Theo
The car slid around the corner and to a stop as he went from eighty to zero in a second. He was sure he needed to buy four new tires by the time the day was over. Providing his car survived.
Theo’s knuckles hurt from gripping the steering wheel so tightly by the time they pulled into the abandoned warehouse. He owned the land here, so he knew it would be a safe place away from mundane humans if there was going to be a showdown. And considering how aggressive the wolf shifters were being, there would likely be a battle.
Gemma had to peel her hands off the handle, and they both jumped out of the car. Neither wanted to be boxed in a vehicle when the shifters showed up. That would just make them sitting ducks.
The wolf shifters were right behind them. As soon as Gemma and Theo had cleared the car, two other cars slammed into the parking lot, and eight shifters bailed out.
“Gemma, just come with us, and no one has to get hurt,” one of them told her.
“Speak for yourself. You’re not the one to have your heart cut out of your body while you’re still alive. No sweat off your brow,” she said.
“It’s for the good of the pack,” he said.
“No. It’s for an ancient superstition no one with any sense believes in anymore. It’s an occasion to get bloody and party all night. I’m not interested,” she said.
“What about your friend? You don’t want him to get hurt, do you?” he asked.
“I’m sure he can hold his own,” Gemma replied.
Five of the wolf shifters attacked Theo, while three went after Gemma.
At first, they all were in human form, as was customary when shifters were in an area with a lot of humans.
Theo managed to fight off the shifters easily. He noted Gemma had sent one of her attackers flying across the parking lot. It seemed she wasn’t exaggerating about her fighting abilities.
Two of his attackers lay on the ground. One with two broken knees, and the other probably was not going to survive the throat punch he received courtesy of Theo.
The wolf shifters had lost three of their fighters so far. No one had brought a weapon because they couldn’t afford to seriously hurt the white wolf.
However, at this rate, they weren’t going to be taking her anywhere.
The five wolf shifters transformed into their wolf forms and lined up in front of Theo and Gemma, ready to attack.
They were in the air when Theo and Gemma shifted as well.
When three of them hit Theo’s dragon form, they didn’t budge him off balance. He hurled a fireball at one of them. His fur caught fire, and the wolf rolled on the ground to put it out.
Theo grabbed one of them with his talons and threw him. The wolf yelped as he flew through the air and landed with a thump on the ground.
He took a chance to glance at Gemma. She had one wolf on the ground with her paw on his bloody throat. The other one looked as though she had flayed his entire side.
“Enough,” Theo roared.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and looked at him. He had transformed back to his human form.
“Gemma is mine. She is my mate. You are not allowed to touch her. She will not be going anywhere with you, and she will not be your sacrifice.”
The wolf shifter that Gemma had stripped of its fur transformed, as well. His side was bloody and mangled, but he fared better than the rest of the group.
“She was destined from birth to be a sacrifice on her twenty-fifth birthday to the moon goddess. Her sacrifice will bring good luck, fertility, and harmony to our pack,” he said, quite boldly for a man whose insides were threatening to explode from his side.
“She is the mate of a dragon shifter. How much luck and harmony will your pack have if you face a battle with the entire dragon clan? What good will your fertility do your pack if your women are killed when they are pregnant and your pups are destroyed? If you mess with the mate of a dragon shifter, especially one of my status in the clan, you will have the entire dragon population come down on you,” Theo declared in a booming voice.
“We will go,” the wolf spokesperson said. “But you need to know this isn’t over.”
“For you, it is over,” Theo said.
