Page 73 of Moonlight and Mischief
I level my gun at a large man running toward us and fire my first shot. His feet slip out from under him and he falls backwards. It’s the first of many.
Slate’s team disappears ahead of us, hunting for Zephyr. Hazel drives us forward, clearing a path through the central hallway while looking for Raven wolves.
Everything blurs. We clear the way and I make sure to stay at Hazel’s shoulder, defending her back. The Ironcrest fighters are not armed like we are. Screams ring out down the hallways, and Ironcrest members shift into their four-legged bodies. Lazulihands his two handguns over to Clove and shifts into his wolf form, leaping to meet the first enemy that sneaks past our gunfire.
My lungs ache and I drop at least a dozen bodies before we reach a larger communal space filled with frightened Raven pack members. The trail of bodies behind us makes my stomach sour, but they will recover in a few days. But this poison lingers so they’ll be weak for months. We are crippling their pack in one night.
Hazel ushers the Raven wolves out, sending them down the hallway we arrived through, to where Heath works with Cedar, Vale, and Ewan to get them to safety.
Something heavy slams into me, sending me sprawling. Pain shoots up my hip and ribs. Clove leaps over me, swinging her fist toward a bulky Ironcrest man with black hair. Scrambling to get up, I draw my second gun, but I’m too slow. The man slashes at Clove and opens up a gash on her arm. She glares at the knife in his hand as he jerks backwards. Most shifters don’t bother with blades when we have built-in claws and fangs, but I’ve always liked a good dagger.
Stepping past Clove, I aim and fire, watching his body collapse as the wolfsbane pollutes his veins. Clove snarls, gripping her forearms as blood streams between her fingers.
Hazel directs Clove toward Heath, and Lazuli goes with her, using his snapping jaws to attack any enemy we missed on the way in. As I step over the man who slashed Clove, I reach down and pluck the blade from his hand, tucking it into my tactical gear.
“Are you good?” Hazel yells, looking at me for a moment before she focuses back on our fight.
“Great,” I shout. We move forward, seeking out victims and destroying their attackers as we go.
With a kick, Hazel snaps open a door to reveal a dozen Raven pack members surrounded by four Ironcrest wolves, two already shifted. Aiming, I drop the black wolf easily, but the gray wolf leaps at Hazel before I can react. Its jaws close around her arm, over her protective gear, as she’s slammed to the ground.
A two-legged Ironcrest guard rushes me, yelling unimaginative profane threats as he collides into me. Pulling my third gun free, I shoot up into his gut. Wolfsbane splatters back at me, stinging the exposed skin on my hand.
Scrambling up, I witness Elm pulling the black wolf off of Hazel as she fires directly into its chest. The fourth Ironcrest man drags Elm back, hooking his arm around Elm’s neck to choke him. Throwing myself forward, I twist as my shoulder hits the floor and fire directly into the enemy’s back to avoid hitting Elm.
As his attacker falls sideways, Elm’s knees hit the floor. We’re all on the ground for a moment as the Raven wolves swarm around us, helping us up. Hazel directs the hostages toward Heath’s team with hoarse instructions and hand movements.
Elm’s eyes connect with mine. His expression is hard, but so is mine. A battle is no time for reconciliation, and frankly I don’t care if he likes me or not. He’s still pack, and I would defend him even if he wasn’t the father of the woman I love.
The hallway quiets as we draw closer to the main gathering space. Elm leads the way and I cover Hazel’s back. She stops suddenly as we enter the larger space.
Several enemies lay sprawled across the floor. Slate has Zephyr at gunpoint. Nyx sits primly with her hands zip-tied on a leather armchair, watching with a vicious curl of her lips.
Have we won?
There are still dozens of Ironcrest wolves unaccounted for, and when my thoughts are able to slow down long enough to process, I realize I have not seen a single Granite Ridge fighter.
Ice floods my chest, down my arms and swirling in my stomach. Granite Ridge is not here.
Hazel grabs my arm, frowning as she studies my face. “What’s wrong?” I blink at her. “Jasper!” She gives me a shake.
“Granite Ridge,” I manage to say, my voice breaking. “Not here.”
Hazel’s eyes go wide and she spins, striding toward Zephyr. Her hands draw her dagger from a back sheath - I recognize it as the one that I gave her. Despite Slate’s shout, she storms up to the Alpha and shoves the blade against his throat.
“Where is Granite Ridge?” she snarls.
Zephyr looks away, his face a mimicry of boredom. The uneven flutter of his breathing and his blotchy face gives him away.
Hazel presses the blade into his skin with a snarl. Sneering, he finally answers her. “At home, I assume,since they couldn’t be bothered to hold up their end of the deal.”
Slate steps closer, demanding, “What deal?”
Zephyr stares defiantly into Slate’s face. “They were going to split the Raven pack with us. They wanted the wolves. We were keeping most of the land.”
“I need to get home,” I say, almost doubling over as nausea rolls through me.
Slate’s eyebrows shoot up, though his focus never wavers from his prisoner. Fluidly, Hazel withdraws, leaning close to her mate. “Granite Ridge may have used this as a distraction and decided to make a move on us.”
