cameron first. Before I could stop him, he tried to tackle her. Cameron and I both responded to his attack. Cameron swatted his muzzle with her paw, raking her claws across his snout. I slammed my head into his ribs, pushing him over onto his side.

For the next several moments, Cameron and I worked as a team, almost reading each other’s minds as we fought Rick. The man was bizarrely strong and fast. I wouldn’t have stood a chance without her help.

Rick circled us. The fire alarm still blared, making it hard to hear anythingbutthat sound. His lips peeled back, his eyes burning into mine. Cameron made to rush his rear, and I rushed his front, trying to pin him in. Rick lunged at me, opening his maw to attack, but his back feet slid across a stack of files and papers strewn about the floor.

Cameron clamped her teeth around his hind leg, and I pounced, pinning his back to the floor, my paws on his chest. Giving him one last glare, I raised my head, opening my jaws, ready to bury my teeth in his neck and end his life.

“Nate! No!”

I turned to find Cameron in her human form, holding both of Rick’s back legs and shaking her head.

“Don’t. Don’t be a killer.Please.”

The pleading desperation in her eyes was all I needed. Fine. He could live. She was right. He wasn’t worth it, anyway.

Shifting, I stepped back, putting an arm around Cameron as Rick struggled to his feet.

“It’s over,” I warned, holding up a hand toward him as he began to growl again. “We’re done here. You lost.”

Rick planted his front paws on the ground, lowered his head, and eyed us with malicious glee.

“For fuck’s sake, Rick!” Cameron shouted, her voice cracking with emotion. “Stop. If you don’t, we’ll kill you. Do you understand?”

Rick opened his mouth and growled again, strings of saliva hanging from his jaws. Just as I was about to shift again, Rick let out a surprised squeal of pain. A dart protruded from his haunch.

In the doorway stood a man I hadn’t seen in years. Alec Dupont, the man who’d been interim alpha before JC had come of age. He held a tranquilizer gun in his hand.

Rick took two threatening steps toward Alec, who only raised a bored eyebrow.

“Go down, you rich little fucker,” Alec growled.

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