Page 83 of The Tracker's Revenge
“I can’t.”
I was going as fast as I could, but Jake had slowed down to stay by my side. He was a lot larger than me, each of his strides covering twice the distance of mine.
“C’mon, Toni! Faster. Faster!”
Trees blurred past. My paws slammed against jagged rocks. My legs pumped at capacity, but I couldn’t go faster. As we reached a clearing, I knew the time to run had passed. I skidded to a stop, digging my claws in and whirling to confront my pursuers.
As if we’d agreed upon it, Jake did the same and stood tall and majestic, his back arched, his hair bristling, making him look bigger than he already was. He growled, and I felt the ground vibrate in my paws. He was half the size of one of the hybrids, and yet, they came to an abrupt stop at the sight of his impressive presence. But whatever thought had made them hesitate quickly vanished, and the larger one lunged for Jake.
Jake didn’t shy away, not even for an instant. Instead, he pounced and met the beast in midair. Fast as lightning, the hybrid swatted a gargantuan claw at Jake and sent him crashing against a tree. He yelped, then collapsed to the floor.
The hybrid went for him again, but I lurched in his direction and bit into his calf. The beast howled and whirled, nearly missing my head as he threw a jab at me. Pissed off, he turned from Jake. I walked backward, drawing him away from Jake’s fallen shape. The other hybrid advanced, joining him.
We’re dead. Dead!Those were the only words ringing in my head, ricocheting like bullets, driving away all hope. I was almost resigned to that fate when Rosalina stepped from behind a clump of trees, her finger happy on the trigger of her rifle.
Shots rang out, sounding like atomic explosions to my sensitive ears. She was shooting high-caliber bullets, the kind that pierced armor. She’d gotten the rifle from Jake and had been like a little girl with a new toy, talking endlessly about the weapon’s features. Now, she was finally getting to use it, and she wasn’t being shy about it.
The bullets struck the hybrids right in the chest. They twitched with each impact, their bodies convulsing while, all along, Rosalina advanced in short steps, spraying them with a deadly shower of lead.
The smaller hybrid fell to the ground, but the biggest one stayed on his feet and single-mindedly jumped toward Rosalina. Her eyes widened as the hybrid reared up, claws shining with Jake’s blood, ready to strike.
I went for the beast, but I was too late.
No!
Eric—a small but powerful tawny wolf—flew out of nowhere and slammed into the hybrid, sinking his sharp teeth into the monster’s soft middle. The hybrid roared in pain and tried to grab Eric, but he’d already bounced out of the way, a chunk of meat in his muzzle.
Rosalina scrambled back, still pulling the trigger. A barrage of bullets hit the injured hybrid, weakening him further, and finally, he fell to his knees, blood gushing out of several holes in his stomach. But even as he bled, his wounds healed right before our eyes. And he wasn’t the only one. The other one was also recovering, the holes in his naked chest spitting bullets out as if he was freaking Wolverine.
To make matters worse, Stephen had found us and was running toward us, wearing nothing but his Adam’s suit and a handgun.
“We have to get out of here,”Eric’s voice broke through the chaotic mess that passed for my thoughts.
I started toward Jake who was struggling to his feet, legs trembling with the effort. But Eric was already there in his human form—fully dressed thanks to his shifter ring—helping Jake, hefting the huge wolf onto his back, and running toward the road.
“Run, Rosalina!” Eric commanded.
She wasted no time and did as she was told. I ran after her, bringing up the rear, zigzagging through the trees as Stephen shot at us. Bullets pinged on the trunks, sending splinters flying.
Rosalina quickly passed Eric, who despite his inhuman strength was starting to slow. There was no way a man his size should be able to carry a massive wolf like Jake, but he was not a regular man. He was a werewolf, a strong one. Despite his smaller size, his strength was formidable.
It took us an eternity to reach the gravelly slope that led up to the road, the hybrids getting closer all the while. I could hear them crashing through the brush, moving faster and faster as their injuries healed.
Eric reached the edge of the slope, tried to climb up with Jake on his back, but slid back down on the gravel.
I pushed my urgent thoughts at him.“Hurry! They’re getting closer!”
Eric tried again with the same result.
“Put me down,”Jake’s weak thoughts whispered in my mind. “I can climb. I’ve healed some.”
Eric deposited Jake on the ground. Jake’s legs nearly gave out under him, but he started climbing. Eric grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and started pulling him up, helping. I started helping, too, pressing a shoulder to his backside and pushing. We started moving upward.
The hybrids broke through the tree line, snarling like possessed rabid dogs. We had pissed them off. Big time.
“We’re not going to make it,”the thought materialized in my mind just as Rosalina reached the top of the slope, whirled around, and started delivering bullets as if they were Christmas presents. From her vantage point, she didn’t miss a shot.
“Hurry, you can make it,” she screamed over the deafening cracks of her weapon.
