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A jaw snapped, Rion hissed, then the first hound lunged.

Rion sidestepped the creature and planted his boot in its ribs, sending it skidding across the ground. A cloud of ash billowed up and the rising breeze carried it off.

A careful calculation then another jumped from his right, teeth flashing. Rion ducked beneath it, then dug his elbow deep into the hound’s empty belly. He used its own momentum to send it sailing over his head.

Rion spun then and let the chain in his grip fly out, striking another so hard in the face that the skin along its snout split wide open. The hellish creature howled in pain and dug at its face, backing away.

The others growled and circled, sizing up the threat they’d previously perceived as an easy kill. One against five.

They kept moving, snarling in the moonlight, searching for a sign of weakness, a limp, a twist in his body that would make for an easy take down.

Rion feigned a lunge and the hounds leapt back only to correct themselves and continue pacing. Kaylee coughed and one of the hounds twisted toward the noise.

Rion bristled. Not a single one of these creatures was getting anywhere near those females.

Rion shook the chains around his wrists, loosed a fierce growl, then yelled, “Come on!”

He sprang forward, unwilling to wait for them to make the first move. One came from his right and Rion whipped the chain up, twisting so he caught the creature’s neck in a loop. He pulled hard, ducking past another, but not fast enough. Its body collided with his legs, knocking him off balance.

Rion cursed and the pack moved as one when he hit the ground.

Sharp fangs pierced his calf first and he felt the muscles begin to tear. Another locked onto his forearm and still another sank its jaws into his side, ripping the flesh when it shook its massive head.

He scented Kaylee’s overwhelming fear, saw his mother lean forward slightly. Then Arianna desperately tugged on the bond and Rion screamed in pained rage.

He slammed an elbow down on the one biting into his ribcage, then used his free leg to kick the hound clamped around his calf. Rion twisted to his knees, wrapped the chain around his fist once, and punched the canine in the head. It backed away, shaking off the pain before lunging again.

Rion shoved the chain into the hound’s mouth and twisted sharply, snapping the animal’s neck. It collapsed instantly.

One down.

Rion rolled to his left, hoping to use the chain again, but the hound ducked around it and sank those horrid teeth into his other arm. Rion roared, grabbed the chain with his free hand, and beat the creature on the head over and over again until its blood splattered across his tunic.

Rion quickly leaned back, narrowly avoiding another open maw, then rolled to his feet, panting and bloody and full of so much primal rage he was certain he’d explode with it.

The remaining three circled him, the fourth shaking its head in an attempt to clear it. It growled again, but backed away, its head cocked at an unnatural angle.

Rion spun the chain in one hand. He crouched, waiting even as blood trickled down his arms and legs.

He no longer felt his wounds. Just that unrelenting anger that had kept him company for so many years.

Rion growled again. After decades of survival against assassins and walking off bloody battle fields, he wasn’t about to be bested by a few mangy animals.

Not here and not now.

Rion darted toward the injured hound on his right. It couldn’t move in time. He wrapped the chain around the beast’s neck and a crunch of bones told Rion it wouldn’t rise again.

He twisted toward the others, but they’d taken a step back, still growling.

Rion let a vicious snarl rip from between his bloodied teeth. The hounds tucked their tails and ran, peering over their shoulders as if he might give chase.

Rion panted, but remained upright, watching just in case they changed their minds.

His breathing slowed first, then the tension fell from his shoulders. Then the pain began everywhere all at once. His body was shaking and ash covered everything.

Steady. Breathe.

He tried telling himself he’d been through worse, but his body didn’t believe the lie.