by Amelia Jade
Not that he felt the same about his attacker.
His eyes focused and a businesslike look formed upon his face as he stalked across the distance to where his attacker waited for him. The fact that he was dragging the fight out by not coming toward Josh told the bear shifter that his friends must be nearby. Had they somehow found the hotel that Hannah was staying at? Or was it a huge coincidence that they were staying there too?
That seemed a little farfetched to Josh, but it wasn’t something he could completely rule out. Either way, it was time to stop reacting and start acting. He took the robe in both hands, snapping it tight between them. Dodging a right hook, he saw what he was waiting for coming next.
The shifter let loose with a left jab aimed at Josh’s face. He planted his weight on his forward foot, stopping his forward momentum. The fist came at him and he jerked himself backward at the same time his hands whipped up and around the now neatly outstretched fist, wrapping the robe tight.
Now Josh spun away and dropped sharply to one knee as he pulled the robe tight to his chest. This had the effect of yanking the attacker’s arm out and around until it landed on Josh’s shoulder at the elbow. He growled and shot back up, at the same time pushing his arms from chest to waist.
The man’s arm broke cleanly, the grisly sound right next to his ear causing him to feel slightly queasy, but he didn’t have time for that. Josh spun, planted his left foot, and kicked out hard with his right. The sole of his boot hit the man directly in the chest, throwing him back toward the entrance and through the glass to outside.
“Stay down,” he growled as the man popped back to his feet, tugging on his broken arm to set it in place so he could begin to heal, and then charging after Josh.
Hannah.
He darted toward the stairs, knowing the elevator would take far too long.
“Put it on my card!” he shouted at the front desk manager who was looking at him wide-eyed.
“O-Okay,” the young man said with a jerky shake of his head, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed nervously. “Wait!” the screechy voice called after him.
Josh, for some reason he couldn’t fathom, slowed slightly in his mad dash. “WHAT?” he shouted when the man wasn’t coming.
“What room?”
Laughter broke out among the other people who had been in the lobby and had seen everything.
“It’s 816,” he shouted back after a hesitation. He had almost given Hannah’s room, instead of the one he had been assigned.
Stay in her room one night and you’re already getting confused? Get it together!
He berated himself with a smile as he flew up the stairs.
“Fuck!” he shouted as another shifter flew out of the second-floor door and collided with him.
Josh thudded against the landing, his head cracking hard against the glass. The hotel was an older building that had been recently refinished, but they hadn’t removed the huge glass windows on the landings between floors in the stairways. The multicolored stained glass cast a reddish tinge over the beige-painted floor and walls, as if foreshadowing the blood Josh would have to spill if he were to make it back to her.
“Who are you people?” he snarled, going on the offensive immediately.
A flurry of blows drove his attacker back up a set of stairs, past the second-floor door and then to the landing above it.
Then it came to him. Most shifters wouldn’t fight others, except for one reason. “You’re mercs, aren’t you?” he guessed.
The other man only smiled, but it confirmed his suspicion. Great. Hired guns, and good ones, too. They know how to fight and not just brawl.
He ducked a spinning leg kick that he barely saw in time, as if to put an emphasis on his point.
Josh had a trick of his own, however, and as he ducked he let his arms fall to the floor and support his whole weight. Then he drew back both his legs and flung them at the man, who was now off balance for that split second of recovery needed from his own kick.
Size fifteen custom-made combat boots connected with the man and sent him flying backward. It would have been no more than a painful blow to the chest normally.
But normally there wasn’t a giant floor-to-window fragile glass window behind the man.
The shifter mercenary screamed as the force of the blow sent him through it and into a three-story plunge below.
Josh turned and darted up the stairs, but he paused at the next floor when he heard a sound from outside that didn’t sound like a body hitting concrete. He glanced outside and then cursed under his breath as he raced up the rest of the stairs.
The pool would be right there.
With an angry scowl he burst into their room. The sudden violent moment flung Hannah from the bed as she dropped into a crouch, prepared to defend herself. He raised an eyebrow at both the reaction speed and her nakedness.
He hadn’t even opened his mouth before she began to hurriedly pull on clothing.
“I’ve lived a life on the run,” she said. “I know what that entrance and what that look means. Now watch the door until I’m ready.”
“I’ll get Chad. I’ll shout if I see anyone,” he said, spinning and going to the room next door, where he hammered repeatedly on the door.
There was no answer, so he pulled back and drove his shoulder into it, splintering the frame as the door gave way under his blow.
Chad wasn’t there.
“He’s not here!” he shouted.
“I’ll call him,” Hannah said as she came from the room, cell phone already in hand.
“Elevator,” he said.
Hannah looked at him like he was crazy.
“We go up a floor,” he explained. “They won’t be on it going up, and they’ll still be searching for us here.”
She shrugged and followed him to the far stairwell where they went up a floor and punched the button to summon the elevator.
“This seems insane,” she remarked as soothing jazz music played softly from the speaker above their head.
“Which is why it’s going to work,” he said.
“He’s not picking up,” Hannah snapped, shoving her phone back into her pocket after sending him a text message.
The door opened to reveal an empty car.
Josh smiled and waved her inside. “Ladies first,” he said with an over-the-top formality to it.
Hannah smiled and walked in, using the two steps to let her hips sway wildly.
“You minx,” he purred as they pushed the button for the first floor parking garage together.
Hannah just held his hand in response, her fingers entwined in his.
***
It only took seconds, but the elevator ride was a moment that would last an eternity in his memory. A pool of calm surrounded by the chaos. An unknown hit team of mercenary shifters were after Hannah, most likely because of what she was, though nobody seemed to know for sure. Still, that time of serenity was some of the happiest he had been in a long, long time.
Certainly he had never felt giddier holding a girl’s hand than he did with Hannah’s.
The doors dinged open to reveal an empty parking lot, increasing his hopes that they would make a clean escape.
“This way,” he said, tugging her hand in the direction his truck was parked. He took off at a low run, trying to stay hidden behind the cars if at all possible.
The pair weaved their way around vehicles and concrete support poles, but at one point Josh came to an abrupt halt. His ears were tingling. Pausing, he listened carefully, then saw the same look cross Hannah’s face.
There were people up ahead. He was tempted to look over or around the car they were hiding behind to see if he could see them, but knew that might make too much motion. Hannah was ahead of him though, and she slid under the nearest car and slowly inched her way to the front. She stopped for a moment, then shuffled backward and rolled out from under it. Taking a moment to brush dirt from her hands and knees, she looked at him and shook her head.
She held up two fingers, then pointed at both of them and pantomimed shifting and animals.
He nodded, then pointed at him, and raised his hands as if to ask “Do they look like bear shifters?”
Hannah nodded.
So, at least two more bear shifters, unless these just so happened to be the ones who he had encountered earlier. It seemed unlikely, since to his knowledge most of the shifter merc teams out there operated in squads of five. He needed more firepower.
Josh pulled his phone out and sent a text, shoving it away after he ensured the volume was off. The last thing he wanted was to be given away by something as stupid as a ringtone.
He tapped Hannah on the shoulder, and pointed up at the exit sign that hung almost right above them. She nodded and he turned and headed back into the cars.
Where he kicked a piece of metal that went flying across the floor before bouncing off a concrete pillar and into the air and hitting the side of a car, making a metallic clunk.
“What was that?” a voice from near his truck said, and seconds later footsteps pounded their way.
“Run!” he shouted, pushing Hannah in front of him as they made a mad dash for the ramp that led up to the street level.
More shouts and cries came from behind them as their pursuit followed them. Soles slammed against the concrete as they raced out into daylight and through the traffic of the street, dodging moving cars in their attempt to get away.
A quick glance over his shoulder showed him that their friends had picked up a third, the man he had tossed in the pool earlier. Revenge burned in his eyes, spurring Josh to move even faster. He didn’t like their chances in a straight-up fistfight, and they couldn’t just go shifting in the middle of public. Although shifters were a known commodity, that sort of thing still brought about unwanted attention, and wasn’t overly accepted.
“Where are we going?” Hannah puffed as they darted along the sidewalk, weaving in and around the pedestrians out doing their normal business.
“City Center Park,” he replied. “Forty acres, downtown. We can either lose them, or deal with them,” he told her, his blood flowing swifter at the feral look that crossed her face.
Fuck she’s so sexy. I may have outdone myself here.
Their pursuers picked up the pace, as if they realized where the pair were headed. Josh and Hannah had built up enough of a lead that they were able to duck into the park and through a copse of trees ahead of them.
“Now!” Josh cried and opened himself up to his bear.
The beast came roaring forth as it split his skin, emerging with an earth-shaking landing as he leaned forward, four massive paws digging huge furrows in the ground as he spun to face the entrance.
Beside him, Hannah had thrown herself into the air, the transformation taking place as she flew. She landed next to him, darting wide, ready to hit them in the flank.
The pair didn’t have to wait long before the first mercenary came barreling through. Josh hadn’t expected him to shift, but the bear that emerged had its teeth showing and came at him like a freight truck. Josh charged to meet it. He needed to figure out if these men had been taught to fight like a human while in bear form, or if they relied on brute strength.
The ground trembled as the two titans collided, rising up on their rear legs to battle each other.
Josh grinned internally as his foe just tried to swing his paws.
Amateur.
Between that and the way he had emerged before his friends, it doomed the bear. Hannah dove at him from behind and her abnormally powerful jaws ripped at his hind leg, going for the Achilles tendon. While a normal wolf would have no business fighting a bear, werewolves were anything but normal. Hannah’s animal had to be four feet high at the shoulder and easily more than six feet long. Her jaws snapped closed tightly and the bear roared in agony.
Josh slashed open his opponent’s belly as he tried to turn to deal with Hannah, and then a giant paw slapped into the merc’s head, dropping him.
There was no time to finish him however, as the other pair emerged from the trees in flanking maneuvers, moving wide to try and separate them.
Without thinking, Josh and Hannah turned and went after the nearest bear, charging at it. The third shifter roared and came after them, but it would take him precious seconds to catch them.
In that time, the pair opened half a dozen wounds on the shifter, working in tandem together. Blood dripped from his claws as they moved past the mercenary and into the open before his friend could arrive.
They continued the dance across the open field as pedestrians scattered from the battle. The third shifter tried once to get back into the battle, but Josh broke his front arm and then Hannah found the same rear leg, this time ripping his Achilles in half. With one down, they worked to isolate one of the remaining two.
Josh roared with anger as the enemy shifter landed a solid blow into Hannah’s flank, sending her tumbling. The werewolf woman was hard to put down, and even as Josh charged into a brawl with both of them, she kept them distracted enough for him to use his skills to overwhelm them. Using his bear’s body as a finely-tuned machine of destruction was not something many shifters trained for. They often relied on numbers or brute strength. Josh’s blows were exacting and precise, aiming for the most pain or where blood flowed profusely.
He took hits in return, and was pretty sure one of them had broken something inside him, but eventually the attackers broke and ran in the direction of the hotel.
Hannah nudged him as he stood looking after them, motioning behind them to the big forest that occupied the middle of the park. He nodded and they ran off. Hannah was limping, but she didn’t let it slow her down.
They lost themselves in the forest, taking a dip in a pond to cleanse themselves of blood before shifting back.
“Wow,” he said as they sat back against a tree, taking a moment to recover.
“Yeah,” she panted, her chest heaving from the exertion of the run and then the fighting.
Josh always marveled at what he called “fight time.” The entire thing had taken maybe a minute or three, but to him it had felt like an hour. His muscles screamed for oxygen even now, driven to their breaking point by his desperate actions.
“Remind me to take those guys on with backup next time, okay?” he said with a laugh.
Hannah smiled, rolled over to him, and kissed him full on the lips. “Let’s go my ferocious protector, before they come back with friends. The others can’t be far behind.”
Exhausted, he nodded but forced himself to his feet. He realized the phone in his pocket was vibrating and pulled it out.
“It’s Jared,” he said, answering it as they began to move on.
“Josh, where are you?”
“City Center Park,” he breathed. “West side along Empress street. Hurry up.”
“Connor is near your position. Get to the road and wait for him.”
The line went dead. If either side had needed to say more, they would have.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand once more. “Our ride is this way.”
The pair took off together.
Chapter Fourteen
Hannah
Despite the frantic morning, Hannah found herself in a happy mood as Josh pointed to a truck pulling up to the side of the road. She climbed into the front seat at his insistence, saying hi to Connor. She had met him briefly, but didn’t know him well.
The big shifter sniffed at the air and frowned. “You smell like wet dog.”
Hannah sat bolt upright and stared at Josh in horror. He was giving her the same look back.
They had forgotten about the fact that nobody else knew she was a werewolf!
“You can smell that?” she asked in dismay, trying to pretend like she knew about it.
Connor nodded as he eased them back into traffic. “Yes, it’s not exactly…subtle.”
She laughed, embarrassed. “We jumped in a pond, and there was a dog there. I love dogs
,” she said, fabricating the lie as she went. “I gave him a hug. I thought it had dried off by now. Josh hadn’t said anything about it,” she said, turning a glare at him.
He shrugged. “Not my place, ma’am,” he told her formally, dropping back into the bodyguard role with ease.
Hannah frowned internally, but a quick wink reassured her that he was only acting.
Connor looked back and forth between the two of them, as if he didn’t buy what they were selling, but in the end he and Josh shared a look, which was enough to silence him.
“What do we do now?” Connor asked, moving on from the subject. Hannah sensed he wasn’t done with it, but was willing to leave it for now.
“My brother is still out there,” she said, checking her own phone, but there was still nothing from him. “I think they may have gotten to him. It’s not like him to take this long to get back to me.” She frowned.
“Let’s go take a lap of the hotel,” Josh suggested.
Hannah sat back, her phone held tight in her hand so she could feel if it went off to notify her of anything. Something was going on, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“The others are behind us now,” Josh told her, giving her a pat on the shoulder as he pointed in the sideview mirror from the back seat.
She longed to reach out and grab his hand, to hold it, to nuzzle it against her cheek. But she couldn’t. She just smiled at him instead and looked behind them to see two more trucks and a bike following them, almost in a convoy.
“Why are you all in separate vehicles?” she asked.
“Didn’t know where you were,” Connor explained. “Easier to split up just in case you need a ride ASAP. Turns out you did.”
She nodded, sitting back in the seat as they approached the hotel. It was on the corner, a big building that followed the road. The building was shaped like an L, with the back corner open for the pool, patio, and other outdoor areas, which were hidden from the street.
