Free Between Two Wolves (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Menage Werewolf Romance) by Catherine Vale Page B

options. I brought my knee up, aiming for his crotch. I hit his thigh
instead, and it was like kneeing a tree. But it gave me an opening. I pulled
against the hand holding my hair, setting my scalp on fire, and swung for the
moon with my left. I hit him, hard, in the side of the head.
    The blow didn’t do much damage, but it
did startle him. He took his arm away from me, but held on to my hair. I swung
again, a wild right that whistled through the air past his face. I could hear
Jack’s snort of disapproval in my mind. Waste of energy, throwing useless
punches.
    “Knock it off, little girl. I’m not
impressed with your little hissy fit. Just accept…” He pulled me up by my hair
until I was standing on my toes. I sucked a breath through my teeth, trying
really hard not to scream at the pain.
    “Not so tough now, are you?” He dragged
me backward toward the mattress. “I think there’s a better way of doing this.
Giving you swinging room is dangerous.”
    He pushed me down onto the mattress,
following me, his big body covering mine, finally letting go of my hair. I hit
him wherever I could, pounding his back, his shoulders. It was like punching
stone. I wanted to scream, but he was crushing my chest with his, and getting
air was getting harder.
    I brought my knee up again. This time I
connected with something that brought a reaction from Weatherly. He grunted,
his hands stopping in the middle of the act of tearing off my clothes. I tried
again, but Weatherly reared back, slapping me across my mouth. I tasted blood,
and for a horrible moment, everything went black.
    “You know, I like a fighter, but this is
ridiculous. You’re being downgraded to collateral damage again.” Weatherly
fumbled at his belt, and the cold sharpness at my throat snapped me back to
reality.
    “I’ve been chasing these bastards long
enough. They’re the last of their clans, and I’m the last of mine. They’ve
taken everything from me, my land, my clan…and left me out in the cold. I’m
tired, and I’m tired of you. You’re not worth making a mate; you’d be nothing
but a thorn in my side.”
    He slid the knife against my throat, and
for an instant I wondered if he was joking, or if this was just some weird sort
of foreplay. But he pulled back, grinning, a terrible expression full of lust
and hate, and so many clashing emotions that I had to look away. I tried to
turn my head, and then I felt the warm rush of blood seeping from the place
he’d cut me.
    “There. Just lie there and die.” He
pushed off of me. I wanted to sit up, to scream, to do something. But a tiny
part of my brain told me I was probably better off just being still, and for
once I listened to that little voice.
    I reached up, almost tenderly, touching
my neck. When I pulled my hand away, there was blood, so much blood. Too much
blood, it seemed. I closed my eyes, putting my hand over the cut, praying to
every deity I could imagine to let me live, to end this nightmare.
    The door crashed inward, and I opened my
eyes, watching as it shattered into a thousand rotten splinters. Behind it was Colt,
as wolf, followed by Jericho, as human. Colt shook himself briefly, eyes locked
on Weatherly. Weatherly still held the knife and he rushed the wolf, bring the
knife around in a big arc. It all looked like slow motion. His footing is
off…wild punch…won’t connect…
    It didn’t. Colt ducked easily, coming
around, snapping at Weatherly’s legs. He bit hard, teeth sinking into
Weatherly’s thigh. Blood ran down his dirty uniform, mixing with old blood and
dirt. I took grim satisfaction that Weatherly was bleeding too. But I didn’t
have the energy to do much more than think about it.
    Jericho circled Colt and Weatherly,
kneeling beside me. Weatherly’s grunts, and Colt’s growls filling the air. Jericho
met my eyes, and it was pretty clear from the look in them that what he saw frightened
him. I smiled, or tried to, tried to sit up.
    “Stay still.” Jericho’s