Page 29 of Cold Foot Revenge (Wreck’s Mountains #7)

She was fast in this form, but she’d never had a reason to test herself.

Roxy pushed her legs and ducked his six-inch-long claws by millimeters as she aimed for the tender spot under his chin.

She latched on and ripped, shaking her body hard to apply maximum damage to his throat.

Grizzly skin was thick, and tough, but she pierced him.

He flung her off and she went crashing into a row of chairs.

He was on her again before she was even upright, but the cluttered chairs bought her the split second she needed.

He had to swipe the debris out of the way, and she bolted between his legs, skidded around when she was behind him and jumped on his back.

Her teeth found purchase on the side of his neck, and she could taste blood.

With a snarl, Grave spun, trying to reach her with a paw, but missed.

The second swat dragged his claws up her ribs, and she had to let go with a yelp.

Her muzzle was wet with blood, but it wasn’t enough.

He was on her now, charging, and she had to create some space so she could get to his back again.

Heart pounding, she zigzagged through tables with his hot breath at her back.

She used the support beam by the bar to run up and leap backward, twisting in the air.

She snagged his ear and ripped, flinching her body and kicking her back legs in the air to get more power behind the rip.

She shredded it, but Grave was too big, too strong.

Too deadly. He flung his head and slammed her into the wall by the hallway.

She hit the corner hard, and the air was knocked clean out of her lungs.

Get up.

Her body wasn’t working right without the ability to breathe.

Get up!

Grave was stalking toward her, hunger in his glowing orange eyes, and time slowed as she looked around at all the faces of the Grit-Bron Crew. There was no pity. No remorse. No feeling in anyone but Nick’s eyes.

She hoped he would figure out Crystal was in the other room. She hoped he would help her.

Grave charged the last few yards, and lifted his enormous paw into the air, and this was it. This was where it all ended.

She inhaled sharply, preparing for the agony.

Grave flew sideways as something monstrous slammed into him, and they went straight through the support beam. Chunks of the ceiling crashed down on the brawling grizzlies, and Roxy pushed up on her locked front legs in shock.

A huge bruin was going absolutely insane on Grave, and she could see her Alpha’s eyes. He was uncertain. He was panicking.

Oh, he’d been ready to fight a coyote, but another grizzly bear was here, defending her. One she didn’t recognize, didn’t know.

His fur was darker than Grave’s, but she knew those eyes. They were orange. Only Grave and his brothers had orange eyes. Leech was helping her.

No. Leech was Changing in the middle of the room.

This new bear…this new brawler…he was something else. Something new.

Roxy , Dylan’s voice whispered through her. Run!

Her lungs opened up as the realization struck her like lightning.

The dark bear cast her a glance as he locked his jaws onto Grave’s neck. Go!

Dylan? Dylan was a grizzly. Dylan was an orange-eyed grizzly.

Leech’s bear slammed into the battle and now it was two on one. In the background, she could see the others changing. Fuck.

She pushed up and bolted for Leech. Pain shot through her with every step, but she cut him off just as he reached Dylan’s battle. His focus was too much on them, on helping his brother. He hadn’t seen her, and so she went for his throat, used her forward momentum, and slung herself as she bit down.

He roared and slapped her off hard. She came right back to him. Her body was taking damage, but she had to keep them off Dylan!

How was he here? How was he this brawler? What had he done!

The others were in it now and they were losing. They were losing! It was seven on two. Grave was down, and Dylan was locked up with Leech. She was trying to draw the others away, but it wasn’t working! Dylan was under a pile of three.

The collision that happened next happened with such force, she was blown backward with Donnie and Nick.

A new bear was ripping grizzlies off the pile with such fury, it stole her breath away. Donnie roared beside her and was yanked to the side. She didn’t understand why he was twisting around until she saw the enormous crocodile with her jaws clamped on his back end, doing a deathroll.

Oh my God. She knew who this was. If Raynah was here…Roxy swung her gaze back to the enraged bear fighting beside Dylan now…that was Garret Hoffman.

He’d come for his brother. Through the front door, two men walked in. One had flames in his glowing eyes, and a fire hovered above his palm as he walked. Fire and lava spewed from his hand to a grizzly that was charging him, and Roxy winced at the blistering heat that burned her skin.

When she opened them, the entire Rabbit Hole was filling with smoke and fire. It stank of death in here, but that wasn’t what drew the nauseous feeling from her gut. It was the vision of that shaky-legged coyote stumbling from the hallway to witness the chaos that was happening.

Crystal.

Something tugged her toward her. Something Roxy couldn’t fathom.

Crystal was too close to Dylan and Garret’s battle, and she didn’t understand the danger she was in.

It was so clear Crystal was in shock. Roxy bolted for her, ducking and dodging as she went.

She barreled into her, driving her backward just as a grizzly charged her.

Back, back, they went, and the deafening sound of a crash behind them shook the entire building.

The ceiling sounded like it was collapsing.

Stay here . Did Crystal understand? Stay out of the way!

Behind her, the room had gone eerily quiet, and she ran for it, terrified of what she would find.

Dylan? She couldn’t see him. She ran frantically around two felled grizzlies. Dylan?

Through the smoke, she could see two massive figures standing on two legs.

The first roared, and the second joined, and every single hair stood up on Roxy’s coat.

Her hackles rose, and she couldn’t drag her gaze from the two monstrous bears that sauntered out of the smoke.

One swung his gaze to her, but his eyes were teal.

Bright, glowing teal. Garret. He made his way toward the others in the Cold Foot Crew, while the other bear—her bear—came to a stop before her.

He was torn to hell, clawed and bitten, bleeding in a steady stream. His face was completely mauled on once side, but…he was still here.

He was okay.

Dylan was still breathing, and she couldn’t say that for the Grit-Bron Crew.

Everyone was down.

The smoke was getting thicker and was probably billowing from the openings in the room. This would be all over the news. How would they explain any of this? The police were probably on their way now.

So much had gone sideways.

“Can you Change back?” the fiery eyed man asked. Wreck Itall? She was in the presence of the phoenix himself. Holy. Shit.

Dylan shook his body hard, like he was ridding himself of water, closed his eyes, and then opened them. Whatever he told Wreck with that look, the Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew told him, “It’s okay.”

She could help. The others were Changing back to their human forms, and she knew she could help Dylan. She closed her eyes and pushed her Change as hard as she could, groaning with the pain of her aching body. With a gasp, she fell to the floor on her knees in front of him.

“You’re Dylan,” she whispered. Roxy cupped his bleeding face. “You’re my Dylan.” Tears burned her eyes. What had he done? How had this come to be? “You just relax, okay? You ask the bear for the Change, don’t force it. Just close your eyes and imagine yourself as a man.”

He did, but oh it looked painful. It was a dragged-out Change that sometimes happened to new Turns. He lay there for minutes while she murmured nonsensical things to him.

He’d done this for her.

She knew that without the shadow of a doubt.

“I need to know which ones to save,” Wreck said from beside her as Dylan curled in on himself and slammed his hand against the floor hard.

“Which ones to save,” she repeated softly, not understanding.

Wreck gestured to the room. “Were any good?”

There was a somberness to his tone that drew her up. “You can bring them back?” she asked, standing slowly.

“If they are worth the effort.”

And this was power, wasn’t it? Roxy looked around at the carnage and destruction. “Him,” she said, pointing to Nick’s bear. His eyes were staring straight ahead and glazed over. “He has a kid. He wasn’t all bad.”

Green fire poured from Wreck’s open palm and consumed Nick’s bear. “Who else,” Wreck gritted out.

“Him and him,” she said, pointing to a couple of the newer Turns. They hadn’t asked to be here. Grave had Turned them like he had her.

“What about them?” he asked, nodding toward Leech and Grave.

“No.” There was grit to Dylan’s voice. “Those two stay dead.”

Wreck nodded once and focused on the ones submerged in the green flames.

“I did something awful,” she whispered to Dylan.

He pushed up to a sitting position, his knees bent under him. “What is it?”

“I…” She choked on the word Turn. Roxy tried again. “I… fuck,” she whispered thickly. Her eyes burned as she pointed to the coyote that had returned to the mouth of the hallway. She was scooting closer to them on her belly, eyes full of fear, tail tucked. “She’s new.”

“You Turned her?” Dylan asked.