Gram turned to the other ghost and asked, “Where? How?”
“The skinwalker hid them at his lair, and just now they’re coming out.”
Stormy and Maddox moved forward in the direction of the desolate ravine where the skinwalker had lived. Just past the family cemetery, and where Gram was buried.
Bly and Bull and his crew started after them.
I looked to Gram. “We’ll talk after.”
She nodded, and with that, I let go of Wade’s hand and started running after the rest.
They would not face the skinwalker or fight the pack of wolves that had followed me here without me.
Wade ran right beside me, and for some reason, that felt right. Having him beside me.
We didn’t get far when as if out of nowhere figures walked out of the night and over twenty werewolves appeared.
The skinwalker must have cloaked them for them to have been able to just materialize out of the night like that.
We really needed to kill that son-of-a-bitch off for good this time.
I recognized the three from the alley—they still had limps and scars that hadn’t healed yet (which pleased my puma greatly).
Then a huge man walked out of the darkness, shirtless, tattooed and fearsome.
But he wasn’t what I was suddenly homed in on.
He was dragging something behind him, and with very little effort he pulled that thing up and held her out by the back of her neck for all to see.
Chelsea…
No… nonononono!
The bastards had followed her home. And now she was here in the middle of this.
Even as dark as it was I could well see that they had beaten her, cuts and bruises and dried blood decorated her pale face. Her clothes were torn as well.
Oh god, what had they done to her?
My puma surged forward, yearning to burst from me and attack. Chelsea was one of ours. She would taste that bastard’s blood before the night was through.
I pushed her back. It wasn’t time.
“Let her go!” I said, my voice raw and infused with my puma’s wild fury.
I could practically feel every shifter standing in line with us, how much they wanted to rip these monsters apart. And even though they didn’t know Chelsea at all, every single one of them wanted to save her.
I saw Bull reach out a big hand to hold Benny back. He was practically vibrating with coiled violence.
The man holding Chelsea up by her neck looked us all over, his gaze lingering on Stormy, and then finally falling on me.
“I’m Ford, alpha of my pack.” His face was sinisterly handsome, his hair long and dark brown. “And you owe three of my men reparations.”
Was he kidding?
“Your men came after me in public,” I called out. “They got what they deserved.”
“Cortez is our territory. They had every right to take you.”
Oh wow, he really said that. Worse, he believed it.
“You and your man there will pay for that with your blood.” His teeth glinted white in the darkness, a primal baring of teeth.
Wade growled a fierce, low rumbling that wrapped around me and comforted me.
“I already gave blood this month, I’ve got a Red Cross card somewhere… so I’ll pass on the offer.”
I heard Stormy chuckle.
Ford’s expression flattened. “The… thing said you were a tart-tongued whore.”
“Shut up!” Stormy commanded, and the sound of distant thunder echoed with her words.
Ford laughed, looking up at the sky and then back to my sister. His eyes were glowing pure white, intense like…
“I can do that too,” he said, and then with a flick of his hand a bolt of lightning shot from him and raced toward Stormy.
She jumped out of the way, just barely.
A heartbeat later the werewolf had his eyes set on me, his hand pointed right at me.
I saw the brightness of the lightning, and then Wade jumped in front of me, his hands grabbing me to try and pull me out of the way.
Searing pain ran through me and blackness smothered me.
The last thing I saw was the golden glow of Maddox’s eyes.