Page 2 of The Rabbit's Foot
“Much,” called out another, which set off a round of laughter that had Mal seeing red.
The rabbit turned and did his best to run, stumbling several times. The men, their laughter ugly and dark, stalked it. Mal could see it had no energy left. When the rabbit went down one last time, it lay on its side, heaving for breath. Then the men were on it. They pummeled and kicked the animal, sending it skittering across the hard-packed soil. When it came to rest, its soft whimpers and terror inflamed Mal. He rushed forward and smashed into the group, knocking them to the ground. He was up before they could react.
“Fuck!” one of them screamed. “Kill it!”
Mal flicked a quick glance at the rabbit, who lay bleeding. He could see the missing foot clearly now, including the bones protruding from beneath the dirty fur. Obviously these fuckers knew what the rabbit was, but they never thought something more vicious would be out in the woods tonight.
The one man who’d kicked the rabbit raised a gun, likely the one Mal had heard the shots from. His hand shook as he tried to aim, but Mal didn’t give him a chance. He lunged for the man, leaping up and locking his jaws around the exposed throat, then yanking to the side, ripping out his larynx and leaving him to drown in his own blood. And what nasty blood it was. Laden with chemicals, it probably would have killed the man eventually, so Mal was doing him a service.
The second man got up and tried to run, but Mal leapt on his shoulders, sank his fangs into the back of the man’s neck, and crunched through his spinal cord. In the unlikely event he survived, he’d be paralyzed and pissing through a tube for the remainder of his days.
He didn’t last but a few moments.
The third and fourth men shouted and ran for the woods.
One thing Mal had had to relearn when he became a lone wolf was hunting. No longer having a pack to take down larger prey, he’d adapted and honed his technique. Now, instead of the pack taking the animal down as a unit, Mal would have to keep it from running. To slow the first man down, Mal tore out his Achilles tendon, sending him crashing to the ground. Then he went after the last guy. One jump into the air, and a mess of claws and teeth, ripped open the man’s jacket. The coppery scent of blood let Mal know he wouldn’t be getting up again. After that man breathed his last, Mal went back to where the other was dragging himself across the ground, pleading for his life.
I’m sure the rabbit would have done the same. I’ll show you the same mercy you gave him.
Mal tilted his head up and howled long and loud, the sound echoing everywhere. The man covered his head and screamed, which sent a shiver of delight through Mal. He loved it when his prey was terrified. And these men definitely should have been. When Mal lunged and raked claws across the guy’s throat, there was a satisfying cry before he fell over, dead.
After a quick trip to ensure there were no survivors, Mal hurried over to where the rabbit lay. At first he thought the tiny thing was dead. He nudged it gently, and was surprised when its eyes popped open. It saw him, and Mal could hear the heartbeat race. It tried to stand, but flopped over. Mal quickly shifted to his human form and lay beside the rabbit.
“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you.” His gaze went to the other men. Had they said the same thing? The rabbit would have no reason to trust him. “I know what they did to you.” He swallowed hard. “I want to help you, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
The rabbit’s eyes fluttered, then closed. Mal took that as a yes. He slid his hands under the small body and had to stop from jerking back when the little thing tensed and screamed.
“It hurts, I know. I wish I could take that away from you, but I can’t. Can you be strong for a little longer?”
It would be a mercy to kill the shifter here and now. The damage it had taken would require weeks to heal, if it could be done at all. Abraded skin showed, even beneath the fur. Scores raked across its body, some fresh, others very old. How long had they kept this poor thing like this? More importantly, who would do such a disgusting thing?
The rabbit slumped into Mal’s hands.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he whispered, holding the rabbit to his naked chest, hoping to provide some heat. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
The rabbit turned its head and stared at the bodies.
“Hey, no,” Mal said, putting a hand over the bluest eyes he’d ever seen on any animal. “Don’t look. My howl alerted the predators in the area. Most will avoid them, but enough will take chunks out to make it look like the men were killed by the animals around here.”
The rabbit snorted, then closed his eyes and seemed to fall unconscious. Mal was grateful for that, because they had some rough terrain to get through, and without being able to use his wolf, it would be a difficult trip. But he’d promised to help, and he would.
It took nearly an hour to get back to where he’d parked the bike. He opened the saddlebag, stuffed his jacket inside, then placed the rabbit on top of it before closing it again. Then he dressed, jumped on the cycle, and a moment later, they were zipping toward Mal’s den.
“What the hell am I doing?” Mal berated himself. “Don’t get involved. Ever. That’s why I left the Walker pack. I didn’t want any part of that life.”
Yet here he was, rushing into the dark night, with precious cargo that he’d vowed to save.
He was such an idiot.
* * *
Alpin Dawkins opened his eyes and found he was once again in complete darkness. Fear slammed into him, thinking he’d been caught and brought back to the lab and was still being experimented on. Still listening to the screams of the others as the fuckers shot acids and chemicals into their bodies, poked out eyes, lopped off ears, or in his case, part of his bunny’s front leg. In human form, he was missing his left hand.
And now he was back in the room and—wait. His nose wiggled and he sagged in relief. He wasn’t in the lab. He was nestled in something soft that didn’t smell of harsh chemicals, but instead held a musky aroma. It was then Alp remembered the wolf. When he opened his eyes and saw it standing over him, he was so certain it was about to eat him. To think he’d escaped the horrors of the lab, only to end up in a wolf’s stomach. Then again, why not? It was the way his luck ran. Apparently rabbit’s feet weren’t nearly as lucky as the legends claimed.
Then the wolf had shifted and Alp wasn’t certain if he was saved or if a worse fate was about to befall him. When the wolf touched him, Alp worried he was going to die. Of course, every moment of the last six years had left him with that fear coursing through his body. Since the day he’d been dragged into the lab by Hyde, Alp hadn’t known a moment of peace. Why hadn’t he just given up? Let death claim him, as it had so many others?
That answer was as easy as it was obvious. He wanted to fucking live! He was twenty-two, for the Maker’s sake. He had plans for his life. He’d wanted to get a goddamn job. He’d wanted a chance to live on his own, without his thirteen annoying brothers and sisters always being underfoot. He’d wanted… Maker, he’d wanted a fucking life.
