***
It only took seconds, but the elevator ride was a moment that would last an eternity in his memory. A pool of calm surrounded by the chaos. An unknown hit team of mercenary shifters were after Hannah, most likely because of what she was, though nobody seemed to know for sure. Still, that time of serenity was some of the happiest he had been in a long, long time.
Certainly he had never felt giddier holding a girl’s hand than he did with Hannah’s.
The doors dinged open to reveal an empty parking lot, increasing his hopes that they would make a clean escape.
“This way,” he said, tugging her hand in the direction his truck was parked. He took off at a low run, trying to stay hidden behind the cars if at all possible.
The pair weaved their way around vehicles and concrete support poles, but at one point Josh came to an abrupt halt. His ears were tingling. Pausing, he listened carefully, then saw the same look cross Hannah’s face.
There were people up ahead. He was tempted to look over or around the car they were hiding behind to see if he could see them, but knew that might make too much motion. Hannah was ahead of him though, and she slid under the nearest car and slowly inched her way to the front. She stopped for a moment, then shuffled backward and rolled out from under it. Taking a moment to brush dirt from her hands and knees, she looked at him and shook her head.
She held up two fingers, then pointed at both of them and pantomimed shifting and animals.
He nodded, then pointed at him, and raised his hands as if to ask “Do they look like bear shifters?”
Hannah nodded.
So, at least two more bear shifters, unless these just so happened to be the ones who he had encountered earlier. It seemed unlikely, since to his knowledge most of the shifter merc teams out there operated in squads of five. He needed more firepower.
Josh pulled his phone out and sent a text, shoving it away after he ensured the volume was off. The last thing he wanted was to be given away by something as stupid as a ringtone.
He tapped Hannah on the shoulder, and pointed up at the exit sign that hung almost right above them. She nodded and he turned and headed back into the cars.
Where he kicked a piece of metal that went flying across the floor before bouncing off a concrete pillar and into the air and hitting the side of a car, making a metallic clunk.
“What was that?” a voice from near his truck said, and seconds later footsteps pounded their way.
“Run!” he shouted, pushing Hannah in front of him as they made a mad dash for the ramp that led up to the street level.
More shouts and cries came from behind them as their pursuit followed them. Soles slammed against the concrete as they raced out into daylight and through the traffic of the street, dodging moving cars in their attempt to get away.
A quick glance over his shoulder showed him that their friends had picked up a third, the man he had tossed in the pool earlier. Revenge burned in his eyes, spurring Josh to move even faster. He didn’t like their chances in a straight-up fistfight, and they couldn’t just go shifting in the middle of the public. Although shifters were a known commodity, that sort of thing still brought about unwanted attention, and wasn’t overly accepted.
“Where are we going?” Hannah puffed as they darted along the sidewalk, weaving in and around the pedestrians out doing their normal business.
“City Center Park,” he replied. “Forty acres, downtown. We can either lose them, or deal with them,” he told her, his blood flowing swifter at the feral look that crossed her face.
Fuck she’s so sexy. I may have outdone myself here.
Their pursuers picked up the pace, as if they realized where the pair were headed. Josh and Hannah had built up enough of a lead that they were able to duck into the park and through a copse of trees ahead of them.
“Now!” Josh cried and opened himself up to his bear.
The beast came roaring forth as it split his skin, emerging with an earth-shaking landing as he leaned forward, four massive paws digging huge furrows in the ground as he spun to face the entrance.
Beside him, Hannah had thrown herself into the air, the transformation taking place as she flew. She landed next to him, darting wide, ready to hit them in the flank.
The pair didn’t have to wait long before the first mercenary came barreling through. Josh hadn’t expected him to shift, but the bear that emerged had its teeth showing and came at him like a freight truck. Josh charged to meet it. He needed to figure out if these men had been taught to fight like a human while in bear form, or if they relied on brute strength.
The ground trembled as the two titans collided, rising up on their rear legs to battle each other.
Josh grinned internally as his foe just tried to swing his paws.
Amateur.
Between that and the way he had emerged before his friends, it doomed the bear. Hannah dove at him from behind and her abnormally powerful jaws ripped at his hind leg, going for the Achilles tendon. While a normal wolf would have no business fighting a bear, werewolves were anything but normal. Hannah’s animal had to be four feet high at the shoulder and easily more than six feet long. Her jaws snapped closed tightly and the bear roared in agony.
Josh slashed open his opponent’s belly as he tried to turn to deal with Hannah, and then a giant paw slapped into the merc’s head, dropping him.
There was no time to finish him however, as the other pair emerged from the trees in flanking maneuvers, moving wide to try and separate them.
Without thinking, Josh and Hannah turned and went after the nearest bear, charging at it. The third shifter roared and came after them, but it would take him precious seconds to catch them.
In that time, the pair opened half a dozen wounds on the shifter, working in tandem together. Blood dripped from his claws as they moved past the mercenary and into the open before his friend could arrive.
They continued the dance across the open field as pedestrians scattered from the battle. The third shifter tried once to get back into the battle, but Josh broke his front arm and then Hannah found the same rear leg, this time ripping his Achilles in half. With one down, they worked to isolate one of the remaining two.
Josh roared with anger as the enemy shifter landed a solid blow into Hannah’s flank, sending her tumbling. The werewolf woman was hard to put down, and even as Josh charged into a brawl with both of them, she kept them distracted enough for him to use his skills to overwhelm them. Using his bear’s body as a finely-tuned machine of destruction was not something many shifters trained for. They often relied on numbers or brute strength. Josh’s blows were exacting and precise, aiming for the most pain or where blood flowed profusely.
He took hits in return, and was pretty sure one of them had broken something inside him, but eventually the attackers broke and ran in the direction of the hotel.
Hannah nudged him as he stood looking after them, motioning behind them to the big forest that occupied the middle of the park. He nodded and they ran off. Hannah was limping, but she didn’t let it slow her down.
They lost themselves in the forest, taking a dip in a pond to cleanse themselves of blood before shifting back.
“Wow,” he said as they sat back against a tree, taking a moment to recover.
“Yeah,” she panted, her chest heaving from the exertion of the run and then the fighting.
Josh always marveled at what he called “fight time.” The entire thing had taken maybe a minute or three, but to him it had felt like an hour. His muscles screamed for oxygen even now, driven to their breaking point by his desperate actions.
“Remind me to take those guys on with backup next time, okay?” he said with a laugh.
Hannah smiled, rolled over to him, and kissed him full on the lips. “Let’s go my ferocious protector, before they come back with friends. The others can’t be far behind.”
Exhausted, he nodded but forced himself to his feet. He realized the phone in his pocket was vibrating and pulled it out.
“It’s Jared,” he said, answering it as they began to move on.
“Josh, where are you?”
“City Center Park,” he breathed. “West side along Empress street. Hurry up.”
“Connor is near your position. Get to the road and wait for him.”
The line went dead. If either side had needed to say more, they would have.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand once more. “Our ride is this way.”
The pair took off together.