Warrior (Relentless #4)(30)

“She’s in danger. I feel it in my gut, Chris.”

“Okay. But you have to think like a warrior now, not a mate. Crocotta are intelligent and they like to surround their prey. If we rush in there together, they’ll have the upper hand. We need to split up and go in from different directions.”

He held up the monitor that displayed a map of the town and a blinking yellow dot that was the truck. It didn’t take long for us to determine the fastest routes there. A minute later, I was speeding toward the Knolls and praying we were not too late.

It took eleven minutes to reach the turnoff to Fell Road. As I slowed for the sharp right turn, the unmistakable screams of crocotta reached my ears.

“Hold on, Sara.” I hit the gas and shot down the road toward the screams.

I let out the breath I was holding when I sensed her presence. It was faint, but she was nearby and alive. It grew stronger as I sped around a bend in the road and the truck came into view.

I sized up the situation as I raced forward. In front of the truck, Chris fought with two crocotta, and a few feet away, the werewolves battled one between them. A fourth crocotta stalked toward the truck. There was no sign of Sara, and I hoped she was safely locked inside the vehicle.

A growl rumbled in my chest as my eyes narrowed on the creature threatening my mate. I reached down, unbuckled my sword, and gripped the hilt without taking my eyes off my prey. Instead of slowing, I sped up, and my bike plowed into the crocotta with a satisfying crunch.

A second before impact, I leapt from the bike and spun in the air, landing on my feet with my sword in hand. I went after the creature trapped under the bike. It struggled frantically when it saw me, and it managed a weak scream before I severed its head.

Bloodlust filled me as I turned to Chris and the two crocotta he battled. I strode into the fray and brought my sword down across the flank of the closest creature. It cried out and spun around to face me. I didn’t give it a chance to attack. I drove my sword into its wide chest, killing it instantly.

Seconds later, Chris and the werewolves finished off the last two crocotta, and the night was silent except for the werewolves’ panting and the light rain.

I looked at the black werewolf. “You know these woods?”

He nodded.

“Go make sure there are no more crocotta nearby.”

He hesitated and glanced at the truck.

“I’ll take care of her. I promise you.”

He nodded again, and he and his friend dashed off into the woods. I turned to the truck, and my breath caught in my throat when I saw what I hadn’t noticed at a distance. The hood and driver door were crumpled, the windshield looked ready to fall in, and the roof was shredded with jagged pieces of metal sticking up. Through the cracked window, I could make out someone sitting in the middle of the cab. Sara.

In three strides, I was at the truck and pulling on the handle of the driver’s side door. The damage to the door had wedged it, but nothing was going to stop me from getting inside that cab. I gripped the edges of the door, where it twisted away from the frame, and ripped it off the truck.

“Easy, man. You’ll frighten her,” Chris called as I threw the door away from me. His warning registered in my brain, but I almost lost it when I took in Sara’s ghostly pale face splattered with blood. Her green eyes were dazed, and the knife I had given her was coated with blood in her clenched hand. I could see no injuries, and I prayed the blood on her belonged to the creature she had fought.

My hand trembled from a mixture of relief and fury when I cupped her cold face and made her look at me. The pain and fear in her eyes made my heart constrict, and my words came out harsher than I meant them to.

“It’s okay, Sara. There’re all gone. Are you hurt anywhere?”

She didn’t answer, and I worried she was in shock. I snapped my fingers in front of her eyes, and they lost the glazed look.

“Sara, can you hear me?” I asked with more gentleness.

“Yes.” Her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

Relief coursed through me. I let go of her chin and covered the hand still clutching the knife so tightly that her knuckles were white.

“You’re safe now, moy malen'kiy voin. Let the knife go.” The endearment slipped off my tongue easily, though I’d never spoken that way to another person.

She relinquished the weapon to me, and I threw it on the floor before I took both of her hands in mine. I studied the blood-splattered interior of the cab, and anger surged in me again when I looked up at the shredded roof where the crocotta had tried to get to her.

“You fought them off? By yourself?”

“J-just one,” she croaked.

I let out a short laugh and shook my head. “Just one? Khristu!”

Crocotta were savage fighters, and she had fought one with a knife while trapped in this small space. Pride filled me, and I tugged gently on her hands.

“We need to get you out of this thing. Do you think you can stand?”

She nodded, and then she let out a cry of pain. The agony on her face awoke something dark and violent within me.

“What is it? Did it hurt you?”

She nodded weakly and closed her eyes, but that didn’t stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. “G-guess I’m not much of a fighter after all.”

The urge to kill something rose up inside me, catching me off guard. I had to fight to maintain a calm expression so I didn’t frighten her more.