“Oh hell,” Kirsty gasped as it padded away from the women, headed straight toward Muir.
The men were coming in her direction, one of them stripping off his clothes. Shit. She didn’t want to see his naked body, far less the Wolf she knew would soon be materializing. Her eyes flitted between the Wolf and the man, making her decision she zeroed in on the man, whispering as she fired two rounds in quick succession. “Sorry, Muir.”
She stood no chance against three. Two men and a Wolf equaled her quick demise, or worse: her capture.
She took out the biggest threat first, the rogue just about to morph into a terrifying killer Wolf. Her aim was true, both shots slamming into his chest, destroying it completely and leaving gaping holes in their wake. Where his heart used to reside was now a cavernous void of blood and gore.
One down. Two to go. For now, anyway.
Her eyes flitted to Muir, she’d already seen how capable he was with his large axe and she hoped he would be able to stand firm against the Wolf that now stalked him. All she had to do was take care of the dirty bawbags heading her way with scowls on their faces and hate in their eyes. Aye right. That was going to be a breeze. Not.
There was nowhere to run. The time for that was long gone, even if she had a fleeting longing to be holed up with Skye, she knew she could not have stayed there. Not when kids were being hurt by these damn rogues. Kirsty locked eyes with the large man nearest her; his were black as the Earl of Hell’s Waistcoat and just as evil. An involuntary shiver ran up her spine when his tongue darted out to run across his lips. Eww, gross.
She snatched two shells, reloading the gun to capacity as he spat out.
“Yer gonna be mine, ye feckin’ cheeky bint. Think a wee human can stop us?”
Kirsty raised an eyebrow at the same time as she locked and loaded, using the tip of the gun to point to his dead companion. “Seems like I just did. Why don’t you round up the rest of yer manky mutts and get out of here, before more of you end up like him? Because I’m tellin’ you straight, I’m ready to lose my rag and if I do, you definitely don’t want to be anywhere near me.”
He stopped, his head falling back, hands on his waist as he laughed loudly. The second rogue stopping to look at him as if he was mad. “Did ye hear her? That lassie’s heid’s full oh mince. Aye, she’s gonna gie me loads oh fun. No be much fun fer her but I’ll sure enjoy it.”
“Haud yer wheesht an just grab her before she hurts anyone else! Archie will gie ye a right doin’ if ye dinnae get her under control soon.”
Kirsty let out her own laugh, shaking her head at them. “You obviously don’t know me. Nobody, and I mean nobody, ‘gets me under control’, especially not a couple of daft bawbags like you.”
She’d had enough, swinging her trusty gun up and aiming quickly. Firing at bawbag number one first, hitting him in the groin area, which she thought very apt, before swinging to bawbag number two. This one she aimed higher, much higher, and although she’d hoped for his head, she was just as pleased when she saw a gaping hole appear in his throat, all the way through so his head tilted awkwardly to the side before he crumpled to the ground.
Bawbag number one was, amazingly, still on his feet, albeit clutching himself and screaming like a banshee. Kirsty slowly walked forward, gun trained on him, ready for any sly move on his part.
“What was that you said earlier?” she prodded him. “Huh? Not so vocal now, are you? Oh wait, you are, but you sound like a cat that’s caught its tail in a door.”
Muir joined her, the women and children with him as he ushered them toward Kade’s cabin. “On ye go, get inside.”
As the women hurried away, helping the injured, carrying the bairns, Muir smirked at the rogue. “Lassie, whit have ye done?”
“Well, he was threatening to, you know? Have his wicked way with me. I sort of took exception to that and I couldn’t resist.” Kirsty had to raise her voice to be heard over the loud screams of pain from the injured man.
“I’m afraid we dinnae have time for this.” Muir shook his head, using the stock of the axe and smashing it into the face of the man, knocking him out cold. “I couldn’t listen tae that racket a moment longer. Come on, we’ve a lot more work, lass, the Pack needs us.”
“I’m right beside you.” Kirsty let out a long exhale, noticing her hands were shaking, the barrel of the shotgun juddering up and down. She tried to still them, concentrating hard, staring at them intently as if her eyes could somehow influence the trembling.
Muir’s huge paw of a hand reached down, stilling the quaking barrel. “Hey, it’s okay, Kirsty. It’s shock, lass, just try and take some deep breaths and try and focus on what we need to do. In other words, don’t think on what ye’ve had to do, but on the people that need our help. There’s still bairns out there that these rogues are gonna hurt if we don’t stop them.”
Kirsty looked up into his face, no longer was it harsh, hard, or ferocious. Instead, he gave her a little nod of understanding, his eyes full of concern as he continued. “Kade will be able to help ye once it’s all over with. His power can ease yer suffering, but right now I need yer help. I’m sorry I have to ask ye to kill again, but I can’t do it on my own.”
“I know,” Kirsty whispered.
