Free Balance by Leia Stone Page A

was respect growing. We were
showing them that we were like them. Max, drenched in sweat with a stony
expression on his face, pulled the wolf team into a huddle. I saw Tara on the
sidelines checking him out and it made me smile. Who knew a simple game of
football could make everything screwed up in the world feel so normal.
                    “Come
on, Max! Make us proud!” I shouted.
                    He
smiled and shook his head, embarrassed, as Earl rounded the corner and stepped
up onto the bleachers, taking a seat next to me.
                    “This
was a good idea. We should make it a weekly thing.” He winced as he sat down
and straightened his leg.
                    “You
okay?”
                    He
waved me off. “Just getting old. Nothing you will have to worry about.”
                    I
smiled. True, weird, but true. Max made a touchdown and I jumped up clapping
and whistling.
                    After
I sat back down, Earl leaned into me. “You know, it’s been months since the incident
with the vampire queen.”
                    I
rubbed my neck. Incident. Yeah, where she bit me in a bid to get pregnant.
                    “My
guys are getting antsy for action. Raiding the clubs is good, but we want to
take her out.” He had the fine lines around his eyes and mouth that told of a
happy life, lots of laughter. I liked Earl. He was a good guy I didn’t want to
disappoint him.
                    I
met his gaze straight on. “You have no idea how bad I want that. I promise we
will get her. We’ve got a new lead. When Kai gets back, we will call a meeting
to discuss it.” I placed an arm on his shoulder and he nodded.
                    I
stood again and hollered in excitement as Max scored another touchdown. Earl
chuckled, but before I could sit back down, his face froze in horror and his
eyes fixed on my chest. What the …? Suddenly, his hand reached out and pushed
me hard. I fell backward and cracked my head on the metal bleachers as a sharp
pain sliced into my leg. Looking down, I saw at least five red sniper dots
following me. Shit!
                    “Go!”
Earl shouted as I rolled onto my tummy and started to army crawl across the
floor of the metal bench. I was wedged into the small space and extremely
exposed. What the hell was going on? The sound of snapping bullets hurt my
ears. My head filled with a symphony of chaos, screaming, roaring, wolves
shifting.
                    ‘Kai,
I’ve been shot. We’re under attack.’ His meeting was in Portland, but the mate bond was strong, so I hoped he’d
heard me. Earl groaned behind me and I turned to look back at him. He was slumped
over, flat on the bench floor, red laser dots lined all over his back. Oh,
shit! He was human; there was no way he could come back from that. Earl was
pack as far as I was concerned.
                    “No!”
I jumped up, ignoring the searing pain in my leg, and threw myself over him as
bullets riddled my back instead of his.
                    Getting
shot is exactly as you think it will be. Hurts like hell and does a good job of
cutting open your insides. I couldn’t breathe; what little breath I could take
was hard and rattled like water in my chest.
                    I
heard Max roar, “RAIDOS! In the trees!”
                    The
militia returned RAIDOS’ fire with gunfire of our own. Then, strong arms were
around me and I felt someone pick me up off of Earl, who was alive and looking
at me like I was a ghost. I didn’t feel pain anymore, just cold. Mist was
leaking out of my skin like air from a balloon with a small hole in it.
                    Max’s
face suddenly came into view. “You’re not allowed to die on me, Aurora!”