A Mate's Bite

15

Karla couldn’t believe how fast everything was moving. Her breaths tripped over each other in her chest. Nerves turned her fingers ice cold. She tried to keep it together, but fear wormed its way into her chest so fast it left her panting. Her brother fought the third man, but Kel wasn’t a shifter.

The big half-wolf shoved her brother hard, slamming him against Ellie’s car with a loud thump and the angry sound of shattering glass. She dug her hand into her cross-body bag, searching for a weapon. There. Mace. She glanced up, and the shifter ran for her. She wasn’t a fighter, but she was ready. Well, as ready as she could be. She squeezed the mace Emma and Jordan harassed her into carrying around and sprayed the guy in the eyes. He jumped back, but it was too late. The liquid hit the mark. He growled and rubbed his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. His nose ran, and his face was twisted in pain. His reaction gave Kel enough time to rush the shifter and tackled him to the ground.

Ellie and Jordan, along with the gray wolves they fought, were biting and scratching each other. All the wolves sported bites and claw marks. There was blood on all their coats, and Karla started to panic. From what she saw, both Ellie and Jordan had deep gashes over their torsos and on their muzzles. She had to do something to help, but what? She’d have to get in the thick of the fighting to spray the other animals and risk injury in the process. Not ideal, considering she’d be putting her child in harm’s way. Plus, she really didn’t know how to fight. She’d probably do more damage rushing in.

The gray wolf fighting Jordan bit down on one of Jordan’s hind legs, and she howled in pain. That did it. She couldn’t let her friend suffer.

“Get out of here and stay safe!” Kel ordered.

Like hell. She might not be a violent person, but she wasn’t a punk either. She couldn’t leave her friends out there, fighting alone. She yanked out her cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”

“Some teachers are being attacked at the back of our school by shifters. We need help. Now!”

“Calm down, ma’am. Please give me the address to your school.”

Karla gave the school address on her run to Jordan’s car.

“I need you to repeat the address, ma’am.” The operator’s voice cut in and out.

She rushed the words out and yanked Jordan’s door open.

“Ma’am? Please repeat—”

The line went dead. She glanced at her cell phone. Her battery had died.

“Frickin’ hell!” For a non-violent person she was ready to beat the crap out of the phone.

With the press of a button, she popped the trunk and ran for the back of the car. If she knew one thing, it was that Jordan loved to carry around weapons to defend herself. After all the attacks on Jordan’s life, Karla could certainly understand. But Karla came from a non-violent family. A screwed up, but non-violent family.

Sure enough, there was a double-barrel shotgun in there. She was a decent shot, but with handguns and only because Emma and Jordan considered going to the shooting range female bonding time. She had no idea how well she’d do with a shot gun. But there was no time to think about it. She shoved some shells into the shot gun and picked up the loaded weapon. With a quickness she’d never thought she possessed, she pointed it at the shifter slashing gashes at her brother. Poor Kel tried to throw punches in there, but the other guy was big and strong. Not to mention he had claws.

Aim. Fire. Land on your ass. The kickback from the shotgun wasn’t one she was used to, and sure enough, she landed on her ass from the force of the shot. But her efforts didn’t go to waste. She hit the shifter on his shoulder. The sound drew the attention of the other two, and she scrambled to her knees to aim the shotgun one more time. There wasn’t a chance to shoot. The two wolves and half-shifted man took off just as quickly as they’d attacked.

She ran for her brother. He sat up with a groan. Multiple deep gashes covered his chest and bloodied his torn clothing.

“Oh my God, Kel! Are you okay?” A loud sob choked the back of her throat. Tears ran down her face, blurring her vision. Great time for her hormones to show up.

“I’m fine. A little bruised and scratched is all.” He struggled to his feet and leaned on Ellie’s car.

She didn’t believe him for a second. The amount of blood spoke of deep cuts. She couldn’t even see clearly through his torn clothing, but knew he had to be hurting.

She rushed back to Jordan’s car and grabbed a couple of blankets and her “Furry Ass Repair Tote” also known as FART. Knowing it was possible to shift at any given time, they all carried some blankets around to cover up if they tore through their clothes. Though Ellie and Jordan are cut up, they aren’t groaning in pain, which tells her they might just be superficial wounds. Nor were they heavily bleeding any longer. Crouching down, she covered Ellie and then Jordan. That allowed the women to shift back to their human bodies. If only they’d had Mike stick around after the class. He’d have been able to help. Those few minutes meant her brother was wounded all over.

Her gaze focused on Kel’s cell on the floor next to him. He must’ve dropped it during the fight with the shifter. With a red battery light ready to give out, she took no chances with 9-1-1 and dialed Nate instead.

“Hey, beautiful.” His smooth voice calmed the near frantic beating of her heart and pushed back the bile burning the back of her throat.

“Where are you?” Anxiety coursed through her, causing her voice to tremble.

“Thirsty Wolfe.”

Damn it. Nate’s bar sat across town almost forty minutes away on a good traffic day.

“I need you. Some wolves attacked when we were leaving the school.” She said the words so fast they tripped over each other.

“Are you okay?” His voice turned into a rough growl.

She tried to choke back the fear over the amount of bleeding her brother had. “Yes, but Ellie, Jordan, and Kel need help. I tried to call 9-1-1 from my cell but it died on me. The operator and I had connection issues.”

“We’ll be there soon.”

“Hurry!”