Those who had been waiting in the forest had rushed forward to join the fray, some with fangs and claws, others with guns and knives. As skills went, his team had the upper hand, but they’d still been quickly overwhelmed by the Ikandes’ sheer numbers.
There was no time for caution, no sense in worrying if their next step might be their last. That was how they’d lost Kellen Fischer. The human had only joined their ranks recently, along with a group of three others who called themselves the Valkyrie. Lynk hadn’t known him well, but he still mourned the loss of life.
The Wardens had retreated to the largest cabin on top of the hill to surround and protect the pride’s alpha and his immediate family. However, that only reduced the horde’s numbers by six. Not even enough to truly notice.
On the plus side, there was no longer a need for stealth, which meant they could simply break down the door to the community building. But first, they had to reach it, and so far, none of them had been successful.
Gunfire echoed through the night. Growls, screeches, and roars rose up on the wind, adding to the violent symphony. Bodies littered the dirt path that stretched between the rows of cabins, both human and lion, their eyes wide and unseeing. Most had been felled by bullets, but a few bore deep teeth and claw marks that bled black in the moonlight.
Thea battled a lioness beyond the front steps of the main building. While the female was larger and had more muscle, Thea was faster, more agile, and honestly, more ruthless. She held her own, keeping the lioness at bay as they snarled and hissed at each other.
Lynk’s heart sank when a second female joined the fight. No matter how skilled, there was no way Thea could take on both of them, and he was too far away to offer her aid. Even as she swiped at one, the other leapt. Thea jackknifed out of the way, avoiding the brunt of the attack, but she screeched when sharp claws embedded in her shoulder and dragged her to the ground.
Lynk sprinted toward her, throwing up clouds of dust behind him as his paws dug into the dirt. Twenty feet away, he was jolted off course, the impact enough to knock the breath out of him. He hit the ground hard and rolled, his claws scrabbling for purchase as he struggled to gain his feet. Disoriented, he whipped around, searching for his attacker, and came face to face with an enormous male lion.
His wild, thick mane marked him out as an older, more experienced member of the pride. In their shifted forms, Lynk had at least two hundred pounds on his opponent, but the male still posed a significant challenge. They circled each other, pawing at the cold earth as they bared their fangs and snarled.
Lynk didn’t want to kill him. There had already been so much needless death, but when the male lunged at him, three-inch claws extended and teeth bared, he didn’t hesitate. Using his head and shoulders, he plowed into the male’s chest, screeching when those lethal fangs pierced the back of his neck. He rose up on his hind legs, using his superior strength to dislodge the lion, then twisted at the hips to flip the male onto his back.
One swipe to his exposed belly was all it took to end the fight.
Turning his attention back to the main building, he searched for Thea, but the puma was gone, and so were the lionesses she’d been fighting. Instead, he found Deidra, cutting a path to the steps of the cabin with a set of daggers. As a she-wolf, she couldn’t shift, but that didn’t make her any less lethal. At first, Lynk thought she was fighting her way into the building. Then, he noticed the two shadows engaged in a deadly dance on the darkened, covered porch.
Deidra was fast, but not fast enough.
Lynk heard the scream first, followed by a triumphant roar. A body sailed out of the shadows and tumbled down the steps. Izan Wilder, human, and another member of the Valkyrie. He didn’t get up.
Stopping beside him, Deidra bowed her head as if in prayer. Then, her hands flexed around the handles of her blades, her shoulders tensed, and she let out a valiant war cry as she charged up the steps. The lion—another male, though smaller than the one Lynk had dispatched—flew off the porch in a graceful arc, colliding with the she-wolf and knocking them both to the ground.
Daggers forgotten, Deidra grabbed fistfuls of the lion’s mane, using all of her strength to hold the beast at bay. While she was stronger than any human, she was no match for a four-hundred-pound predator. Even as the thought crossed his mind, a streak of black sliced through the night like a bullet to collide with the male.
The two cats tumbled across the ground, clawing and spitting until the panther gained the upper hand. Outmatched, however, his advantage didn’t last long, and he found himself tossed at least four feet into the air.
The lion was dead by the time Deke landed, one of Deidra’s daggers protruding from his chest.
Another explosion rocked the ground, causing a momentary halt in the fighting. Lynk’s chest constricted as he wondered if this loss had been friend or foe. The answer to that mystery became much less important when he noticed the smoke spiraling up from the back of the main building.
He heard the
