Twisted (Rogues Shifter Series Book 3) (35 page)

They disappeared and I said out loud. “We found your
two friends, and today I have a strong craving for dark witch blood. It tastes like the finest red wine, Rick, you should try some.” I grinned at him and he grinned back. I'd said it loudly enough so that my team and the Brownlow Pack would know what else we were facing.

I
had a brief twinge of regret, realizing that I should have taken this encounter more seriously, but it was too late to worry about that now. Jackie and Sash could deal with the witches.

I felt a sudden pressure in my ears, t
he ground shook and then the world turned black and silent.

Chapter Sixty-three

Bridgett: 6:30
PM Tuesday

Shit,  shit,  shit!
What the hell just happened? Garrett, Ethan, Heinrich, Will, Kyle, and Fred and his pack were all flat on the ground unconscious. Sinc was walking up toward Ethan holding her crossbow, glaring at the other weres who’d all crouched down on the ground, but didn’t seem to be hurt. They must have been given some kind of protection against the knock out spell. I wondered why Sinc and I were still standing.

Well, I couldn’t stay
here on this branch and let her stand up to them alone. I jumped down and ran to the front next to her. I could tell she was nervous, because her heart was beating like a rabbit’s, but she didn’t show it in her face or her attitude. The two weres in human form stood slowly and then leered at her, looking her up and down, amused by her courage.

I dropped my walls and tried to send to her using the power of the lines, even though I’d never attempted sending to someo
ne without any connection of their own. “
I wake Garrett
” was all I could manage, but I saw her eyes widen so she must have heard me.

The weres in the other pack were moving toward us, growling, so I ran to Garrett and started to send to him using everything I had. “
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
.” He stirred so I bit his arm and he jerked up hissing at me, then realized where we were and jumped up. Instantly, he was standing by Sinc, his fangs fully out and his eyes a solid silver. Man, those were some kick ass reflexes.

The weres attacked for real now, I saw one of them run toward Will so I ran faster than I thought possible to stand over his prone body and growl. I tapped into the lines and did what Maya had taught me to do, send out a flat wave of ener
gy to knock down the were. Whoa, it actually worked, so I leapt on top of him and ripped out his throat. It took me a couple of bites, because his ruff was so thick, but when the blood gushed out like a pulsing river, I knew he wouldn’t be getting up again.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Jackie were back and fighting side by side on the right
, near Heinrich and Fred's wolves. Sasha was amazing as he broke their necks with a quick twist or crushed their throats with one punch of his powerful fist.  I couldn’t believe that he could move so quickly and powerfully without having any connection to the ley line magic. He was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning, which was a little bit creepy, and I thanked the spirits that he was on
our
side. On his right, Jackie slashed the wolves stupid enough to attack her using her magic and then decapitated them the same way. No sword required.

Sinc was holding her own with the crossbow, standing over Ethan, killing two as I watched. I saw another were sneaking up behind her but Garrett was suddenly there ripping off his head with a twist and a pull of his amazing power.  I noticed a gray shadow out of the corner of
my eye headed toward Kyle so I raced to stand over him and growled a warning. The were lunged at me before I had a chance to pull in the magic, but I easily avoided him, flicking my tail and taunting him to follow me and leave Kyle alone. He took the bait, giving me enough time to tap in and knock him unconscious. Another two bites and he was history.

A very large gray
wolf came running into the clearing and jumped on Sinc’s back, knocking her down and causing her to lose her grip on the crossbow. She fell facedown, hitting her forehead on a rock, and lay there not moving. Taking instant advantage, the wolf bit savagely into her shoulder, ripping deeply, dangerously close to her neck and a vital artery. Garrett hissed, reached down and pulled him off, then flung him into a tree. The were yelped but was back on his feet quickly. He snarled at Garrett who was circling him, all vamped up with bloodlust.

By this time,
our entire team along with Fred and his wolves had recovered from the spell and were up and fighting. Jackie had somehow gotten Sinc out of the way of the action while she tried to staunch the heavy bleeding from the wound in her neck and shoulder.  Heinrich was throwing weres right and left laughing as he plowed through their defenses. Ethan crushed a throat or two with his fists as Kyle martial-artist-kicked the shit out of one that had tried to sneak up on Ethan from behind. William was swinging a tree branch at a wolf. I heard it connect and brains went flying as Will grinned at me. I grinned back—well I tried. It was hard to grin in cheetah form. It came out looking like a snarl. Fred, had never changed form, but was easily avoiding the lunges made at his throat with finesse, turning their forward motion into a twist and a flip which broke their necks. He was fearless, although he was bleeding from several places. Man this fight was the shit!

Finally, it was quiet in the clearing. Of the Pine Ridge Pack, only their
alpha, Johnny, was still on his feet, a scruffy, yet very large and powerful looking gray wolf. Garrett was slowly circling him and grinning while Sasha and Heinrich went around making sure the rest were dead.  Our side had only minor injuries, except for Sinc who was propped against a tree still unconscious with Jackie tending her. Garrett motioned to Fred and then stepped aside as Fred moved forward, changing almost instantly to animal form. My cheetah jaw dropped. It was the fastest transition I’d ever seen a were pull off. My dad had been good, but this guy was awesome. We formed a loose circle around them, except for Ethan who’d backed off and was hovering near Sinc and Jackie. Will, who was soaked with wolf blood, reached out and stroked my sticky fur, then crouched down and hugged my neck. I licked some of the blood off of his face and he laughed, then stood, leaving his hand on my head, as we both watched the battle between the two alphas.

Chapter Sixty-four

Jackie:
7:00 PM Tuesday

She was bleeding badly. Her artery was nicked and a trickle of blood was pulsing out to combine with the blood pouring from her shoulder wound. H
er skin was very pale and her pulse had slowed. I pressed down hard, hoping to stem the flow and looked up at Ethan. He was just as pale as she was, probably more worried about her than he'd admit.

“Ethan, I need you.” He came
immediately, crouching next to me. “Hold this cloth down as firmly as you can.” He took over for me as I moved to her other side and tapped into the lines. I pulled in the energy until I couldn’t hold another drop and then focused it on the tear in her neck. I tried to remember what Ethan’s doctor had shown me about closing a wound. I concentrated on healing the nicked vein and then the rest of the gash, being careful not to leave any gaps. The blood flow slowed and then stopped and I slumped to the ground to hug her. I talk a lot about the wonderful men in my life, but Sinc and Bridgett are just as precious to me.

A fight was starting between the two Alpha wolves, but I couldn’t pull away from her just yet. I grabbed Ethan’s hand and looked into his beautiful golden brown eyes and made a decision. “She’s going to kill me for telling you, but she didn’t sleep with Sasha. She gave him blood and got his scent all over her and then lied to you to get you to
go off and find someone better. I need you to talk to her now and tell her that you’re here for her. Say whatever you have to say to get her to regain consciousness, even if it’s a freakin’ lie. I need her to wake up, Ethan. She hit her head on a rock and she’s lost a lot of blood. She was standing over you like fucking  Xena, protecting your ass with Kyle’s crossbow. You owe her this at least.” He nodded, wisely deciding not to argue with me.

I left him there, running over to grab
Garrett around the waist from behind. I sent to him, “
We couldn’t stop them before they cast the spell. I’m so sorry.”

“
How’s Sinc?”

“She’s unconscious.
I got the bleeding to stop, and Ethan’s there with her. If she’s going to wake up, it’ll be for him.”

" I'll
get her some blood.
" Garrett sighed and shook his head
. “I was a fool not to take this encounter seriously. Any injuries are my responsibility.”
I heard Sinc moan just as Rick walked over, bit into his wrist and put it to her lips.

Garrett and I
turned to watch the two alpha weres face off against each other. So far they’d just been circling in a strange kind of ritual, a full circle one way then another in the other direction. They backed away a few steps, crouched and lunged. Fred's gorgeous black wolf was larger, faster and in much better physical condition, But Johnny was desperate. His entire pack was dead and his short stint as Alpha was over. He knew that he was dead either way, but instead of just lying down to take the killing blow, he fought with every ounce of strength he had left.

His first lunge took a chunk of flesh and fur out of Fred’s right foreleg and his second a chunk from Fred’s left hindquarter. Fred, although bleeding from the wounds, defended himself with minimum exertion then stood passively and nodded slightly to Johnny, who retur
ned the nod. When Fred lunged, it was over quickly. He ripped Johnny’s throat out with one savage bite and spit the blood and flesh in his mouth back at the twitching body. It was as if he’d allowed the other pack’s alpha to save face before he met his end. It was a powerful moment and we watched a little bit awestruck as Fred transitioned smoothly back to human. Mike handed him his clothes and he dressed and then faced us. He spoke to Garrett.

“Thank you.
We would have been exterminated and our families killed or tortured. Please, call on us anytime. Can we do anything for your brave snow leopard?”

“T
hank you, the bleeding’s been stopped and her pulse is stronger. She has a minor concussion and we’ll be taking her home in a moment. Could I ask you a question, Fred?” He nodded. “What is your history, because you’re more than just werewolf, aren’t you?”

“My mother was a witch who was bitten and became a
were. Through her powers, she was able to carry me to term. I was never bitten. I was born in human form and transitioned naturally to wolf for the first time at fifteen. My transitions are much easier than the bitten wolves. And I don't have to change at the full moon. I'm more shapeshifter in that way.

Garrett sent to Bridgett and allowed me to listen in.
“Bridgett, we’d like to hear what happened when we were knocked unconscious. Please transition back to human and dress.”
She ran off to do as he’d asked.

I walked to the edge of the clearing to check on Sinc. She was sitting up with her back against a tree talking to Ethan who was crouching next to her. He’d put his jacket around her shoulders and
although I could see she still looked pale, she was smiling. I checked her neck and her shoulder and was glad to find that the wound had healed.

Bridgett loped into the clearing having dressed again in her jeans, tee shirt and hooded sweatshirt. She looked pretty confident
for someone who'd just had to hold the fort against a bunch of angry wolves. She'd grown up with weres and was used to their behavior, although I doubted she'd ever had to face down so many.

She beamed at the new alpha.
“You were awesome, Fred. I didn’t know you could fight like that. Have you picked a name for the pack?”

“We’re keeping the old one: The Brownlow Pack. Your dad made a mistake getting involved with Lord Kennet, but he
'd been a good alpha and his father founded the pack. We’re leaving it the way it is. You were pretty amazing yourself as a cheetah. Kent would've been proud of you—your mom too.”

Her smile was sad. “Thanks
.”

She turned to Garrett. “So, I was up in the tree over there and Sinc was farther behind me. I heard the booming noise and then you all
just dropped. So then Sinc starts walking forward right away with her crossbow like some superhero and stands over Ethan and waves it back and forth so no one comes near him. The other weres were standing and watching her. I think they were totally amazed that she didn’t just run. I jumped down and told her that I was going to try to wake you up, ‘cause I knew that I’d have a chance connecting to you I got you up and then you saw the rest.

“How did you tell Sinc that you were going to wake me up?”

“Umm…I kinda forced it into her mind.” She grimaced and looked toward Sinc.

Garrett smiled. “
I'm sure she'll forgive you. Why do you think you two weren’t affected by the witch’s spell?”

“Sinc was pretty far back
, so the spell must have been limited in area. I’m resistant to most magic unless someone is touching me. Like at the house when you went into my mind to find out about Kennet, you touched me. I don’t think you can glamour me without touching me.”