Page 59 of Wolf Revealed

Mike forced himself to relax as he reached out for his wolf while still trying to convey the urgency of the situation. He wasn’t sure the emotional need made it through the connection, but it was all he could do.

Then, all at once, his body reshaped into a completely new form. He ground his jaw against the pain. Apparently, his inner wolf was fine with speeding things up, as long as Mike didn’t mind feeling like a Mack truck was driving over him at a hundred miles an hour.

Fifteen seconds later, Mike was completely in his wolf form and heading to intercept the supernatural reaching for Kal, slamming his fur-covered shoulder into the man’s chest, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Mike let out a sharp yip he hoped Kal would recognize as a demand for him to run. But before he could see if his son understood, Roman’s minion was taking a swing at him with those wicked claws.

Mike dodged to the side, but not before the man’s claws sliced into the muscles along his flank. A hundred feet away, Roman and the third supernatural were fighting with Wayne and his men. Roman looked furious, but surprisingly, Wayne seemed to be holding his own.

That one second of distraction earned Mike another slice across the ribs, but he ignored the pain and snapped his head around to clamp his teeth on the guy’s forearm. Then he sank his fangs into the scale-covered flesh until they met bone. The man screamed, even as he began to stab the claws of his free hand into Mike’s exposed side over and over.

Even though Mike was forced to release the man’s arm, he still knew he’d caused some serious damage. He crouched down low and bunched his muscles, preparing to launch himself at the man again, but movement to the side caught his attention, and he glanced that way to see Lark under duress from the other supernatural. She was backing up step-by-step as the man swiped at her with claws that would open her up down to the bone if they connected. Lark was fast and agile, but it would only take one strike.

Mike started that way, only for the man he was fighting to slip in close and slam into his side, knocking him off course and away from Lark. Mike darted to the right, attempting to get around the supernatural and reach Lark, but the guy was just as fast as he was.

Another flash of movement off to the side caught his eye, and he braced himself for whatever new threat was coming their way, but it was only Chapman digging through the cargo pockets of Mike’s uniform pants. He was looking for the damn envelope with the flash drives.

Mike’s predatory side instinctively wanted to go after Chapman, but his heart easily overruled that idea, and he turned to once again help Lark. But the moment he caught sight of her again, he knew he was going to be too late.

Everything slowed as the supernatural Lark was fighting, got a hand on the scruff of fur behind her neck, hauling her off the ground and swinging his other claw-tipped hand toward her exposed neck.

Heart in his throat, Mike tried to dart around the guy in front of him. When that failed, he charged straight at the man, depending on pure savagery. That failed, too, leaving Mike with no choice but to watch the woman he loved die all over again.

Then a blur of brown fur entered the picture. It was a wolf, smaller than Lark but seemingly twice as agile, and Mike knew it was Kal. Mike would have cheered if he wasn’t so completely terrified.

Kal flew through the air, his jaws clamping down on the arm of the man preparing to kill his mother. The guy shouted in pain as Kal shook his head back and forth, twisting his whole body to inflict as much damage as possible. Cursing, the man released Lark to defend himself from Kal’s attack. The moment he did, she lunged at him, sinking her fangs into the back of his leg.

The man’s cursing turned to shouts of pain, drawing the attention of the supernatural Mike was going up against. One moment of distraction as the guy glanced at his buddy was all Mike needed, and he latched his jaws on the man’s throat.

Mike refused to think about what his fangs were doing. The only thing that mattered was getting past the guy and reaching Lark and Kal. The moment the man fell to the ground, Mike raced around him and bounded the twenty feet between him and the other supernatural. He slammed shoulder-first into the guy’s chest just as the man was about to tear into Kal’s small fur-covered body. All of them went down in a pile, the man frantically flailing his clawed hands left and right in an attempt to free himself from three wolves.

It didn’t work.

Mike was this close to finishing the fight when movement to his right caught his eye. He glanced that way, expecting to see Roman coming at them. But instead, the man was running in the direction Chapman was now fleeing.

With the envelope full of flash drives.

The fight with Wayne and his guys was clearly over. Their bodies were lying in the grass, unmoving. But they weren’t the only casualties. Roman’s third and last supernatural was dead, too, lying beside Wayne.

Mike tracked Roman with his gaze. Chapman had a serious lead, but Roman was fast. Damn near as fast as a werewolf. Hell, he might even be faster than a werewolf. It seemed a safe bet Roman was going to catch up to Chapman, get his flash drive, recover his journal of account addresses, and then get away.

And there was nothing Mike could do about it. Not while staying here to protect his family.

Mike felt a nudge on his shoulder, and he looked over to see Lark standing on the unconscious supernatural’s chest, holding him down with Kal’s assistance. The guy beneath them was heavily injured and clearly not going anywhere anytime soon—if ever.

Lark nudged him again with her nose and then gestured at Roman and Chapman. Another jerk of her snout sent a signal impossible to miss.

Go after them.

He glanced quickly at Kal to see his son nodding in agreement. Without another thought, Mike spun around and darted away, tearing across the ground in the direction Chapman and Roman had gone.

It wasn’t hard to follow them. The thunder of their heartbeats was only overshadowed by the stomp of their boots thumping on the ground as they ran toward the front of the property. Almost certainly where Chapman had left his vehicle.

Mike saw them as he rounded the corner of the house. Roman had caught up with Chapman a couple hundred yards short of the perimeter wall, where it ran along the main road. Chapman was on the ground, bleeding from a shoulder wound.

Slowing, Mike moved to crouch down behind a tree, making sure he was downwind of Roman’s position. He had no idea whether the man had an enhanced sense of smell, but Mike wasn’t willing to take the chance.

As he watched, Roman moved to stand over Chapman, the envelope of flash drives already in one hand, the weapon in his other hand pointing straight at Chapman’s head.