Free Winter's Storm: Retribution (Winter's Saga #2) by Karen Luellen Page A

case so I could complete the task at hand. Namely kicking my brothers’ butt!
    “ I know you two want to jump right into it, but how about we set some rules?” Evan spoke over the crowd that was quickly growing around us.
    “ Half?” Alik called to me.
    “ Fine.” I smiled watching my brothers carefully. “Half” to us meant we would hit with only half our strength so as not to cause lasting damage.
    We moved around watching each other carefully. Throughout the years, we practiced many two-against-one battles. So the fluidity of our movements probably made what we were doing look easy. Alik punched, I dodged and swept his leg. Alik jumped and spun into a kick to my chest and landed gracefully on his feet.
    “ Oh, come on! Quit dancing around you two,” Evan chided and made the first move to strike outside the predictable. His strategy was perfect. Alik had expected him to go after me, so the double punch to his side caught him completely off guard. Even as Alik worked to defend himself, my round house kick knocked him on his back.
    The crowd cheered, but I was ignoring everyone except my brothers. I jumped toward Alik and whipped my hand right into his chest. Evan came up behind me and grabbed me around the neck. One quick shift of my hips and I flipped him onto his back, but apparently this was the plan, because even as Evan was flying, Alik knocked me down face first into the cold, damp autumn grass and ranked my elbow up and behind me. His knee was digging in my back painfully. The crowd gasped.
    “ Spill it,” Alik spoke softly to the back of my head.
    “ You’ve gained weight, little brother. Get off me!” I growled, red-faced.
    “ Not until you spill it,” Alik cooed.
    “ You two ganged up on me! Evan, how could you?” I called to him trying to guilt him into helping me.
    Evan shrugged and smiled sweetly. “It’s for your own good.”
    The crowd was murmuring—obviously concerned for the poor girl getting her face planted into the ground by the brothers.
    “ I could scream. That would make you look like bullies to all these people.” I tried to leverage.
    “ You wouldn’t dare because that would make you look like a weak little girl crying for help,” Alik chided using a voice that was supposed to sound like mine.
    “ Just spill it, so we can get this over with. Don’t you want to hurry back to mom?” Evan pleaded.
    “ Low blow, Ev,” I said seriously. “Fine, I’ll say it...,” and hesitated because I hated to give in to these oafs. They were not going to be okay with Creed.
    “ Any day now, Meg.” Alik shifted his weight a little more heavily onto my back.
    “ Uuhhggg…okay, okay…I met a guy. Now let me up,” I yelled.
    “ You what?” Evan looked completely shocked.
    “ We’re not done discussing this, Meg,” Alik growled into my ear. “But stand up and wave to the crowd so they don’t start panicking.”
    He moved off my back and let go of my arm. I was glad I couldn’t see the look in Alik’s eyes. It was bad enough I could feel his disapproval.
    Both boys added to the act by helping me to my feet. I dusted off the grass and leaves from my clothes and waved to the crowd to let them think I was fine, but I wasn’t fine. I was about to get the third degree from my stupid brothers about the dangers of talking with strangers—what with meta monsters hunting us and all.
     
     

 
     
    12 Moment of Reckoning
     
    He couldn’t believe his luck. This was it. The three metas were away from the target. Margo Winter was alone and unprotected. He scanned the area around the three metas. No coyote. That’s not a problem. He had figured he would have to take the wild dog out anyway and had already made arrangements for just such a job.
    From the looks of the growing crowd, these three would be busy entertaining for a while. Creed’s mind was racing with possibilities, tactics and scenarios.
    He was a soldier trained to use his brain as much as he was trained to use his