The scent of fresh animal blood hit my nostrils as Floyd slowly dragged his claws down Greg’s back, slicing him open. The bartender snarled in pain, and he rolled over again, managing to straddle the alpha.
He lifted both paws and dragged them down both sides of Floyd’s face. The alpha let out a bloodcurdling howl, somehow managing to buck him off. He rolled away and fell onto his ass as Greg got back to his feet. He wobbled side to side, and I knew he was losing too much blood to keep going. He’d been shredded back and front, and a massive chunk of flesh was missing from his shoulder. Blood dripped from his underside, staining the white fur there and forming a pool of blood beneath him.
My fangs tingled and dropped from my gums without warning. I’d spent too many years feeding on animal blood in lieu of humans for the scent of so much not to affect me. I hissed, and Rome turned to me, meeting my gaze with a shake of his head as his fingers gripped me harder. I reached for him, taking his bruising fingers in my own and squeezing tightly as we both returned our attention to the two werewolves. They lunged at each other again, and Greg sank his fangs into Floyd’s chest. I only noticed then that both sides of the alpha’s muzzle were bleeding from the deep grooves Greg’s claws had made in both cheeks. Seconds later, Greg was back on top of the alpha, and the werewolves were once again locked in mortal combat.
The other wolves were going crazy and to my horror, I saw one charging in Sam’s direction, clearly caught up in bloodlust as the two huge wolves in the road fought to the death. Sam was totally oblivious to the danger with all his focus on Greg who was about to be slaughtered right in front of us.
Before I could call out a warning, Romeo turned, let go of me, and lifted his arm. I saw a purple sphere of pure magic swirling in the palm of his hand a second before he thrust out his arm. From the day I’d met him he’d been working diligently to learn how to control and concentrate his magic for a moment just like this one.
The baseball sized sphere shot straight out at the rushing werewolf just before his jaws could clamp down on Sam’s vulnerable neck. Sam was caught in a blast of energy and surprise which took him to the ground as his attacker was blasted back across the road, slamming against a pine tree with a vicious crack. As he hit the tree, he let out a canine scream that was abruptly cut off.
It was only as he began a slow, bloody slide to the ground that I recognized him as one of Floyd’s enforcers. The moment he hit dirt, he transformed into a huge, tattooed man, fell over, and died, face first on the ground. The back of his head looked like a flattened, bloody eggshell.
I turned back to the scene in front of me. The two werewolves were now in full wolf form, and I realized that the energy it took for them to hold the middle form, must be unsustainable for very long. They rolled and rolled in the dirt, snarling as the howls of the pack continued to fill the woods around us. I heard a guttural canine scream and a clipped whine as Greg got Floyd onto his back and sank his jaws into the side of the alpha’s neck. Holding him down with all his weight, Greg straddled the massive wolf as Floyd reached back and clawed at his rear flanks. He somehow managed to drag his long claws down each hip, shredding fur and finding the soft flesh underneath it. If Greg survived the blood loss, I prayed he’d find enough strength to shift back and forth a few times to heal. I’d heard that was the only way a werewolf could heal deep wounds.
Greg held on even though he thrashed side to side, trying to get Floyd’s claws dislodged from his fur. Blood pooled on the ground from both wolves, and I turned to Romeo who dropped his gaze to my mouth. With difficulty I closed my lips over my long fangs, ashamed of how I must look to him. There was no way I would be able to retract them until all was said and done, and we were away from this place where blood flowed freely.
A sudden howl and a punctuated cry drew our attention back to the fray. Floyd was struggling to get up on all fours, blood pouring off his muzzle, running down the side of his neck, and chest. He took in heaving breaths as Greg stood over him. Finally, the alpha let out a long slow whimper, collapsing back down onto the blood-soaked road.
I watched him slowly transforming back into a bleeding naked man before my eyes. Greg stepped back, bleeding profusely from where he’d been clawed in his back, hips, and belly, his muzzle dripping with blood from where he’d bitten Floyd. He stayed in wolf form, and I realized that this must mean something. As Floyd took human form again, I could see how exhausted he was, bleeding from just about everywhere there was skin. He slowly raised one bloody hand; his fingers no longer tipped with vicious claws.
“Surrender…” he ground out softly, half breathless. I noticed only then, the
