In only seconds, the two men changed again. I noticed that Greg’s change was rapid. Sam’s transformation was much slower, and I could almost see his muscles stretching and bones breaking before he was finally a wolf again.
Greg was huge, the biggest wolf I’d ever seen. He was brown with a white muzzle and he was magnificent, standing almost five feet tall at the shoulder. On the other hand, Sam, a gray wolf, was much smaller, much like he was in human form compared to his friend. They were incredible creatures who had glowing yellow eyes as they paced across the road, coming up and standing in front of the Blazer and turning to face the tree line. I was grateful for the silent sentinels who stood with us.
I squatted and made quick work of the rest of the lug nuts, listening to the howls on either side of the road. The pack was close, and Sally was literally quaking beside me, shivering in her shoes. The sound of a car on gravel hit my ears, and I looked up with the tire iron in my hand.
Coming down the road was a black Honda Civic, and I felt an instant sense of relief and worry all at the same time. With the unexpected help of Greg and Sam, I’d almost regretted calling Vincent and telling him what was going on. Still, if we were going to face an entire pack of bloodthirsty werewolves, I suppose that having the strength in numbers was a good thing and not a bad one. I certainly knew that my vampire could handle himself in the face of adversity.
The Civic stopped, and I was almost as surprised to see Sid as I was happy to see Vincent when the pair got out of the car. Before the driver’s door even slammed shut, Vincent was standing in front of me with both hands on my face, looking deeply into my eyes.
I chuckled. “I’m never gonna get used to that vampire speed of yours.”
He leaned in and kissed me full on the lips, completely ignoring the others who stood with us. I slid my hands around his waist and pulled him close, hugging him to me for only a few seconds. When he finally broke the kiss and leaned back, he dropped his fangs and hissed.
“I’ll kill anyone who gets near you.”
I reached up and cupped his cheek. “You are so brave.”
“Ahem.” A throat cleared beside us.
I looked over and saw Sid standing there, leaning on his staff and holding Vincent’s unsheathed broadsword out to him.
“Figured you might want this,” Sid said. He glanced over at the two wolves standing at the front of the Blazer, staring at us. “Glad to see you have more backup.” He indicated the two werewolves with a tilt of his head.
“That’s Greg and Sam,” I said, dropping my hand from Vincent’s cheek as my lover took his massive sword from Sid. I watched him stick the point of the steel into the dirt and was awed by the sight of the warrior in front of me. I pictured him as a crusader, charging through the Holy Land on the back of a horse and meeting the enemy head on. I imagined him swinging the massive broadsword and trimming the stature of his enemies, leaving them with one less head above their shoulders.
Loud howls from the wolves surrounding us broke my concentration on Vincent, and I looked out into the woods. On both sides of the road, multiple pairs of yellow eyes glared out at us from the tree line. I heard Sam and Greg begin to growl and was almost surprised at how safe it made me feel to know that not only did I have a powerful warrior vampire, and ancient witch by my side, but a pair of werewolf guards as well.
“We’re leaving town, but we had to stop and change a tire, or we’d already be gone!” I shouted to the werewolves. “Back off and leave us alone, and we’ll be on our way.”
A massive wolf stepped out onto the road, and I wasn’t surprised to see Floyd in his half-man half-beast form. He was well over seven feet tall with a mouthful of fangs, dripping in saliva. I swallowed, grateful that I had the others with me and yet fascinated by the danger this werewolf posed to all of us. Floyd was flanked by three massive wolves standing almost as tall as Greg. I knew that they could only be his enforcers, with an extra one this time.
All four werewolves snarled and bared their fangs. Vincent hissed back at them. And when I chanced a glance at my mate, he was glaring right back at the wolves, holding his broadsword in both hands, orange fire burning in his topaz eyes. Purple lightning swirled around the entire length of the massive sword, and I could feel the snap of electricity and magic in the air. Oddly enough, I felt my own beast rising to the surface. I didn’t want to change but I would if it meant protecting everything that was dear to me. Right now, that meant protecting Vincent, Sally, and the others who stood with us.
“We don’t want trouble, werewolves,” Sid called out, holding his staff high. I was surprised to see the end of it glowing bright red as he pointed it at the wolves on either side of the road. “Let the sheriff go. There doesn’t need to be violence here today.”
“Thisss is war…” The words took on an otherworldly hiss as Floyd growled through fangs which looked like sharpened knives.
To say I was stunned was an understatement. I watched as he lifted his gruesome muzzle to the air and howled. The others took up a cacophony of howls in league with their alpha. More wolves began
