Page 30 of Corbin (Wild Wolf Pack from the world of Gallize Shifters #2)

Corbin grabbed Eirene’s hand and hurried back to the birthing suite. “If you’ll give me that camera monitor, I’ll watch for when someone gets out of the car while you tell the women what is going on.”

She hesitated.

He understood how trust was still fragile with others at risk, but then she shoved her mobile monitor into his hand and murmured, “Thanks,” and rushed into the room.

While she told the sisters what was happening, Corbin studied the video feed. The vehicle slowed down as if the driver tried to decide how far forward to go.

Ares told him, Let me out. I kill them and get some exercise.

No . Corbin didn’t want to think what releasing his crazy wolf would end up like. Ares would rip humans apart in seconds if the car didn’t hold shifters.

You scare her wolf, Ares said abruptly.

Corbin went perfectly still. What did you say?

You heard me .

Maybe she fears you, Ares . When Corbin received no reply, he asked a different question. How can you know if Eirene’s wolf is frightened?

I know.

He would have pursued that conversation, but Eirene came running up to him.

She ran past him, leading the way back downstairs to the steel door and lifted her fingers to a control panel on the wall.

“Get ready for a warning alarm to sound as we step out. Then the door will lock behind us.” He held the door open for her.

When the warning beeps started, he pushed the door closed.

On the last beep, the lock clicked into place.

Cool air swirled the drizzle still falling outside. Not enough rain to shield their scent.

Corbin whispered, “Stay close to the building until we reach the front.”

As she followed him, she held the camera monitor up to her face. “Two men are exiting what looks like a dark SUV.”

Near the front corner, Corbin inhaled deeply.

Ares told him, Shifter. Stinking jackals .

Corbin spoke right next to Eirene’s ear. “Shifters. Smells like jackals.”

Eirene nodded. “My wolf agrees.”

“I’ll try to use more hand signals starting now.” He pointed at himself and made the running motion with his fingers, then pointed out to his right to show he’d circle wide and run close enough to get their attention.

Whispering right into her ear, he told her, “Count to ten, then head for me as if catching up. When we’re together, we’ll run in that direction.” He pointed again.

She hesitated but gave him a sharp nod.

He gave her the hand signal to wait, then moved quietly at first. When he was far enough out from the building, he intentionally rustled the weeds.

Any shifter would catch that sound. Looking to his left, he saw silhouettes of both men turn his way from where they stood in front of the headlights.

They had likely left the vehicle’s motor running for a fast getaway.

He and Eirene would throw a wrench in that plan by turning this into a chase on foot.

He slowed his pace as he neared the jackals and listened for Eirene to catch up to him.

No special hearing needed.

She ran through the weeds like a wild buffalo pounding the ground. Five steps away from Corbin, she slowed.

Both jackal shifters started in Corbin’s direction. He took off at a steady pace, sure that she could see him in the ambient light. By the time she fell into step with him, he had upped the pace until they were running fast, but not yet at full speed.

The noisy sounds of being followed confirmed that both shifters were on their trail.

Corbin asked her, “Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s kick it up a gear.” He took the lead with her a step behind him.

He’d rather have her in front, but he had a feeling she did not have his experience of racing through an unknown area while being chased by someone determined to kill her.

Sadly, Corbin and Ares had plenty of experience running for their lives.

Those jackal shifters might stop short of killing them, but Corbin did not want to risk them getting near Eirene. He’d had no chance to celebrate finally talking to her and finding out she had honorable reasons for sneaking around. That time would come.

He was not leaving her again or letting her go for as long as she wanted to be with him.

Ares informed Corbin, They will catch us.

Well, hell.

Pressing his point, Ares said, You will not win in human form.

Corbin argued, You don’t know that.

These shifters have strange scent , Ares sent back.

What do you mean? Now his wolf had him worried.

Smell like the shifters we fought in Yukon.

Corbin’s heart dropped to his knees. He’d thought these might be run-of-the-mill SCIS jackal shifters, but if Ares was correct, these jackals were involved with the Black River wolf pack in some way.

Drugged-up killers.

He slowed enough to run in stride with Eirene, asking her, “Can your wolf fight?”

She frowned. “If she has to, but I told you she’s not dominant.”

“My wolf and I have encountered drugged-up jackals raised by the Black River wolf pack, which were used as assassins. My wolf said these two smell like those. If so, they won’t fight in human form.

I can take down a non-juiced wolf or jackal shifter in human form, but we almost died the last time before my wolf escaped a battle with the ones amped up on Jugo Loco. ”

She kept pumping her arms and breathing hard but turned to him with a confused look.

He assured her, “I’ll explain it all when we have time, but we have to survive first.”

“Okay. What do you want to do?”

Corbin slapped a branch off a small pine tree out of her way.

“We race ahead in a burst of speed. They’ll get cocky because they know we can’t hold that speed for a long time.

Once we’re far enough ahead, we’ll shift.

When my wolf tells me, we stop and rip our clothes off, then roll up only the clothes we need for shifting again later.

Then we immediately shift. All of that has to happen in less than a minute. ”

She slanted him a worried look.

Corbin said, “My wolf is called Ares, by the way, and is very hard to kill.”

Ares said, I keep telling you that .

Ignoring the mouthy beast, Corbin continued giving Eirene instructions.

“Our wolves will carry the clothes and shoes. Please ask Pixie to follow my wolf’s lead.

Ares is a vicious and deadly fighter. Hopefully, your wolf won’t have to draw any blood, but Ares might need backup or a lookout against two juiced-up shifters. ”

Ares said, Hurry.

Corbin ordered, “Time to power run. Follow me as closely as you can.”

She told him, “ Go! ”

He ran faster than he’d ever moved before because being too slow meant Eirene getting hurt.

Behind him, Eirene dodged to the left around skinny trees. Speaking between choppy breaths, she said, “Pixie does not trust Ares.”

Ares sent Corbin instructions. Tell her wolf to stay out of my way so she doesn’t get me killed.

Assuring Eirene stayed with him, Corbin tried to calm her concern. “My wolf will not harm yours. He wants her to stay back from the battle, so she doesn’t get hurt.”

Ares growled. Lie. Not my words.

Corbin had to nip Ares in the bud right now to save his energy for running then shifting. You said you wanted her wolf back out of the way. You could have meant what I said, so I did not lie. Also, my translation is the only reason her wolf might trust you.

Eirene asked, “Then why have Pixie shift if she can’t help?”

Corbin gave her his reason. “She’ll be able to run faster than you if Ares loses and we can’t run.”

Eirene sputtered, “I won’t—”

Ares shouted in Corbin’s head. Stop and shift now!

Corbin passed that along to Eirene as he skidded to a stop. He had his shoes and shirt off in seconds, then shucked his underwear and jeans, rolling his shoes up in the pants. Eirene moved as quickly, but her fingers shook as she unbuttoned her shirt.

He grabbed the front of her shirt and murmured, “Sorry. I won’t look.” Then he yanked it over her head, spun her around, and unclipped her bra. She squeaked a noise, but pulled the bra free, then stepped out of her casual canvas shoes as she unzipped and shed her shorts.

Her underwear too.

He knew this because she tossed them away.

The snippet of white lace landed at his feet. Damn.

The jerk deep inside him wanted to look, but he wouldn’t do that to her. As soon as he heard the noises of her shifting, he checked to see that she had shorts, a shirt, and shoes ready for her wolf to carry, then called up his own shift.

Ares burst free, shook off the change, then turned to find Eirene’s reddish-golden wolf standing still. Pixie’s eyes bulged with fear.

Corbin told Ares, Go over and give Pixie a gentle nudge so she knows you won’t kill her.

Ares growled at being told what to do.

If you don’t, she may run . Do you want her caught by the Black River wolf pack? Corbin had no idea if that would motivate Ares, but his wolf hated the Black River group after they’d been stuck doing degrading jobs for that pack.

Without a comment, Ares turned around, startling Pixie with his quick movement.

Way to go, Romeo , Corbin complained.

Shut up, human . Ares stepped over and rubbed his much larger snout against her muzzle. She had a sleek build. Next to Ares, who bulged with muscles, she appeared smaller and feminine. Vulnerable.

Not a great attribute for a wolf.

She’d been breathing hard but seemed to calm down after Ares touched his snout to hers.

Ares jerked back around and scented the air. He lowered his head and began stalking in the direction of the noisy jackal shifters who raced in on top of them. Ares ground out a deeper snarl, warning death would follow.

Caught unprepared, the jackals started shifting without pulling off their clothes. They made high screeching noises and cackles.

Ares ran at the closest one, ripping into the half-human, half-jackal’s throat in mid-shift. Blood flew everywhere. Ares dropped the jackal’s neck and focused on the next one that had shifted all the way.

This one had bright yellow eyes and stood almost as tall as Ares. That was unusual for a jackal. He would not be so easy.

Opening a mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs, the jackal cackled with delight. His animal body had muscular legs and a chest warped out of shape.

This would be bloody and fast.

Corbin hoped Ares could hold his own long enough to find a vulnerable spot on that monstrosity.

Ares and the jackal dove at each other, jaws snapping and claws ripping. The jackal twisted unexpectedly and snapped at one of Ares’ legs, barely missing.

No, the jackal managed to rip open the side of that leg.

Corbin steeled himself against the pain, which felt worse than a standard cut. Could it be from Jugo Loco poison in the jackal’s body? Ares had been right. This was like the drugged-up shifters they’d fought in the Yukon.

When the jackal had his jaws on Ares’ snout, he could have killed Corbin’s wolf. That the jackal hadn’t gone for a kill meant he intended to take them prisoner.

Pixie chose that moment to step forward, distracting Ares, who snarled at her.

She backed up.

The jackal released Ares, but Corbin’s wolf got a claw across his shoulder.

Ares swung around and went headfirst into the battle again.

He had a way of jacking up his attack to a whole new level, which he did now.

Acting oblivious to the pain, Ares used bigger claws to rip the jackal’s neck open.

With the jackal in retreat, Ares kept up his buzz saw impersonation until the jackal fell to the ground.

As fights went, this one had been quicker than Corbin expected by the time Ares broke free and stumbled sideways. Not good. He could feel warm blood running down his wolf’s damaged leg and shoulder.

They had to heal or risk losing consciousness due to loss of blood.

Ares waited as the jackal lay on its side panting for air. Some shifters might play possum at this point, but blood spewed from the jackal’s neck. He’d been the more arrogant one this time, which was unusual given how Ares usually held that title.

When the jackal gave his last breath and stilled, Ares lifted his head and howled a victor’s call. He stood on shaky legs. Energy boiled through his body. Corbin grunted at the blast of power, but agreed with his wolf’s decision to heal the worst now so they could move ahead.

Eirene’s beautiful wolf stepped tentatively over to Ares when Corbin had worried that she’d run away. Ares still shook from blood loss but didn’t turn on her.

Ares seemed confused, of all things, which Corbin found almost funny.

Pixie continued until she paused, lifting her nose to reach Ares’ snout. She licked at the cut on his muzzle. Ares stopped shaking and had no comment.

The female wolf had shocked him.

Corbin had a feeling Pixie had acted on her own with no encouragement from Eirene.

He hadn’t seen Ares be this calm since before Corbin’s mother had tried to drown him as a pup. He would love to ask Eirene what was happening with her wolf.

The wind kicked up with the storm gaining strength. Rain came down hard, knocking Ares out of his shock. He gave Pixie a quick lick and then drew a deep breath into his wrecked body.

Ares asked Corbin, Where do we go?

Back to Eirene’s apartment. My motorcycle is there, and we need to get cleaned up. You need time to heal.

Give directions. Not much time .

His wolf never admitted to any weakness, but the more abrupt Ares spoke after a battle signaled concern over blood loss. Corbin knew firsthand how badly Ares had been injured and worried about his wolf feeling lightheaded soon.

Corbin explained, Based on a map I studied with Adrian, I have a pretty good idea of this area. Grab my jeans and take off to the right of the direction you’re facing. I’ll feed you more information as you need it.

Amazingly, without a mouthy reply, Ares bit the jeans rolled up around Corbin’s sneakers. He trotted forward six steps, then stopped to look back.

Pixie stared at the carnage.

Ares let out a muffled growl.

Lifting her head at the sound, she took in Ares then picked up Eirene’s rolled-up clothes and shoes. She trotted over to Ares, following when he took off again.

Corbin had no idea how long this truce would last between his and Eirene’s wolves, but the sooner they found a place to hide and heal, the better.