Chapter 12
Violet
I felt Grant stiffen against me as the sounds of howls off in the distance. The crowd grew on both sides as coyotes walked out the forest line. They looked mean. Like they had come for blood. Our clan was pouring from the lodge, surrounding me as Grant pushed me behind him.
I looked around for my brother and found him standing at my side. I looked up at him, seeing the fear running through his eyes he tried to keep stoic. This was bad. I knew it was bad. If my brother feared anything, it was the loss of someone he loved. Someone he cared for he felt the need to protect. And if he was fearful of the coyotes running up onto his property, then it confirmed my worst fears.
This group was, in fact, out for blood.
The lodge’s parking lot was full of people. Bears on our side, coyotes on theirs. It was like an old war standoff. Like two countries fighting over a piece of land, they both wanted to claim as theirs.
Suddenly, I felt Grant push back into me. The entire group was moving in slow motion. A snail’s pace as the coyotes edged closer. They were slowly moving back towards the front door as Grant reached back, shoving me further away from him. I grabbed onto his hands, not wanting to be parted from him as my eyes connected with the men over his shoulder.
But then I felt someone’s arms wrap around me as they slowly pull me through the crowd.
The members of the group kept slowly pushing me backward. Reaching for me and maneuvering me back into the lodge. Grant kept getting farther and farther away as I reached for him. Clawing for him and trying my best to get back to him. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I didn’t care what my brother saw. All I wanted was to hold his hand and bring him with me.
All I wanted was for him to be safe.
Just as Tyler grabbed onto me and pulled me towards the front door, growls rang out. Men around me shifted and I saw nothing but fur, claws and teeth. Growls and snarls broke the air. I bit back a scream as I watched my brother to the ground. Fear and anger gripped my heart, and for the first time in a long while I felt like I was going to shift. Grant appeared in an instant, grabbing onto my arm and pulled me behind a car in the parking lot. I went down with a crash as his body landed on top of mine, his muscles pinning me to the ground as I curled up into a little ball.
Then, I felt his lips on the shell of my ear.
“No matter what happens, don’t you fucking move.”
“But, Ford…”
“He’s fine,” Grant said. “He ducked behind a car and shifted.”
I felt Grant pull away from me and I reached for him. I didn’t want him to go. I wanted him to be safe with me and not out there with all of those growls.
I tried to stand up to shift, to help with the fight, but his eyes darkened.
“This is not your fight, Violet. Don’t push yourself into it. Stay here and stay safe.”
I watched him dip behind cars and then I saw him shift for the first time. It happened in an instant. Instead of the gorgeous man with muscles there was now a large grizzly bear. He stood up on his hind legs and leg out a roar, drawing the attention of several coyotes to him.
That was what he was doing.
He was drawing the fight away from me.
I looked around for my brother and saw him. I could recognize his bear anywhere. He was just standing up from breaking a coyote’s neck. His eyes searched the crowd for me and I could see the muscles under his fur slightly relax when he saw I was alright. Then his eyes found Grant. He watched as he drew away the coyotes from where I was hiding.
I watched my brother attack another coyote, taking him out, before his eyes connected again with mine.
They were terrified. He was pleading with me to stay where I was and not get involved. I’d never seen my brother like this. I’d never seen him so comfortable and yet so blatantly out of place. I peeked up around the car as more coyote’s stalked over to the fight.
But when I spotted Grant again, I understood why Ford was panicking.
Grant had three coyotes’ attacking him at once.
Growls came in every direction as Grant continued to swipe with his strong claws and pull the coyotes from his body. Every time a coyote got a step closer to where I was he moved his large body in front of me. Shielding me from every attack.
The sounds of howls struck back up, and a few of the coyotes ran away. I could tell some of them had been hurt, their groans audible and their cries of pain piercing. They were leaving blood trails as they ran off into the distance, dirtying the concrete as Grant continued to attack coyotes.
He made it almost look like a dance. A fluid dance of a bear whose skill set was defined by his need to protect. He choked the air from their necks before slamming their bodies to the ground.
It was beyond impressive, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
I couldn’t take hiding any longer. I was a shifter too, and I would be able to help them with this fight. I stood up and let my bear take over my body. My skin vanished and fur and claws replaced it. I stood up on my hind legs and let out a loud growl. I was smaller than the rest of the clan, but I could still hold my own.
Multiple coyotes were still attacking Grant, so I rushed up behind him and started to pull them off with my teeth. I felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through my body as I dragged them off his back. With a hard swipe with my claws and a chomp of my jaw I was able to get them to run away. Grant turned towards me, and I could feel the instant connection between us. It was as if the whole world melted around us. I wanted nothing more than to be with him in that second.
I wanted the feeling his lips against my body.
A loud snarl interrupted our connection and we both turned to fight whatever was coming at us. I let out a growl and then I rushed toward the remaining coyotes. Grant followed suit as we both moved farther into the fight. I would help the clan take these fuckers down, one by one.
Suddenly the howls stopped and the coyotes were running away. I let out a slight sigh of relief as I shifted back to my human form, realizing that the cost was clear. But when I looked over at my brother to rejoice with him, he was nowhere to be found.
Then, I heard his voice.
“Grant!”
I darted my eyes around. I saw Ford barreling down the sideway before he dropped to his knees. My legs took off as fast as they could go, dodging men who were reaching out to me. I could hear Jackson and Lincoln yelling behind me. Telling me to stop as I sprinted down the sidewalk.
There was so much blood. So many small rivers of blood that had soaked into the concrete.
I saw Ford hovering over Grant as he grimaced on the ground. He was back in his human form. Blood was seeping from his shoulder as he held onto it, his face contorted in pain. I ran around to his head and fell to my knees, gathering his body and placing it on mine. I didn’t care that I was getting his blood on my jeans and I didn’t care that Ford was yelling at me to get back. I swatted at the men grabbing for me as tears rose to my eyes.
Grant had a huge gash of claws running down his torso.
Grant wasn’t opening his eyes.
“Just look at me,” I said in a whisper. “Just open your eyes, Grant.”
I brushed my fingertips along Grant’s forehead as I smoothed the dirt and sweat away from his skin. I could feel my body trembling as his blood soaked into my jeans. I started massaging his temples, looking for something to calm his shaking body. Jackson ran over and handed Ford a towel which he pressed onto Grant’s torso, eliciting a moan of pain from between his lips as tears began to trickle down my face.
I watched one drip onto Grant’s forehead, prompting his eyes to flutter open.
“Violet,” he said.
“‘Bout damn time you opened your eyes,” I said.
Ford pressed the towel farther into Grant’s torso as he cried out in pain.
“His healing abilities should have kicked in by now,” Ford said as he began wrapping Grant’s shoulder. “But he may have lost too much blood before he shifted.”
“I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay?” I asked.
“Bit hard to do that,” Grant said.
“You’ve done hard. You keep those fucking eyes open for me, okay? You don’t have a choice.”
“Guess things could be… worse…”
Ford kept applying more and more pressure as the guys began to gather around.
“Will someone call a fucking doctor!?” I asked.
“Jackson?” Ford asked.
“Already on it,” Jackson said.
I smoothed through Grant’s hair as my other hand massaged his scalp. He was trembling so badly, and I was scared he would lock up. I massaged any stiff muscle I could get my hands on as Ford watched me carefully. I could feel the tension growing. I could feel the worry mounting. There was so much blood, and Grant was growing weak, and I was helpless to help the one man that had helped me.
That had helped me tap into a part of myself I refused to acknowledge for years.
“You gotta stop bleeding, Grant,” I said. “You only got so much.”
“Not sure I got control over that,” Grant said. “Sorry.”
His teeth started chattering as my eyes rose to Ford’s. I could see the questions and confusion running through his eyes, but I didn’t have time to answer his questions. There was so much that had to happen in order to save Grant, and I wasn’t sure if whoever Jackson was calling would get here in time.