Page 14 of It's Kind of a Bunny Story
How long before my scent bloomed and became stronger as it attempted to seduce any male with a nose who happened to be within sniffing distance?
Copeland stroked my hair, although whether it was to calm me or him, I couldn’t tell. “I’m going to shift. If I need to fight, I’m stronger in that form.”
At my nod of acceptance, he moved away from me, shifting quickly to his chocolate wolf. Moving to the back of the cave, I curled into a ball on my side.
“It worked! At least a dozen coyotes followed Fletcher. I will hold off the entrance. If any slip by, I’ll bark a warning.” Linc didn’t wait for my response before shifting and bolting back into the tunnel.
Copeland padded to where I lay and collapsed on top of me, his giant body nearly covering me entirely. I knew he was trying to smother my scent, but my heat didn’t get the memo. My mate was so close, I could ask him to shift back. We could make it quick…
What the freak is wrong with me?
Coyotes were literally about to assault the cave’s entrance, and I was more focused on convincing Copeland to torpedomycave’s entrance. Closing my eyes, I focused on slowing my heartbeat and breathing through the cramps.
Linc’s howl had every hair on my body standing on end. It wasn’t the reassuring call it had been that first day as they’d been on their way to my side. Nor was it the hauntingly beautiful song that wolves sang to the moon.
This was a battle cry; the wolf version of one:“Come and get it, boys.”
Wild yips from the coyotes followed Linc’s taunting howl. Each bark brought them closer until they had to be near the entrance. That suspicion was confirmed when a vicious growl rang out, followed immediately by the pained cry of a coyote.
The fight had begun.
The cave shook as bodies slammed against the entrance, and the tunnel amplified the chilling snarls until it seemed like I was in the middle of the brawling beasts outside. Smoke rolled into the cave, bringing the coppery scent of blood and the stench of unbathed coyotes. It was becoming harder to breathe with each passing second.
Biting down on my knuckle, I tried to muffle my cries. Copeland whined and licked at the tears streaking down my cheek. As the heat of the battle and my body escalated, I split my focus between trying to hold off my bunny’s demands and straining to hear Linc’s growls, needing to know he was still alive.
How much longer before the pack showed up? More importantly, how long could Linc hold off the coyotes before he was too exhausted and got injured?
My answer came minutes later when Linc howled in pain. A sharp warning bark had Copeland leaping off me and bounding into the dark tunnel.
Lifting my head, I listened as Copeland’s vicious snarl filled the chamber. A coyote tried to respond, but his bark was abruptly cut off, and the cave trembled as something collided with the wall.
Was Linc injured? Dead? I hadn’t heard a sound from him since he’d called Copeland into the fray.
A second agonizing bark tore at my heart, causing all the self-control I’d summoned to evaporate. I’d shoved my heat into a mental box and had been barely holding the lid closed, but with my concentration broken, the box exploded as though it held a bomb. My temperature spiked, burning me alive from the inside out. I tried to move, but none of my muscles would obey. Gasping, I struggled to inflate my lungs, sucking in the dense, foul-tasting air.
All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and sob until the nightmare was over, but I couldn’t sit there listening as my mates died defending me. There had to be something I could do.
Scanning the cave, my gaze landed on the silverware Copeland had brought for me. A steak knife. It wasn’t my first choice of a weapon, but it was one I’d used before. I shuddered, trying not to think about how that had ended.
I pushed to my knees, crawling until I could snatch the knife off the ground. Using the protruding stones that lined the cave wall, I pulled myself to my feet and staggered toward the tunnel. Each step felt like I was moving through quicksand that was intent on dragging me down.
The room tilted back and forth like a nauseating teeter-totter, sending bile rushing up my throat. My knees wobbled, refusing to hold my weight. Collapsing to the stone floor, I swallowed my scream of frustration.
I couldn’t give up. My mates needed me. Nothing else mattered.
A low growl had my head snapping up. I was fully prepared to come face-to-face with a mouthful of coyote teeth. Instead, I found Linc’s wolf towering over me. He growled again, dropping his head as though preparing to charge.
One look at the glowering wolf was all it took to spur me into action. I didn’t even bother to stand, but crab-walked backward.
Linc matched my every move, forcing me back into the cave. His upper lip curled as he bared his glistening white fangs at me. I knew this man was my mate, the one who swore to protect me, but catching sight of the blood dripping from his jaws, I could no longer silence the voices—or more accurately, the screams—of my ancestors.
With the surge of adrenaline coursing through my blood, I rolled to my stomach and pushed to my knees in a single, smooth move. My muscles tightened as I bolted, intent on escaping the snarling predator.
Where I was planning to go to get away from him, I didn’t know. Fight, flight or freeze was in control, and all I knew was I was going to fly like I’d been born with wings.
And fly I did… like I was a freaking penguin.
I’d only made it a few feet when I face-planted on the pile of blankets, thanks to Linc’s massive wolf tackling me from behind.
