nearly out of his socket. One sharp kick to
the back of the leg and Dawson hit the ground with Jack on his
back, one knee positioned at the base of his spine.
Jack pulled Dawson’s arm behind him and
leaned down. “Give me a compelling reason why I shouldn’t snap your
spine right now and save myself a world of headaches later on.”
Dawson made a valiant effort to throw Jack
off of him, but he couldn’t muster the leverage. “You don’t deserve
to be alpha,” he muttered angrily. He snatched a knife from his
belt and slashed it across Jack’s forearm.
It hurt like hell, but Jack didn’t release
his grip. He grabbed Dawson’s wrist with his free hand and used the
strength he usually kept so carefully in check. Bones gave way
beneath his fingers with a grind and a sickening crunch. Dawson
screamed a curse and jerked his injured wrist away. Then, insanely,
the man began to laugh.
Jack’s blood chilled. “What?”
His laughter died with a wheeze. “You think
those three idiots up there helped me cut the fence? You’re
stupider than you look.” He snorted. “I sent the rest of them out
to her place already to take care of things.”
With the blood pounding in his ears, he
didn’t hear Dawson’s spine snap. A furious growl tore free from him
as he rose to his feet, leaving the limp body on the ground as he
shifted his gaze to the three men on the porch. “This is your only
warning.”
None of them lifted their eyes, and all of
them murmured their understanding.
Fury rode him hard, and it was impossible to
get within five feet of his horse. He tore his clothing free
instead and channeled that rage into the change. As soon as his
paws hit the ground he launched himself in the direction of Ginny’s
property and prayed.
Chapter Five
“ Hazel, where are the rest
of those .30-30s from the hall closet?” Ginny swore and worked the
lever on her rifle, sparing Oliver a quick glance. “You’re
bleeding.”
Oliver rose up on one knee as he stuck his
rifle through a shattered pane of her front window and fired.
“It’ll stop soon.”
“ Here.” Hazel appeared
around the corner with her arms full of boxes. “I think these are
all of them --”
Oliver made it halfway
across the floor and dragged Hazel down before Ginny could even
speak. “Stay down ,”
he hissed. “Unless we’re covering you with fire, you keep your ass
below window level, got it?”
The tension in the room twisted into
something hot and feral as Hazel let out a low snarl. Her shallow,
quick breaths were audible even over the gunfire from the front
yard. For a moment, Ginny was afraid the girl was going to lose it
then and there, in the middle of a firefight.
Hazel rolled away in the next instant,
coming to her hands and knees a few feet from Oliver. “Ginny.” Her
voice sounded high and frightened -- a lot more frightened than it
had a few seconds ago. “Where can I go?”
“ Get to the washroom in the
back hall.” Ginny caught the boxes that Oliver kicked her way and
tore one open with one hand. “Stay there until I come get
you.”
The girl scurried away, and Ginny made a
face at Oliver as she reloaded her rifle. “Nice, Ollie.”
His own chest heaved, and he growled at her
as he made his way back to the window. “Cut me a little slack,
Ginny? I’ve been shot.”
“ Not a lot of time for
slack, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
She could have sworn he
smirked. “Again, shot .”
She blew her hair out of
her eyes and peered out the window. “Only four left. Not
bad.” We won’t wonder how many Jack ran
into over at Dawson’s, will we, Ginny? “Unless someone flanked the house and is about to bust through
the back door.”
“ Doubtful.” His dark eyes
studied the front yard. “I think they planned on numbers and
surprise.”
“ And catching me and Jack
with our pants down.”
He made a small, choked noise. “I wasn’t
going to say that.”
“ You were thinking it.” It
was Ginny’s
Michael Cunningham
Janet Eckford
Jackie Ivie
Cynthia Hickey
Anne Perry
A. D. Elliott
Author's Note
Leslie Gilbert Elman
Becky Riker
Roxanne Rustand