Enemy Red by Marie Harte

pair of monsters flanking him. Shit . One had been bad enough to fight. But three would be a real pain in the ass. Taking advantage of the weakest of them, he tore into its neck wound and pulled until he heard a pop. Unfortunately, he couldn’t avoid the two-pronged attack to his back and side.
    Behind him, Jericho growled, now a bear.
    “Stay back,” Fenris warned. “They’re magic. Leave this to me.” Pleased at the battlelust that began to take the place of the pain, he allowed his rage free reign.
    Jericho ignored him. But the bear’s attack gave Fenris the advantage he needed. As the remaining monsters converged on Jericho , Fenris took one of them down by grabbing and ripping out his spinal column from neck to tail.
    The other beast shrieked and grew in size. Jericho roared and fell back under its onslaught. Fenris tried to help by grabbing its attention, but he had a hard time getting his claws into the creature. It slithered out of his hands by turning into mist for a moment before coalescing once again into solid flesh.
    Worried when it turned for Jericho once more, he forced it to face him and held on, allowing it to dig its talons into his toughened skin.
    “Shit, that hurt,” he growled as he clutched at the area where he imagined the heart to be.
    The monster screeched in pain and, in a frenzy, dug its fangs into his shoulder, injecting Fenris with a burning toxin.
    It let go when Jericho clamped his mouth around the thing’s tail, but Fenris’ respite was short lived. While it ground its claws into him, it flung Jericho into a large tree. Jericho shifted back into a man’s form and lay still, unmoving. Knowing how much Red loved the large bear, Fenris threw himself into a berserker’s rage.
    Oblivious to the wounds he took, he used every bit of his strength and tore through his opponent, delivering a warning to the puppet master behind the monster. “Next time, come in person so I can rip you apart face to face, human scum.”
    The sorcerer screamed his denial through the creature before it ceased to exist.
    Dropping its slimy remains to the ground, Fenris made his way to Jericho . The bear didn’t stir. Hefting him over his shoulder took some work, even for a werewolf. Jericho weighed a ton, and Fenris’ wounds began to take their toll. Trudging through the forest and praying the attack in the woods was the only one the sorcerer had perpetrated, he forced himself to keep moving until he found Rurik.
    Deciding to try the man at home, Fenris stumbled in that direction, away from the sorcerer’s lab. Before he reached the porch, Rena opened the door and gasped at him. She shifted into a wolf’s form and took off.
    “Great. Now I’ve scared Red’s mother.” Wondering if he ought to leave Jericho on the steps and go find Red, he set the bear down gently and nearly fell. Clutching his aching ribs, he felt moisture dripping down his torso and realized he was covered in blood.
    Not wanting everyone to know about his werewolf form if the Nash brothers hadn’t already told them, he shifted back into a man’s form and passed out.

    * * * *

    Groggy, Fenris came to, sprawled beside Jericho , who stared at him with concern.
    “You okay?” Jericho rose unsteadily on his feet, blood trickling from his ears.
    “Fine.” A lie, but Fenris needed to find Red. “Have you seen Rudra?”
    “Not yet. Just woke up.” Jericho looked around him with shock on his face. “How the hell did we get here?”
    “I carried your sorry ass. Might want to think about a diet. You’re no lightweight.”
    “Yeah, neither are you, Fenris Barton .” Jericho ’s expression blanked.
    Not wanting to hash out his relation to Uncle Mike just then, Fenris somehow stood on shaky legs, needing to find Red. Anxiety filled him that she might be hurt, needing him while he chatted with her friend.
    He took two steps and would have fallen if Jericho hadn’t wriggled under his arm. The movement sent shafts of pain down his side,