Page 133 of Break Out the Girl

A beat later, my attention snatches on a slim, dark green snake exiting a ventilation grate low down in the aluminum siding. Clever. He disappears into the long, frozen, dead grass.

The golden bond between us all vibrates. François is honing in on me.

After a long minute, the snake slithers up the mound, its body instantly expanding and tailoring back into human form. François kneels beside me in the frozen weeds, his pupils still flattened into sharp basilisk slits.

“I counted the heartbeats,” he says.

I shift back to human as well. “Nine.”

He nods. “We take out the ones in the treeline first. Silently, so they don’t know the back-up is gone.”

“Do you want the bear, hyena, wolverine, or the mystery beast?”

François looks grim. “The one perched up high is some kind of bird-shifter—and powerful. Very powerful.”

Great. “We’ll do this in stages. I'll take the wolverine to the west first, you go further north and kill the hyena. The bear looks fucking muscle-bound, so maybe we team up on that one, then end with the killer-bird?”

“Agreed.”

Dropping back into my wolf, I melt back into the thick woods. My paws don't make a sound as I trace the ridge towards my target.

But first I have to pass over the gravel lane. That’s where they’ve left their vehicles. Completely vulnerable.

With an easy swipe, my claws sink deep into the thick rubber. As the tire deflates, I dart to the second truck, slashing the front tires until the rims sink heavily into the frozen mud.

A moment later, the scent of greasy fur and stale sweat hits me. The wolverine shifter has moved closer. I leave the ruined trucks behind and edge nearer.

Through the rapidly descending dark, I see him. He’s planted behind a thicket of brambles; all sinewy muscle and bone, but not a problem for me. I launch myself straight through the briars, aiming directly for his exposed throat. My jaws clamp down and it’s too fucking easy. With only a couple of viscous shakes, the wolverine’s neck snaps.

There isn’t a pause to enjoy my victory though. I realize the bear-shifter has moved closer. Fuck, he’ll smell me, or the blood of his comrade, any second. That will lose me the element of surprise.

I guess I'm going solo.

Unlike the wolverine, the bear’s neck looks too thick to snap; it’s protected with thick slabs of hardened fat. Moving closer, I can see his yellow eyes are fixed on the trailer, as ropes of saliva drip from his massive jaw.

And apparently he hasn’t heard or smelled me yet. This is it. I have to go.

NOW.

I lunge, trying to read any spots of vulnerability mid-pounce. Gods. I guess the throat. But as my jaws clamp down, I don't hit soft flesh. It feels like biting directly into stone.

The bear lets out a deafening roar, his massive paw swings around catching me square in the ribs.

The force throws me several body-lengths away until I hit the trunk of an old oak, hard enough to make the branches rattle.

Can’t breathe.

Get up. Fight.

I can do this. I force myself up before he can crush me, snapping wildly as he lunges again. We roll into the frost-covered ground, a chaotic, bloody tangle.

Eyes—his eyes are vulnerable.

I slash at the bear’s face, opening red trenches that run unfortunately shallow. The fucker doesn't even flinch. He fights with the blunt, unstoppable momentum of a landslide. I snap and claw with everything I’ve got, but he towers over me, bringing both his giant paws down in a brutal double-hammer fist.

Even though I lurch to one side, he still catches me on the left side of my skull.

The world goes white as high-pitched ringing explodes in my ears.