Page 49 of Heart of Dawn
Damn. That hurt.
Getting myself together, I thrashed and forced him off me. He jumped back twice, hissing.
I growled, lowering my head. Blood trickled down my sides from fresh wounds, pouring extra fuel into my inferno.
Lance lowered himself too, wiggling his backside. I attuned myself to the moment, aware of every sound, every smell, every twitch from the alpha werelynx. Waiting. Preparing. Anticipating him to make the first move. I knew him better than he believed, his arrogance a weapon to be used against him.
The dickhead lacked patience, easily riled.
He made the first move, bounding at me, leaping through the air. Darting to the side, I maneuvered out of his trajectory, spinning as he landed and charged at him with full force. He yowled and I crashed into him, knocking him onto his back.
I closed my jaws around his right flank, tearing off a chunk of flesh, crushing him under me.
He clawed at my body, trying to gouge my eyes out. Spitting, hissing, and yowling as he struggled. Every time he seemed to make gains in freeing himself, I stopped him at the last moment, getting the better of him.
But I knew better than to get cocky. Gaining the upper hand didn’t guarantee anything. Only when the fight was truly over could you claim victory. Even then, there was no need to be a dickhead about it.
Lance sliced into my right flank, shaking me off balance. He managed to get in a swipe at my snout before breaking free of me and darting back up the tree.
He shifted to his human form, panting as he clutched his chest. There were cuts all over his body, blood trickling across muscle.
“Enough,” he wheezed.
I shifted back, carrying stinging injuries of my own. “It’ll never be enough.”
He jumped, landing straight on me and slammed me into the ground. He grabbed me by the head, twisting as if to break my neck.
You’re doing it wrong…
“Die!” he screamed in my face, sitting on my stomach.
I punched him on the side the head then shoved him off me. I grabbed his left arm, snapping it. Of course, he hurled every insult under the sun at me while he dragged himself across the mud.
He got back on his feet, rushing me with his broken arm dangling beside him. Took a swing at me with his right fist, missed, then shifted back to lynx.
I shifted too.
In our respective animal forms, we were stronger and quicker, but burned through energy at an accelerated rate. All this fighting would deplete our resources in no time.
So fucking be it.
Lance held up his front left leg, the limb twisted painfully. He hobbled at me, still packing some serious speed. I met him head on with a super wolf charge, knocking him down like a skittle.
He kicked his back legs, catching me on the left flank, his claws snagging in my flesh.
Roaring through the pain, I thrashed, slightly panicked. Again, I messed up, giving him the upper hand. He managed to get himself on my back, my bones creaking under his weight.
Prick.
He bit down on the back of my neck, pulling at the skin, every available claw treating me like a pincushion. The more I tried shaking him off, the harder his grip became.
With no other choice, I shifted back to human form.
Success. He lost his grip and I put some distance between us, skin on fire from the scratching shithead.
I cracked my knuckles, rolled my shoulders, the pair us locked in a staring contest.
God, he didn’t die easily.
