I began to walk, keeping my senses open for any movement. If we were discovered, there was no telling what would happen.
The rich smell of the forest filled my nostrils as I swept my gaze with each step, on guard and ready for an attack. One step and then another. We weren't within hearing distance of the property but I was worried they would be guarding the outside perimeter.
The sudden sound of a groan and a commotion had me running before the sound of a thud.
It took a few minutes for me to break through the trees in time to see Blake tackle someone off the fighter who had accompanied him.
Blake took the hard hit to his shoulder, pushing the attacker off my fighter. I watched as an attacker threw Blake off him with minimal effort.
It was unbelievable, the sight of the human getting to his feet. His eyes were dark as night as they met mine. The air surrounding him hummed of a power I had never encountered before. Blake was still getting to his feet and my fighter was still injured on the ground. I stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds before the instinct to attack took over.
My transformation only took seconds as I leaped for him, intent on injuring him enough to keep him subdued. Concentrating on my senses, time slowed down to every second, stretching it out as the man reached for something in his belt.
He was so quick but I didn't miss the glint of metal before I could see the knife he was pulling from his belt. I angled my body slightly to the side as I cut through the space between us, my mouth opening to attack him. My teeth were as sharp as the knife he held.
There was no fear in his features, only a calculated concentration I had never seen before. No human had ever stayed to fight a werewolf. It was ludicrous. He couldn't be just a human. The way he had taken out my fighter and attacked Blake told me he was something much more powerful. Powerful enough to kill a rogue.
My jaw wrapped around his arm to stop him. He hissed in pain as I tightened my hold with my sharp teeth digging into his flesh.
We landed with a thump but I refused to let go of his wrist. In a flash, Cade was beside me in human form, holding the attacker. The super-strengthened human continued to fight but there was no escaping two alphas keeping him from getting away.
I released his wrist when Blake appeared beside me. I could still taste his metallic blood in my mouth as I shifted back.
"What the hell are you?" Cade asked, struggling to keep the injured guy down.
But he refused to answer. He gave us a look with such hatred that I knew if given the chance he would have slaughtered every one of us without hesitation.
"I just got my ass handed to me by a human," Blake muttered as he helped Cade keep the guy down.
"I think we might need Curtis," Blake added.
It was going to take a lot more than muscle to keep this guy subdued.
Crystal
There was a knock at my door a couple of hours later. But this time I knew it wasn't going to be Flynn.
I hesitated before opening it to find Hayden standing there.
"I need to check your arm," he said, walking into my room.
Oh crap!My arm. My perfectly unscarred arm.
I put my still-bandaged arm behind my back slightly before I turned to face him.
Stall him,my mind yelled at me.
"It's really okay." I gave a one-shoulder shrug.
"No, it isn't." His voice gave nothing away.
The air locked in my lungs. Did he know it was completely healed?
"It needs to be cleaned and bandaged again. Meet me downstairs in the kitchen in ten minutes."
When he left, I paced the length of the room. The urge to run, even though it meant they would discover what I truly was, was impossible to fight. I put my hand to my head for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts to stop myself from panicking. I had to stay in control.
There was no other way to stall him. A foreboding feeling began to grow in the pit of my stomach. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
