Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(86)

Everyone else immediately looked at Arys. I expected him to launch that power ball at the arrogant werewolf, but Zoey and Raoul had eyes only for each other, though they wore extremely differing expressions.

I felt rather than saw Arys bristle because he never moved a muscle. An absolutely wicked smile tugged at his lips, warming my insides against my will. He gave me a quick wink as he sensed my reaction to him. I wanted to glare, but my furry eyebrows wouldn’t form the expression. Cocky vampire.

“Zoey please, you have to listen to me.” Raoul begged, his tone both pleading and placating. “I can help you through this. But, you have to trust me.”

I scoffed mentally to myself. This was ludicrous. The man had truly lost his mind.

“You can’t do a damn thing, and you know it. She’s not ever getting back into a human body.” Jez feigned casual with her crossed arms and relaxed stance against the fridge. She was in a good position to keep everyone trapped within the kitchen with just one step. The double paned glass sliding doors were an unlikely exit for those of us without fingers.

“Shut up!” Raoul snapped. He glanced at the leopard who clearly wanted another shot at clawing his eyeballs out. “None of you have any right to be here.”

“We were invited. And now, we’re not leaving until somebody’s dead, or Lex decides you’re not worth all this trouble.” Jez nodded in my direction.

A sliver of guilt nagged me. I shouldn’t have dragged my friends into this personal drama.

‘You know she didn’t mean it that way.’ Arys’s voice was soothing in my mind. ‘We’re all going to call in our favors down the line.’

‘Stop that.’ It felt like a mental fly that I wanted to swat. ‘I don’t even want to hear your favor.’

Arys chuckled aloud, and everyone but Zoey turned and looked at him. She took advantage of the moment to lunge her newly gained weight into Raoul. The fool never saw it coming. She hit him hard in the chest and took out his legs easily. They slid together in a heap across the tiled floor. With a snarling wolf in his lap, Raoul did the only thing he could with less than a second to react. He threw his arms up to protect his face and throat. All four of Zoey’s fangs sank in the tender underside of his forearm. Dissatisfied, she released her hold and struck again.

I winced inwardly at Raoul’s blood and crossed the twenty feet separating us in a leap. I threw all of my weight into Zoey, taking her down in a frenzy of snapping jaws. She twisted beneath me in a struggle to get to her feet. When I got a mouthful of thick flesh at the back of her neck, I held tight.

Shaz dragged Raoul to his feet. The bigger man was bleeding from both arms, long red rivulets that fell to stain the white tile.

When I felt Arys’s reaction to the fresh blood, I was glad that he’d sated the worst of the bloodlust. I wasn’t sure that I could have maintained control otherwise. I resisted the urge to look at Shaz, my stronghold of control.

Powerful jaws closed around my front right leg as Zoey scrambled to get a hold on any part of me. I gave a small yelp of pain, certain this would result in a broken wrist.

A scuffle broke out behind us, and I worried. I could only see the top of Zoey’s head from my angle. I let her go so that she would let me go, and we sprang apart. My leg ached. Even the minor bite left my ash colored fur with bloodstains.

I wasn’t expecting Shaz and Raoul to be throwing punches like they were in a bar fight. Raoul had a heavier fist, but Shaz had actual brawling experience. I could only assume Shaz had been watching my back while I fought with Zoey.

Raoul let loose with a fist that knocked Shaz back on his heels. Shaz’s instant reaction was an elbow to Raoul’s jaw, followed by a head butt that sat the large man down on his ass.

Arys stepped between them before I could ask. Jez stood her ground in the doorway, but her watchful gaze never missed a thing.

Despite my attack on her, Zoey really didn’t want me. She was all about her father. Seeing him down, she rushed me but veered to the side as I moved to meet her. I fell for her fake out, and she had no problem clearing my reach. With fangs bared, she covered the space between her and Raoul.

Arys released a blast of power straight at Zoey. At point blank range, the shot hit her square in the chest with enough force to move an elephant. I never had time to react before her body struck me and knocked my feet out from under me.

We were airborne, a tangle of fur that snarled and growled. The sound of shattering glass screamed through my sensitive ears. The world rolled before my eyes, and I identified the patio doors as we smashed through them. I did my best to tuck and roll as the shards sliced into me, leaving a hot burning sensation everywhere they touched.

Upon clearing the doors, Zoey and I were thrown apart. Each of us hit the wooden deck hard. I landed in a heap against the massive barbeque, my legs splayed, and my body aching.

Jez called my name as she fumbled to get to me without cutting herself. I lifted my head to indicate that I was ok, but the red blotches staining my fur said otherwise. I caught sight of the particularly large chunk of glass protruding from my side and panic set in.

As I scrambled to my feet, I noticed the growing pool of blood beneath Zoey’s still body. I began turning circles in a desperate attempt to dislodge the glass shard from my side.

The entire frame of glass had shattered out of the side that we’d gone through. Shaz and Jez had ducked through but stepped carefully as the broken glass crunched beneath their weight. Shaz peeled off his shirt and began tearing it into strips while Jez approached me with her hands held up in caution.