And now they would have a dead body to demonstrate the worst that wolves could do.
If anyone deserved to really be attacked by wolves, it was these three. But she was the one in danger of being killed now.
Why wouldn’t they kill her, considering that she’d seen what they had done to Trev? She knew the answer.
She knew what was coming.
Now she sat on the hard ground with her hands bound behind her back. She tried to keep her trembling from fear at a minimum. She didn’t want to give any of them a further sense of triumph over her. In fact, they hadn’t won…yet. She might be captured, but she wasn’t done fighting.
She watched as Vinnie stood and joined Morton and the apparently injured Carlo. The group huddled together. Maya wished she could hear what they were saying.
Even more, she wished she could take this opportunity while none focused on her to run away. But though her legs were free, even if she managed to stand she recognized that at least Carlo, who faced her, would see it.
And they had guns. They probably didn’t want to use them, since the wolves they wanted to blame for everything didn’t shoot people, but she figured they would anyhow if she attempted to run. Even if they didn’t shoot her, she doubted she’d be fleet enough, at least at first, to escape so far into the woods that they’d be unable to find her.
Those woods were dark despite the moon, though not quite full anymore, glowing above them. The light they had brought to this clearing wouldn’t reach far. And she’d need her hands for balance.
Still, she worked on trying to pull them loose from the cords that bound them. She also attempted to look defeated as well as scared, even as she kept fidgeting slightly to try to find a way to stand and run.
At least the temperature was bearable, though chilly. She kept listening for sounds in the forest, any kind of distraction—like the appearance of a wolf.
Right.
Oh, sure, she heard some noises, like an owl hooting in a nearby tree, and some rustling thanks to rodents running on the dried leaves on the ground. None of those would help her.
If only she had some way of communicating with Ryan. She’d no doubt that he would try to help her. But just because she now had reason to believe in something she had considered unreal and supernatural just days ago—shapeshifting—she didn’t yet believe that all such supposedly paranormal things were true…like extrasensory perception. She’d already considered recently if ESP could be real but doubted it. And she’d need ESP now to get through to Ryan.
Uh-oh. The conclave among her enemies appeared to be over. All three were standing, facing her, staring at her. And grinning.
That couldn’t be a good sign.
Vinnie broke away from the men. Maya wished she could wipe the smugness off the woman’s face. The woman’s scratched and scarred face. Maya wasn’t a malicious person, but right now she wished she was able to add to Vinnie’s injuries, scratch her face up even more to distract her and the others, then run away.
But for now she couldn’t, didn’t, move.
As Vinnie approached Maya, her hands weren’t visible. Was she hiding a gun? Did she intend to shoot Maya, then bury her out here where no one would ever think to look for her?
They would still have a body to show the world, one that arguably had been attacked by a wolf.
Boy, had she been dumb, Maya thought, not to at least have told Ryan what she was up to. But hindsight was, as usual, twenty-twenty.
She had to deal with things as they were now.
She had to survive, no matter what.
But then Vinnie pulled her hands from behind her back. She now grasped that clawlike gadget Morton had been using to maul Carlo—and that he’d then used to murder Trev. Of course.
Vinnie thrust it toward Maya, manipulating its handle so the claws at the end, mock nails as sharp as knives, opened and closed ominously.
“You know,” Vinnie said, “I’d already figured it was a terrible shame that the wolves around here attacked first Morton, then me and poor Carlo, too. And after that, they even managed to kill that Trevor/Tim guy.” She turned slightly in the men’s direction but immediately faced Maya once more. “But they’re not done. They’re dangerous. Very dangerous. So dangerous that the one about to attack you will go for your throat, bite and claw it till you bleed to death just like Trevor did. Not just one death here tonight, but two. It won’t be hard at all for us to convince the authorities that all wolves, no matter what their origin, have to be rounded up and killed.”
As scared as Maya was, her thoughts focused momentarily on Vinnie’s words no matter what their origin.
Then this group knew about shifters? Believed in them?
Wanted to get rid of them along with any feral wolves?
Why?
They should at least answer her questions, shouldn’t they, before they killed her?
And as she got those responses, maybe she’d come up with answers to the even more pressing problem: How was she going to get out of this?
“I don’t really get it, Vinnie,” she said quietly. “I know you feel strongly against wolves, but I’d like to know why, so I can fully understand why you killed Trev and intend to kill me, too. Surely, you can grant me that, can’t you? And…well, what did you mean by ‘no matter what their origin’?”
“You know!” Vinnie spat furiously, taking more steps toward her intended victim. “Don’t try to play games with us. You’ve gotten close to that guy Ryan. I can’t be sure he’s a shapeshifter, but some of the people who moved here recently are shifters.”
Would playing dumb help or hurt her? Maya determined to approach the subject as carefully as she could. “Shapeshifters? Even if there are such things, why do you dislike them so much?”
She was growing extremely uncomfortable kneeling there—physically. Mentally she knew she was a mess but had to keep smiling in a sympathetic manner.
“You mean you don’t know?” shouted Vinnie. “Didn’t you do your research on this area before you came like the eco-monster you are and began patting yourself and all other tree huggers—no, make that wolf-huggers—on the back for encouraging those killers to hang around here?”
“Sorry.” Maya tried to sound humble as she looked down at the ground. She actually had researched the area both before and after her arrival and had no idea what Vinnie was talking about.
At least the two men stayed where they were, taking in this conversation without approaching. But that still didn’t mean Maya could do anything to help herself.
“I’ll tell you what they did. And it wasn’t here in Fritts Corner but a distance away, up in the mountains overlooking the Pacific. I’ve got something in common with that Trevor guy, and not just because I was sliced with our little claw gadget here. No, it wasn’t just my brother but the rest of my family, too—my parents and brother, Odell—who got killed a few years ago, not long after wolves started to be seen more in the western part of the state. My dear Morton was very close to my family, too, and Carlo was their neighbor. We’d thought Odell was crazy when he told us he’d seen a person turn into a wolf under a full moon, just like the old tales said. He wanted to prove it was true and my parents, though they thought him nuts, promised to go along…and they were all killed. No pictures or anything but they were mauled to death under a full moon.”
That didn’t necessarily mean the animals were shifters, Maya thought, though she wasn’t going to say anything now. It could have been coincidence—or not.
And as she had been telling people in her talks, wild animals were wild. Even shifters, apparently.
It was safer to avoid all of them…right?
“We did some more research,” Morton said from where he still stood. “Learned that it was likely that those damned shifters did exist, were present in that area, but it really doesn’t matter. Her family was found mauled, sure, but their bodies were at the base of a cliff and the authorities said it was just a bad accident, a fall, that caused their injur
ies and death. We knew better thanks to the types of wounds they had. Wolves, bite marks and more, and the coroner didn’t deny it exactly, just came up with multiple explanations.”
“That’s right,” Vinnie added. “We kept pressing, saying we knew it was wolves, but people kept laughing at us, said we were crazy to make such allegations. They may have all been shapeshifters themselves, damn them.”
“Wolves, whether human in origin or not, are dangerous,” Morton said. “They kill people. The ones who mauled our family are probably still out there and we never learned who they are. So people should kill all wolves first.” He paused, but only for an instant. “Go to it, Vinnie!” he exclaimed.
And Vinnie, still several strides away, rushed toward Maya with the claw gadget pointed toward her throat.
Chapter 24
“No!” Maya screamed as she tried wildly to yank her wrists loose, attempting to get free to push the claw away—or, better yet, run.
Fruitless. She wanted to close her eyes as the inevitable happened. She was about to die. Painfully.
And then, she heard a bark followed by a growl and opened her eyes as a large gray wolf leaped onto Vinnie, grabbing her neck in his mouth and closing his teeth into it.
Ryan. It had to be him in shifted form.
He was here to save her.
But she saw, beyond him, that Morton and Carlo had rushed toward them, both brandishing guns.
“Ryan!” she screamed. “Look out!”
Fortunately he was too connected with Vinnie for them to shoot without fear of hurting her, or so Maya believed. But they’d find a way. She was certain of it.
Meantime, Ryan had clearly heard her warning. Without lifting his mouth from Vinnie’s throat or his body from partly covering hers now on the ground, he managed to look in the men’s direction.
What was he going to do? Oh, lord, he couldn’t die because of her.
*
He had reacted immediately because he’d no choice. He would not allow them to harm Maya. He would not allow them to kill her.
But now they would kill him, and if so they might yet do the unthinkable with Maya.
Wouldn’t they be thrilled? A second dead human along with the corpse of a wolf, assuming he didn’t change back. They would get away with all this and still be able to make claims that could lead to the murders of shifters as well as the death of feral wolves.
Revenge? Maybe. He had been listening before leaping in. But they should have found those who had killed Vinnie’s family, not taken out their fury against all wolves…or shifters.
At least now he could harbor no further doubt that Pete wasn’t the one to attack Vinnie Fritts.
What could he do? If he stayed as he was, they might not shoot since they would hit the human woman with whom he had entwined his body. But this could not last forever.
Even with his human cognition, he did not come up with an immediate solution. Yet this sort of standoff could not last long.
But then—he saw another form bound out of the forest, a wolf who resembled him. No, a wolf-dog. Rocky.
His cover dog had no weapons to fight off the attackers except his teeth, which would do no good against guns. Yet maybe he could act as enough of a distraction…
“Get them!” That was Piers, who now appeared at the edge of the forest from which Rocky had emerged. He was a soldier, a member of Alpha Force, yet he probably had brought no weaponry here into the forest. Why would he? But he was giving Rocky commands that might lead to the dog’s death.
“Yeah, get ’em,” cried another human voice. Pete was suddenly there at Piers’s side, still in human form, holding up a phone to take pictures.
But the photos would only show him, in shifted form, and possibly Rocky attacking humans—unless Maya could turn and show how she was bound.
The situation was pure confusion now. Who would get hurt—or killed? Who would survive?
He had to pull away, take charge, act like the Alpha Force member, the alpha member of his allied pack, that he was. Yet what would happen if he moved away from this miserable excuse for a human who now smelled like terror but would undoubtedly do all she could to kill him if he backed off?
And then—two more wolves appeared from behind the two human men, leaping into the clearing, each heading straight for those miserable humans with guns.
The Sharan parents, shifted? The scent told Ryan the answer. He appreciated that they wanted to help. Without human cognition, they would hopefully follow the lead of other members of this canine pack, including Rocky…and him.
But would they, too, get killed?
He could not allow that. He could not allow any of his current pack to be harmed in any major way.
He had to ensure that Maya remained all right.
The guns were suddenly pointed away from him. Oh, yes, he had to take charge immediately to save those brave older shifters. With a growl, he bit down once more before releasing the throat of the woman beneath him, hoping he had provided enough of an injury, and a warning, to stay where she was.
He sprang into action.
Thanks to Piers’s commands, Rocky was now behind the men they all had to bring down. The men now facing the Sharans with their weapons.
Ryan began barking as he leaped forward toward the armed thugs, causing Rocky to bark, too, even as he followed Ryan’s lead and bounded toward their enemies from behind.
They turned and fired their guns. Ryan felt a pain in his right side as he soared sideways to minimize their ability to target him. No matter. He was alive. And he saw no indication in that fleeting moment that anyone else had been hurt—except for Trev.
He crouched down momentarily as if badly injured, while Rocky hurled himself onto Morton’s back and brought him down.
Ryan showed their other shifted pack members what to do, jumping up once more and grabbing Carlo’s gun hand in his mouth, biting down. Hard. Shaking his head until the man, bloodied and shouting, released the gun.
One of the Sharans—Kathie?—hurled herself onto Carlo’s back, ensuring that the man could no longer rise.
The other, Burt, jumped on top of Morton, holding him facedown.
Had they won?
No—Vinnie had not accepted his warning. She now had her arm around Maya’s throat. “Let them all go!” she screamed. “I’ll kill her!”
“You’ll do it on camera,” Pete yelled, aiming his phone toward her.
Vinnie appeared not to care. Maya was clearly attempting to break away, sagging and twisting as her eyes looked furious and frightened. But Vinnie’s hands moved to clutch her throat.
At least that clawing weapon was on the ground, out of the way. But Vinnie obviously intended to choke the life out of Maya.
He had to count on the shifted Kathie and the fact that Piers was near them, crouching as if picking up one of the guns.
Ryan broke away from Carlo, feeling the injury he had suffered in his side and ignoring the pain. He wished for this moment that he was not in shifted form, that he could grab a gun and aim it at the fiend who was hurting the woman he loved.
Loved? He dared not think about that now.
He crouched once more as if in pain and crawled along the hard ground covered with leaves—and blood. His blood. But no matter.
He drew closer until—
“Stay there, you filthy creature!” Vinnie shrieked, obviously tugging harder at Maya’s throat. Maya appeared ready to lose consciousness.
To die?
No!
Ryan lay on the ground for another second, as if giving in, obeying, giving up—
And then he sprang forward right at Maya, who, wonderful woman, had also been playing at submission. She pulled sideways and down, allowing Ryan to leap right at Vinnie, grab her throat once more in his teeth and go into worrying mode, shaking and tearing more at the flesh and what was inside.
He did not want to kill her, but one human here had already died thanks to injuries to his throat.
�
�No!” Vinnie’s scream turned into a choked wail. She suddenly released Maya, clutching at her own throat even as she fell to the ground gagging and crying as Ryan held on.
In moments, Piers was there. He held a gun so its muzzle touched the top of Vinnie’s head. “I’ve got her,” he told Ryan. “It’s okay to let go.”
Ryan gave one more shake, then obeyed. He backed off slowly, making sure he saw what he hoped to: Piers in control of Vinnie.
The other canines were obeying commands Pete yelled at them, restraining one of the two formerly armed men: Carlo. Pete had put down his phone and had grabbed a leash—Rocky’s?—and bound Morton’s hands behind his back.
All was under control…now.
Only then did Ryan allow himself to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.
*
No. Oh, no. It was all supposed to be over. The bad guys were now under control, and sirens sounded in the distance. Pete must have already called the cops, and they’d be here soon to arrest the people who’d attacked her—and Ryan.
But Maya was a wreck. Her hands now free, she sat on the ground beside poor Ryan. At least he was still breathing. Still alive, with his eyes closed.
But how could his wounds be tended to? What physician would know what to do with a shapeshifter in animal form? Or should it be a veterinarian? And how could they keep it all a secret?
“We’ll be back soon,” Pete said and led two of the wolves back into the woods. The way he had been talking to them, they had to be his parents. Was he a shapeshifter, too? Maya would find out later, she figured. Right now, Pete held his phone in his hands and seemed to be looking at the screen even as he led the shifted wolves away.
Piers remained there, at least, holding what must be one of their own guns on the three evil people who’d started all this: Vinnie, Morton and Carlo. Rocky sat on the ground beside him, ears up and head edged forward, clearly ready to spring if any of those horrible humans dared to move.
Sirens drew closer as if cop cars raced toward the parking lot below them. As the noise stopped, Piers looked toward Maya.
Protector Wolf Page 23
