A shadow moves in the bushes, and I pick up on Raven’s scent yet again. Then I smell her to the left and right, and what on earth? She’s everywhere.
I huddle up close to Patrick and Hunter, each of us facing a bush where Raven’s scent materializes. Then a human emerges from each shrub, their silver knives glinting in the early dawn light.
Shit. We fell right into their trap.
They led us here on purpose, knowing we were tracking down Raven’s scent. They even used it to mask their own, and these humans are getting good.
What did they do? Drown themselves in her sweat? Gross. I bet they wiped her smelly sock all over themselves.
Humans are truly disgusting.
Two women and one man. Three on three. This fight should be over within seconds, but they have knives. Knives made from silver.
The woman facing me sneers, and I take note of her dirty appearance. She has covered her face in mud. It even coats her dread-locked hair as she spins a knife around in her fingers, and it looks like this one doesn’t take prisoners.
The other woman is smaller, with cropped blonde hair, as she wields a dagger at Patrick. Last but not least is the man. He’s built like a boulder, his arms and legs as thick as tree trunks as he flexes his muscles.
If Hunter weren’t a shifter with supernatural strength, I’d be worried for him. That boulder-shaped man is no pretty boy with long eyelashes and a beauty spot. He would use Hunter as a toothpick.
“Well, look what we got here. Three little lost wolves...” the male growls, his voice baritone deep.
“Ooh, I like the white one. You think you could let me keep her pelt, Bree? Should keep me warm this winter...”
Silver growls at the woman with the cropped hair. You won’t be making a pelt out of me any day, bitch...
It’s not like the human can hear her, but Cropped Haircut Lady understands her sentiment all the same. Silver’s shiny white teeth should be proof of her feelings.
Silver’s teeth are no laughing matter. Her fangs stretch toward her bottom lip. Even now, as I bare them, I feel them digging into the skin, and they’re sharp.
Cropped Haircut Lady backs off a step, extending her silver knife with a shaking hand. Ironic that Silver shares a name with the very metal that can kill us.
Dreadlocks snaps, flipping her blade around. “No. We just end them here. We don’t take their pelts, and we don’t cook their meat... we just kill.”
Cook our meat? Oh, hell, no.
I’m not about to become some human bitch’s breakfast. My mates feel the same way. Even though we would never dream of eating human flesh, the very insinuation that mere prey would make a meal out of us has all raising our hackles.
We are natural born predators. No monkeys are going to make breakfast out of us.
Well, it looks like blood will have to be spilled after all. I may be willing to negotiate with the humans, but these three are a lost cause.
They only have violence in their hearts.
I move faster than the woman can flip her knife. In one swift motion, Silver has her teeth around her arm, and the human cries out.
The silver knife drops into the undergrowth.
We need to get out of here. Forget tracking down Raven. The humans know we want her. And they will exploit that need in order to kill us.
We’re truly on our own out here. We no longer have the support of a large pack, and I take back what I said earlier. Banishment really does suck.
Hunter dances around the large man, kicking him down with his back legs. Patrick yelps as Cropped Haircut Lady yanks at a tuff of his sandy brown fur, ripping it straight off his back, and I’ve had enough.
No one hurts my mates.
Before I can lunge at the woman with the cropped hair, a shiny red wolf jumps out from the trees, pinning the human to the ground. Then a little blond wolf emerges, barking and wagging her tail at the large man before she bites his balls.
The man’s scream could be heard all the way from the moon. Even Patrick and Hunter flinch. That gotta hurt.
Before Dreadlocks makes a beeline for the trees, a dark brown wolf bursts forward, knocking her onto her back, and now all three humans are trapped.
It looks like we got the best of them in the end. I can always count on my bitches, after all.