What a nice, nostalgic moment this was going to be, then.
Carlos stepped up to the door. “What the hell are you doing at my mate’s home?” he barked, in as deep and intimidating a voice as he could summon.
There was a momentary pause. “We got no quarrel with you,” the voice said. “We just want the kid.”
“Well,” Carlos said, “the kid’s under my protection. And if you are who I think you are, you got a taste of what my protection means a month or so ago, you and your whiny friend Todd. So you might want to just move along.”
Another pause, and Carlos had a moment of hoping it might just be over, without any blood having to be shed.
But then the voice came back, stronger. “That was you and three of your friends. I don’t hear any other men here tonight, and I got a few of my friends along with me. I don’t think you’re gonna have much success against us all.”
“Want to bet on that?” Carlos asked mildly.
A nasty laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I do.”
Carlos looked back at Pauline. Part of him was grateful that she wasn’t a more combat-ready shifter, like Lynn and Stella’s lynx forms, because there was nothing to stop him from telling her, “Stay inside. Keep back. If they get in, get back into the bedroom with the kids and get them out the window.”
There was always the possibility that the wolf pack had the place surrounded, of course, but Carlos planned on being enough of a problem for them that any rearguards would be called forward to deal with him.
She nodded, pale but steady. “Nate, Stella, Lynn, and Ken are on their way.”
“Good.” He just had to hold the wolves back until they got here, then.
He took a deep breath. There were a few strategies available. He could make use of the defensive structure that was the house—there were four walls and a locked door currently between him and the enemy.
But that would direct the wolves at the windows. And there’d be a greater chance of them choosing the back windows to try and sneak up behind him. Which was where the kids were.
On the other hand, if he opened the door, they’d have one big, recognizable target to deal with, and he had confidence in his ability to keep them occupied.
With that in mind, Carlos made his move.
In one smooth motion, he unlocked the front door, threw it open, and leapt forward, shifting as his feet left the ground.
Ryan had quick enough reflexes to get himself out of the way. The wolf behind him, already shifted, didn’t. Six hundred pounds of adult male tiger landed on him, knocking him to the ground with an ominous crunch.
Carlos left him motionless on the ground and whirled, meeting Ryan just as he shifted and lunged. They clashed, and pain ripped through him as Ryan’s teeth closed on his shoulder. Carlos growled and broke free, swiping at the wolf’s face and catching his ear with a wickedly sharp claw.
Ryan retreated for a moment, and Carlos leapt to take up a position in the open doorway. The narrow opening meant that no one could attack him from behind, but he would still be enough of a threat that the full force of the pack should focus on him, rather than aiming to enter the house from behind.
He hoped.
But sure enough, the other wolves were coming forward, slinking around the corners of the house where they’d been lurking in the shadows. Only four of them in total, counting the one Carlos had taken down first, who still hadn’t moved. This might be a winnable fight, then, even if reinforcements didn’t arrive soon.
Then Ryan growled, and they all attacked at once.
Carlos found himself in a blur of claws, fangs, and fur. One of the wolves was skinny and ragged-looking, so Carlos got in a hard bite on his throat—not enough to kill him, but enough for him to fall back, gasping for breath.
However, that targeted movement left his flank open for another attack, and he felt claws rip through his fur at the same time as Ryan leapt for him. Carlos reared back to meet the charge, and they clashed with a shock of impact and pain. The world tilted, and they were rolling.
He had to stay in the doorway. He couldn’t leave the doorway open, leave the house vulnerable for the other wolves to get inside.
With a mighty heave, Carlos wrenched them over so that the two of them—Ryan’s teeth fixed in Carlos’ side, Carlos’ claws digging into Ryan’s front legs—blocked the doorway. The other two wolves wouldn’t be able to get into the house without going through them.
And being caught in a tight grapple like this, although he could feel the deep pain of Ryan’s teeth and knew that he wasn’t coming out of it without a serious injury, meant that the other two wolves couldn’t attack. They were moving too fast, and there was too much of a chance of hitting their leader.
Especially since none of these wolves were formally combat-trained. It was clear in their sloppy movements, the way they held back and let their leader do most of the real attacking, and weren’t at all effective as a unit.
Carlos tore his way free from Ryan’s teeth, feeling blood run down his side, and roared. He had the satisfaction of seeing the raggedy wolf flinch away.