Page 45 of Triumph of the Wolf
My offspring licked his lips, crept forward with his gaze on me, and reached for the bag.
Frustrated, I growled, but I couldn’t attack my offspring. He picked up the bag and backed away. Chad kept the rifle pointed at me. Groans came from the two men I’d attacked, but they were crawling away. They wouldn’t fight further. Chad was the only one I needed to worry about. Would he fire? Even though I’d known him well once, it was hard for me to tell.
“Take it back to the car, and stay there,” Chad ordered Cameron.
“But what about?—”
“Do it,” Chad snarled. “She’s feral as fuck. She could attack you at any second.”
Lies. I wouldn’t harm my own offspring. All I was doing was protecting my belongings from a thief. From the bastard who stood in front of me, aiming that rifle between my eyes.
Cameron licked his lips again and glanced uncertainly at me, but he did as his father ordered, backing toward the stream with my bag.
Again, I debated if I could reach Chad before he could fire at me. The presence of my offspring had kept me from trying, but if I dodged to the side as I ran toward him… I was fast and powerful, and the magic of the medallion coursed into me, making me feel invulnerable. I was more concerned that I would kill him if I attacked.
“I always wanted to see you change,” Chad said. “I admit I thought we’d have sex afterward, not that I would shoot you, but you’ve been standing in my way for too long. And I think if I lowered this gun, you’d kill me.”
I growled at him.
He glanced over his shoulder. Because he was waiting for our offspring to be gone? So that he could shoot me without a witness? And later tell Cameron that it had been self-defense?
The hell with that.
I rushed toward Chad, zigzagging to present a more difficult target. My power combined with the magic of the medallion made me fast, a blur to his human eyes. He had time to get one shot off, but it slammed into the ground where I’d been an instant before. Unharmed, I bowled into him, my momentum and weight taking him to the ground. As he hit with a grunt of pain, I snatched the rifle from his grip and flung it into the woods.
Fangs parting, I lowered my jaw to his throat, letting my warm breath hit his skin. He pushed his hands against my chest but found that he lacked the power to push me away.
My eyes meeting his, I stared into his soul, letting him know that I could kill him. And in that moment, I wondered if I should. He’d meant to kill me. He’d declared himself an enemy. If I let him go, would he keep coming after me?
The scent of urine reached my nostrils. He’d wet himself.
I stepped away, deciding to release him. Maybe it was naive, but I thought him too afraid to come after me again.
As soon as he was free, Chad rolled to hands and knees, gasping and groaning in pain from his injuries. Only with the help of a log did he manage to push himself to his feet and stumble in the direction that Cameron had gone.
I sat back on my haunches, aware that my offspring had escaped with my bag—with the wolf case. Soon, Chad would have it. Perhaps… to be done with him, it would be worth letting it go.
As Chad clawed his way across the stream and out of the gully, I grew aware of another presence in the area. The bipedfuris crouched on a stump at the top of the draw, gazing down at me.
How long had he been there? Distracted by the heat of the battle, I hadn’t noticed his powerful presence.
When our eyes met, I knew he had witnessed me defeating my enemies. I lifted my snout, pleased that he’d seen it and that he’d waited nearby without interfering. He’d believed me capable of dealing with the situation.
He lifted a clawed hand, a strap wrapped around it. My bag. I sensed the artifact within.
A hint of uncertainty touched me, and I cocked my head. Was my offspring all right?
The bipedfuris roared, flexing his powerful muscles, then lifted his face toward the sky and howled.
That hadn’t answered my question.
Realizing we would need to return to our human forms for a discussion, I swished my tail, snatched up my jacket and shoes, and headed for the stream. The bipedfuris hopped down from the stump and also strode in that direction.
14
My intention wasto follow my offspring’s trail and ensure for myself that he was okay, but halfway back to the road, my magic faded. Too bad I hadn’t salvaged more of my clothing. Branches scraped me, and damp pine needles slapped at my skin. At least the bullet that had grazed me earlier hadn’t left a deep wound, and my regenerative magic would heal it soon.
Duncan also lost his magic, the bipedfuris form leaving him so that he walked beside me as a human. Before changing, he’d probably neatly stacked his clothes somewhere, but, for now, he carried only my purse, a sight that made me smile.
