The Panther's Rival

by Emilia Hartley

  “Saved by the bell,” Eli said, “Looks like my old friend Crunch is here to give me some good news. I’ll be back for you later.”

  He tossed the rifle over his shoulder as he flicked the stereo switch off. The music died but Tess’s ears still rang. He pushed open the sliding glass door, appearing on the balcony.

  “Ah, Crunch. There you are. I was starting to wonder if you’d show at all. I was just entertaining some guests,” Eli said.

  “You let them go and I’ll talk,” Crunch replied out of sight.

  “Counter offer, I shoot this one here to prove to you I’m serious, then I go find that little girl of yours and you can decide if you still want to stay quiet,” Eli scoffed.

  Tess heard a deep growl emanate from outside. She’d never heard Crunch when he was angry and she didn’t want to hear it again.

  “Fine,” he shouted, “but you gotta show me that they’re all safe.”

  “Deal,” Eli shouted. He walked back inside from the balcony, grabbing Tess by the arm as he passed. She brought the screwdriver along, tucking it inside her sleeve.

  “Bring ‘em out, Scab,” Eli said as they made their way down the small staircase. Scab waved his gun to beckon the girls outside. Beth and Greta were the first to comply, followed by Cynthia who spat in Scab’s face as she passed. Tess laughed to herself when she saw the anger fuming on Scab’s face. He lifted the gun, starting to aim at Cynthia but was stopped by the hunter who rested his rifle barrel on the pistol. “Sorry, not just yet. Not until after we’ve had our fun.”

  Scab sneered as the hunter pulled Tess outside to join with the other women who were lining up in front of Crunch. Where was Connor? Where was Alex? They were supposed to come to the rescue, but instead the only one that came was Crunch.

  “Hey Cyn,” Crunch said with a wave. She smiled and waved back.

  “Oh great, I’m glad you two were able to catch up,” Eli said. Scab stood behind the line, his arms crossed with his pistol at the ready. “Now, since you see they’re quite unharmed, maybe you could go about answering my questions.”

  Crunch sighed, then nodded.

  “Great!” Eli shouted, “First question: Where is Cliff Walker den?”

  “All real wolves know where it is,” he snapped back, “What does that say about you?”

  Boom!

  Eli fired the rifle into the air. The sound of the rifle going off sent a shockwave through Tess’s body. The bullet that before might have ended her life was gone, but he was already reloading while he continued to speak.

  “Wrong answer, Crunch. You only get one of those. The next one you don’t answer goes straight into the skull of this beautiful young woman.” He pointed the loaded gun at Tess’s head. “Did you know that she’s pregnant? I call it a Two-fer. Get rid of two mutts with just a single bullet.”

  She wailed, no longer able to hold back her fear, giving into the tears that she was barely holding at bay. She stared into Crunch’s face, hoping he wouldn’t say the wrong thing. Her life depended on him.

  “Okay, okay,” he said. One of the nearby biker’s handed him a map. He looked at it for a second before drawing a clearly marked ‘X’ on it. “A real alpha would already know.” He spat in the dirt in front of Eli.

  “Second question: Where-”

  Kaboom!

  On the far side of the campsite, by the other motorcycles, an explosion filled the night sky. A ball of fire reached toward the heavens and where Eli’s van had once stood proudly was a burning husk of metal.

  “What the hell did you do!?” Eli shouted. In the confusion, Crunch ran towards the distracted Eli and delivered a haymaker that sent him reeling back.

  “I brought friends,” he said.

  Scab was caught by the noise, clutching at his ears. When he came to his senses he leveled his gun at the prisoners, readying to fire. Cynthia, not wanting to be shown up by her father, spun on her heels and tackled the gunman to the ground. His firearm skittered in the sand toward Beth.

  “That’s my girl,” Crunch shouted.

  Beth snagged the pistol with her free arm, juggling Greta in her other. The camp was chaos. The gathered bikers were running about, trying to put out the flames of the car that were already spreading to the evergreen tree it was sitting under. The fire caught on one of the cabins and was engulfed almost instantly. The poor biker that was inside came screaming from the door and leapt into the lake to save his skin, literally.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Beth said.

  “Not so fast, drop it,” Torque said, pumping a shotgun. Beth tossed the pistol back to the ground, “I knew you would hatch some idiotic escape plan. Where the hell are the other two, call them out right now.” He shouldered his gun and pointed it at Crunch who sighed in defeat.

  Eli stirred on the ground. Scab retrieved his pistol as he joined Torque.

  “Connor! Alex!” Crunch shouted. His voice bellowed through the entire area so loud that even a dead man could have heard it. After a moment, neither of them showed, Torque was getting impatient. He marched in close and pressed the shotgun to Crunch’s head.

  “Get them out here right now!” he said.

  Eli finally stood to his feet; he did his best to shake off the punch he’d received but considering Crunch’s size it took a second.

  Connor limped his way down the single road that led out of camp. Only one of his legs could hold his weight so he leaned hard on a tall walking stick. Tess gasped when she saw the body of her beaten and broken man.

  “Connor!” she shouted. She ran to meet her man. A look of sheer determination was plastered on his face. Tess planted kiss after kiss on every part of him her lips could find. Connor eased himself onto Tess, letting his makeshift crutch clatter to the ground.

  “I missed you,” he said. He held her so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  “How touching,” Eli said, rubbing at his jaw. “So, now we’re just waiting on the other little shit before we can have the family reunion.”

  Connor started to shuffle forward. Tess held him up, putting his arm over her shoulder as he moved.

  “I’m going to give you one chance to surrender,” Connor said, bringing himself within a couple feet of his foe.

  Eli gasped, but then laughed. It was a deep belly laugh that shook his entire body. He doubled over to catch his breath.

  “Surrender? When I have you all here? We’re just waiting on … what … that other little shit that I shot in the back? Is he going to make a miracle recovery and come jumping out of the woods to save your life?”

  Alex popped out from behind Scab, beating him in the back of the head with a rock. He collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll, losing consciousness. At the same time, Samantha leapt from the shadows, with a large clubbing stick and brought the full force of her blow down to meet Torque’s head. It wasn’t quite enough to knock him out, but it was enough to distract him as Crunch balled up his fist and let it fly into Torque’s jaw.

  “Goodnight Torque,” Crunch said, spitting on his unconscious body.

  “Lucky number three,” Sam said with a giggle.

  “I never was one for surprises,” Eli smacked himself in the head in frustration. He stood still for a moment, eyeing the group that stood against him. In a flash of movement Eli snagged Tess by the arm, drew his knife, and had her by the throat.

  Connor tried to lean on his one good leg but lost his balance.

  “I guess nobody here likes surprises,” he said. “I’ll just be taking this one with me.”

  Eli kicked open the cabin door, pulling Tess along as his hostage. She tried to resist but the knife was so close to her throat she could feel the sting of the silver against her skin. Once they were inside, he kicked the door shut, dragging her toward the staircase in the back

  “I really liked that van I’ll have you know,” he said, “that ammo wasn’t cheap. It’ll take me some time to source more.”

  The
cabin door flew open for Connor to enter. He stood firm on his bad leg. The staples that held his wound together were twisting against his movement. As he walked forward, they ripped from his skin and blood began to flow from down his leg in a trickle.

  “Tess!” he shouted.

  “You’ll never learn, will you,” Eli said. He lifted Tess up the stairway. From behind Connor came the rest of the pack. Alex, Cynthia, Beth and Greta, Crunch, Samantha, they all followed closely behind Connor.

  In the loft, the fires from the ignited cabins outside cast strange shadows on the walls. From this angle you could only see the destruction below.

  The jostling from being pulled along had caused the knife to bite into her skin, leaving tiny lacerations along her neck. Eli pressed on, pulling her to the box in the back where before he’d grabbed the rifle. He kept his arm around Tess, sifting through the box for another gun.

  “I gave you a chance to surrender,” Connor said as he limped his way to the top of the stairs. His face had the grim look of determination. It was clear he had but a single goal in mind, now.

  “Have you met me?” Eli said, digging through his pockets for ammunition. “I’m the definition of a survivor!”

  Connor stamped bloody footprints with each step he took on the cold wooden floor. Closer and closer he stepped, the quickened breathing of the hunter relayed his fear.

  With the rifle loaded, he raised it with a single arm and aimed at Connor.

  “You should have stayed out of this, boy,” he said.

  Tess looked down to see his finger starting to pull the trigger. Her hand clutched at the screwdriver from earlier. With as much force as she could muster she jabbed it into his hand as he pulled the trigger. The bullet skimmed along Connor’s unflinching cheek, drawing a clean line of blood.

  Eli howled in pain, dropping the gun. Tess broke free, joining Connor, burying her face under his shoulder.

  “I was going to let the bears deal with you. They deserve that much. But, you threatened Tess.” He took a step closer, Eli’s eyes widened with fear as he dug the screwdriver from his hand. “You threatened my unborn child.” Another step. The hunter clutched at his hand. “You threatened my family. And, for that, I’ll kill you myself.”

  The hunter looked over the crowd of unfriendly faces. Crunch was squeezing his fists into large balls, ready to pound. Alex growled while holding Cynthia by the waist. The bears leered from the corner. They wouldn’t let him escape either.

  “You’re forgetting one thing,” Eli said, “A smart person knows when to run away.” He turned, covering his face as he smashed through the sliding door and leapt from the balcony. Connor made to give chase but instead fell to his knee. He’d used up what little strength he had left.

  “Connor!” Tess shouted. She clutched him in her arms, holding him in her lap.

  “That went well,” he said. A smirk formed on his stoic face. Tess held her hand on his cheek.

  “I knew you’d come,” she said.

  Crunch stomped over to the crate of guns in the back. He stuffed the errant rifle in the box then hoisted the entire thing to his shoulder.

  “No time for pleasantries, we need to get out of here before they regroup,” Alex said. He pulled off his shirt, setting it against the blood flowing from Connor’s leg and pulling it tight. “I’ve done this once before.” He winked at Samantha.

  Tess helped get Connor back to his … foot. As quickly as they could manage they ran out of the cabin.

  “Dammit!” Crunch barked, “That shitbag stole my bike!” Alex hefted the unconscious Torque over his shoulder. “I loved that bike.”

  They ran past the burning houses. Motorcycles blared as the bikers took off in all directions. Eventually, Tess saw their yellow truck waiting for them. Samantha leapt into the driver’s seat while Beth and Greta joined her in the cab. Everyone else piled into the bed. It was a tight fight but it was all they had.

  Tess watched the cabins burn with satisfaction as the truck trundled down the bumpy old road. For miles she saw the thick ashy smoke rise over the horizon. With Connor in her arms, she allowed herself the opportunity to relax. It was over, for now.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Not so rough!” Connor shouted.

  Tess knew how to sew. Although she’d never worked on a person’s leg before, how hard could it be?

  “It needs to be closed properly. Otherwise it won’t heal right,” she said. She was glad to be able to take a moment with Connor. Considering the intimate place where he’d received the wound, it only made sense that she would be the one to sew it back closed.

  She still felt the tears behind her eyes. Everything felt so surreal. Connor saved her, and they’d made it back to the den already.

  “Done!” she said as she snipped off the last of the thread with her sewing scissors. “It’ll heal fine. Maybe in a couple days you’ll be out and around. I guess my dad will have to keep things together for a while longer.”

  Connor took her hand while she was putting everything away. He pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lips.

  “I’m fine with taking some time off,” Connor said.

  “Oh, are you now,” Tess said, tapping his leg with her hand. He winced from the pain. “It’s a good thing that wound isn’t a little bit higher. Otherwise I’d be stuck without a man to ride.”

  His boner pressed against the waist of his shorts. It had been so long since they’d had sex that Tess was starting to wonder how long she would have to wait.

  “I guess some things never change,” she said. Her heart thumped in her chest. She wanted to reward her savior. Seeing him stroll through the fight, risking life and limb to save her, she couldn’t wait to jump into his arms.

  Connor took her by the shoulders, planting a delicate kiss on her lips. She couldn’t contain her joy any longer. She was greedy for more. Her hands ran from his neck, down the valley between his pecks, over his rock hard abs, and pried his cock from his waistband.

  She grasped, barely fitting her hand around it. She worked along the length of his shaft and he shuddered.

  “I’m glad you have enough energy left for this,” she said.

  “Alpha males are known for their legendary stamina,” he replied.

  “Let’s find out,” she replied. Connor hooked his fingers under the edge of her shirt and lifted it over her head. Her perky nipples poked out to greet him.

  He took one in his hands, kneading the nipple. Her sensitive tips responded, sending a shiver down her spine. Connor pulled her in close, locking his lips with hers. This was what she wanted. Her mind was alight with excitement and it showed in her nethers.

  She felt the warmth of her body get ready to accept her partner. With haste, she tore off her leggings and cast them aside.

  “I want you,” she said.

  She felt his dick tense when she said it, then pulled her panties aside, letting the tip of his cock play with her wet, inviting slit. She toyed with his cock against her excited clit. She inhaled sharply at the little bolts of lightning that spread through her body.

  Still she wanted more.

  She lined him up his cock with her wet hole and eased herself on top of him. He juices poured down his chick member, allowing him to slide in with ease. Inch by inch she squatted lower, letting her man fill her completely.

  His hand still massaged her breast; she cupped his hands with her own, letting the pleasure take her. She started working her hips, letting his thick penis withdraw before coming back down.

  She was slow at first, being careful to not injure him further. But, when he started to moan with delight she chanced going faster. As he drove into her over and over she could feel an orgasm start to swell inside of her. She concentrated on it, holding it at bay as long as she could.

  Up, down. The bed squeaked as she bounced. She closed her eyes and bit her lip to hold on just a moment longer. Connor took her by the waist, assisting with his powerful biceps. She wrapped her hands around them.


  Connor worked her as he wanted. She was just along for the ride now. Within moments, she felt his dick tensing inside of her, as it did; a sudden wave of release took her. Tess threw her head back. She would have screamed but her entire body clenched tightly. Connor held her on top of him as they both came.

  Satisfaction took her over. She slumped over beside her man, both of them now spent.

  “Glad to have you back,” she said.

  “Glad to be back,” he replied. He rolled over; his arm pulled her in tight. She rested against his chest, taking in the sounds of his heartbeat. It was all that she wanted, and she was glad to have it.

  CHAPTER 18

  “Can I trust you with this, Alex?” Connor asked.

  “Let me get this straight. You need me to go up the mountain, to the Cliff Walker den, and tell them to prepare for the fight of their lives? How hard can that be?” Alex shrugged while rolling his eyes.

  “I’m serious now, Eli knows where they are. He’ll be coming.”

  “I know, I know,” Alex said, “I just wish I could go with you to the bear den. Wolves don’t go there so I’m curious as to what it looks like.”

  “You’ll get your chance,” Connor said, “Hell, you’re friends with Samantha, right? I’m sure she can take you there whenever.”

  “I guess,” Alex replied.

  Tess stood beside Connor while they all chatted in the kitchen. It had only been a day since they got back. Marcus was still acting as the pack leader while Connor dealt with other matters.

  “Tess, I want you to go with your brother. Cliff Walker den is still much safer than keeping you here. If the bears decide to attack here again there’s a good chance we’ll lose.” He was sure to keep his voice down so the rest of the pack wouldn’t hear.

  “No!” she replied.

  “You’re going and that’s final,” Connor said, “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you again. We might have Torque to help us get in the front door at the den, but once we’re inside there’s no telling what will happen to us.”