The crunch of Peter’s bones and body seemed to resonate with my own, and my heart leaped into my throat as my stomach bottomed out.

The giant laughed, his great shoulder shaking as he looked down at my mate’s broken form sprawled at his feet.

“No!” I screamed, running towards the giant’s back, pistol raised in front of me, my finger spasming on the trigger reflexively like somehow, some way, bullets that would actually stop this bastard would magically spring into the barrel.

But there were no bullets that would kill him. Or any other kind, for that matter. I’d used them all when he’d first turned his back to me and began to go after Peter.

“Vanessa!” Richard yelled. “Get out of here! I’ll handle this!”

I ignored him, my world on fire and full of light and heat. I rushed the giant, threw my empty gun at the back of his head, glancing it off his ear.

Klaus the Giant winced a little and roared as the butt of my gun tore a flap of sensitive flesh off. In a rage, he spun and faced me, his teeth bared like a wild animal’s as he came rushing at me. “Damn you!” he shouted. “My ear!”

Shit! I hadn’t realized how close he was and hadn’t accounted for how long that reach of his could be. I ducked low, dodging his clutching hands, darted left out of the way, and spun around to his side.

He quickly corrected his trajectory, came after me again, and reached out a grasping hand, each finger as long and thick as a smoked sausage.

I dropped low, nearly doing the splits as he grasped just over my head. I rolled to the side, deftly avoiding another grab as I tumbled across the ground as fast as lightning.

The ground shook as he swore and came after me again.

I came up from my roll, gasping for breath. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. If he caught me, I was going to be as bad off as Peter. But then, as my eyes focused, I stopped frozen in my tracks at the sight that had appeared right in front of me.

Klaus’s hand grabbed my head from behind, his thick fingers entwining themselves in my coppery hair, and yanked me back towards him with a cruel jerk. “Now I have you, little shifter!” he roared as my feet flew out from beneath me and I landed on my ass.

If I hadn’t stopped, I wouldn’t have been caught.

But how could I not, when my mate was already standing in front of me, his entire body healed? Instead of broken and bloody, he was covered in coarse fur, his muscles rippling, his knees bent backwards like a wolf’s. How could I not stop when I saw the hybrid for the first time in real life, a solid slab of muscle and bone and rage, nearly as tall as the giant that was holding me by my dark red tresses?

Peter roared, his voice louder, more terrifying, more sonorous than the German giant’s.

My arm hair stood on end at the sound of his voice, and I nearly cheered through the pain, even as Klaus tightened his grip on me.

“What is this?” Klaus asked, obvious amusement in his voice. “A true challenge?” He threw me aside, clearly feeling I wasn’t worth his time any longer.

I tumbled onto the floor, the world spinning in my vision as I rolled over and over until I stopped at the wall. I glanced up and crawled to my feet.

Peter went at him like a wild beast, leaping claws and teeth first.

Klaus batted him away, sending him flying against the wall with more force than he’d already shown. Much more force. Clearly, he’d been containing himself earlier while fighting us, not wanting to ruin his fun too early.

My mate slammed into the wall, a spider web of cracks forming where he impacted. He fell to the floor, shook his giant wolf head, and leaped right back at Klaus with his teeth bared, his claws like razors on the tips of his human-like hands.

Klaus dodged two swipes of the claws and moved back with surprising grace. The third caught him across the arm, though, and tore a triplet streak of crimson across his flesh.

Peter struck again, this time at the belly.

Klaus kneed him hard in the jaw, sending his head snapping back with a yelp and a yowl. “Bad doggy!” Klaus roared, bringing down an elbow on top of his head.

My mate climbed back to his furry feet, his tail sticking out straight behind him as he glared at the German giant.

“Come now, Herr Frost,” Klaus said, beckoning him with a crooked finger. “We’re just getting started.”

And then, in the back of my mind, I heard Ivana whisper to me. “Now. Now is your time. Help him.”