Moon Touched (Zodiac Wolves: The Lost Pack #1)(64)
“We’ve all agreed that we'll say you slipped past us at a gas station after asking to go to the bathroom. By the time we thought to check on you, you were long gone.”
“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” I cocked my head at her, surprised and also pleased by her kindness. It was comforting to know they'd thought about me long enough to realize I might not be comfortable being held captive in their pack lands.
I couldn't deny that the idea of going somewhere else was tempting. I’d be free from Kaden and his moods, free from being the town's janitor, free from working so hard to prove myself worthy. But then I thought about leaving Coronis and my chest clenched. The small town had grown on me, and all of its occupants had as well. I’d take it all, even if it included being bait for the Leo pack.
Even if it meant putting up with Kaden's rejection.
I shook my head and smiled at Harper. “Thank you for the offer, I really appreciate it. But I think I’ve finally found my place, and it’s with the Ophiuchus pack. I hope one day I'll be allowed to join you as a full member.”
"I hope so too." Harper patted me on the shoulder before turning to go help with the rest of the boxes.
As I went to join her, movement caught at the corner of my eye. I swiveled my head around to catch the sight—and scent—of new shifters. There were six of them, and they weren’t from the Ophiuchus pack.
I had a feeling they were here for me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adrenaline coursed through my body as the six wolves began stalking toward us. As they got closer, I saw that several had Aries symbols like the shifters in the woods, but there were a few that had Taurus symbols as well. A spike of anger followed hot on the adrenaline. Still no Leos. Jordan wouldn’t send any of his own pack after me, just his grunts. I wasn’t worth his own time either, that much was clear.
When I glanced around, I realized that everyone but me had shifted. I let my wolf unfurl, bones reforming, fur covering my skin, teeth turning to fangs. It happened quickly now, my clothes tearing and falling off me as my body changed. When I was standing on four legs instead of two, I let off a long, menacing growl at the wolves surrounding us.
Everyone suddenly jumped into action, leaping forward, teeth bared. The air filled with the sounds of fighting, growling, and snapping. Harper burst out from the storage container, and I watched as she snarled and threw herself directly into the path of the attacking Aries shifters. I was in the thick of it too, ready to defend myself and the people I'd endangered by being with me. As members of the same pack, they could communicate telepathically, all except for me. But I wouldn't let that stop me.
Kaden should never have let me out of the pack lands, I thought, as I chomped on the leg of a Taurus wolf.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an Aries shifter preparing to charge right for Harper, and I felt the ghost of the pain from when I'd been hit by that same move in the woods. Harper would be knocked head-on with it.
No! I leaped forward before I could think to do anything else, and slammed into Harper just as the ram charge hit, knocking her out of the way. For a moment, I didn’t feel anything as we fell in a tangle of fur and limbs. I braced for the overwhelming pain of before, but it felt mild in comparison. The charge must have just clipped me, the rest of it hitting dead air.
I nuzzled Harper with my nose, smelling her for injury, checking to see if she was all right. She nudged her head against me, her caramel-colored tail swishing, and in her eyes, I saw gratitude. We both turned back, preparing to join the fight again.
I had one thing going for me: they wanted me alive. I had the best chance of surviving out of anyone here, and even though I wasn't an official pack member yet, I felt a strong sense of loyalty to the others.
The wolf that had charged us had already joined the fight again, going against Clayton with another Aries wolf. No, you don’t, I thought. You’re not hurting anyone else.
I watched, enhanced senses picking up the perfect time to duck in. There. An opening. I lunged forward and bit into the neck of the Aries that had attacked Harper. He was so focused on fighting Clayton that he didn’t notice that he’d left himself wide open for a side attack. There was a crunch and the soft give of flesh beneath my jaws, along with the taste of hot blood coating my tongue. The Aries shifter yelped and ripped himself out of my grip in a feeble attempt to escape. It did nothing but hasten the shifter’s death, and I didn’t even have time to watch him fall to the ground before I joined the fighting once more.
My contribution seemed to have done something because the Ophiuchus wolves were winning, I saw two more of the wolves on the ground, unmoving. The rest of the Taurus and Aries wolves stepped back as we swelled together, growling and snapping at the wolves, and they turned tail and ran. I watched them go, satisfaction thrumming through my veins alongside the rush of adrenaline.
Everyone around me began to shift back, and I followed suit. I scanned over everyone, trying to see if anyone was hurt. No one seemed to be mortally wounded. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Jack and Clayton both were bleeding, but nothing that a shifter couldn't heal.
“Let’s get out of here,” Clayton said. “We don’t have much time before they come back with reinforcements."
We all voiced agreement before getting the rest of the supplies loaded up. We were all buck naked, but that didn't matter—what mattered was getting this done as quickly as possible. Once finished, Clayton passed out spare jackets and blankets to all of us, and we piled back into the van.