Page 38 of Corbin (Wild Wolf Pack from the world of Gallize Shifters #2)

A damn jackal shifter in human form had found them.

He tried to make his five-foot-eight height seem taller by holding his shoulders back and jutting his chin forward.

He might be forty or more with a butt-ugly face stuck on a bald head.

The black cargo pants and a camo shirt looked out of place on this clown.

The jackal ordered, “Stay where you are until I tell you to move.”

Corbin held Eirene in his arms. She was alive with a strong pulse, but she had scratches on her arms and neck from debris.

That wouldn’t stop him from killing this bastard as soon as he saw an opening.

Walking closer to Corbin, the jackal shifter looked down his pointy nose and said, “Everyone is looking for you, but I told the man paying me I was the only one who could track you down. Me, Mitch the Snitch, known for my investigative skills.”

Corbin dismissed his stupid introduction, wanting to know one thing. “How did you track me to the warehouse and here?”

Grinning like an idiot dying to brag on his limited skills, Mitch said, “I have eyes in the sky, and I had a tracker stuck on your bike at her apartment. You wouldn’t have found it if you’d looked.”

Eyes in the sky? A bird shifter. That’s why Corbin hadn’t picked up a strange shifter scent around his bike. He had never heard of SCIS having an airborne resource. “Who’s paying you?”

Mitch clammed up. “Stop asking questions. I’m the one running this show.”

“Doubtful,” Corbin scoffed. “You’re so afraid of me, you stink of it.”

That wiped away Mitch’s smirk. “I’m not afraid of you. I have another fun toy.” He lifted what looked like some kind of C-4, but Corbin didn’t think that material would explode without a trigger.

He still had to give the gray chunk respect so this fool would not harm Eirene again.

She moved around, regaining consciousness. “What ... happened?”

Corbin hugged her to him. “This jackal asshole blew up the bike.”

She turned her head away from Corbin to face Mitch. “What does SCIS want?”

“Do not confuse me with those bottom-feeding jackals at SCIS. I do unique work for high-dollar clientele.”

“Just who is this client of yours?” Corbin asked. Had to be the Romanian.

Ares came forward hard inside Corbin, yelling, Bear!

Corbin stood and pulled Eirene up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Mitch asked in a shaky voice while frantically digging in his pants pocket. Did he carry small bombs on his body all the time?

Now Corbin smelled the bear heading for them.

Eirene trembled. “We can’t kill it.”

Mitch finally drew a deep breath and turned around, muttering, “What the hell?”

Ares demanded, Give me the body or we die!

Corbin replied, I will as soon as I get Eirene and Pixie set.

Corbin dragged Eirene away from the jackal. “Follow me. Get out of your clothes when I tell you and start changing. Tell Pixie to hide behind us. I’m turning Ares loose.”

He pulled her into the woods and said, “Now.”

While he ripped his clothes off and started shifting, a ginormous grizzly pounded toward the jackal.

Mitch screamed and tried to run, but the bear was on him instantly. Massive paws as wide as Corbin’s head with long claws tore into the jackal.

Then the bear began eating him.

Ares ripped free in a blast of energy. He turned to where Eirene and Pixie were still in their shift. It allowed him to ignore the grizzly shifter eating another shifter in human form.

Corbin told Ares, Watch the grizzly. Pixie should back away and hide.

Yes. Ares turned back as the grizzly had paused and stared at him with blood dripping from his long fangs. That jackal had been a momentary distraction. The intelligence behind those almost black eyes of the bear confirmed they faced a shifter.

When the grizzly stood on his hind legs, his head reached over twelve feet tall, bigger than any natural bear, which removed any lingering doubt. His yellow eyes weren’t even natural for a shifter.

That bear had been sent for Corbin and Ares.

Corbin said, This bear has probably been tortured and may be jacked up on drugs. Kill him as fast as you can.

I will . Ares said less and less when he went up against impossible odds.

Ares made no move, waiting on the bear to come for him. That could be a good strategy, or it might end with one fatal swipe of those deadly paws.

The bear started forward, not dropping down.

Hell. Corbin wondered why. Bears were so aggressive that they didn’t take the time to dance around in a fight.

Ares took a step forward, then another.

Corbin had no idea what his wolf had in mind, but he would not distract Ares.

Then Ares turned to walk off to the left of the bear and into the trees, pausing to swing around and howl as if he’d taken down the giant.

The grizzly opened his wide maw and let out a roar of fury that chilled Corbin, then he dropped and went hard after Ares.

Ares waited, waited, then dove into the woods and spun to run around a thick area of underbrush.

Roaring the whole way, the grizzly’s claws ripped up ground, lumbering after Corbin’s wolf, who slowed for the bear to catch him. When Corbin could smell the putrid breath of the cannibalistic bear, he feared Ares had cut it too close.

Halfway around the thicket behind Ares, the grizzly stopped to swing a paw at Ares’ hindquarters.

Ares leaped up and flipped back around, hitting a small tree with his shoulder. Ouch.

Before the bear could push up taller, Ares jumped on its back and did his buzz saw routine to rip a large gash through the thick fur. He dove off as the bear stood.

Corbin still recalled the bear Ares had attacked the same way, rising quickly to slam Ares against a boulder. This time, Ares had been ready. With the grizzly standing upright, Ares now attacked the bear’s ankle—one of the only weak spots on a Goliath animal.

His wolf clamped down and shook his head, trying to rip out tendons.

The bear dipped down and swatted Ares, catching him across the face and knocking him away.

Corbin tried to breathe past the agony of the head strike. He lost track of Ares and the fight. Forcing his vision to clear, he looked through his wolf’s eyes at a towering bear coming down fast to crush him.

Ares rolled away and stood, wobbling.

Corbin said, I felt that hit too. Move. Don’t stand still .

Without replying, Ares started pacing around the back of the bear, who turned to protect his backside. This would not last long.

Ares walked on shaky legs. Corbin had no advice. Warm liquid poured down his wolf’s face. They were bleeding profusely.

If the grizzly simply waited, Ares would lose consciousness, and this would end immediately.

A high-pitched growl interrupted Corbin’s thought.

Oh, no. No, no, no. Pixie had come to help.

The grizzly huffed in surprise, then turned to the reddish-golden wolf, forgetting Ares.

A rush of panic exploded inside Ares, almost blinding Corbin with so much power at once.

Pixie started barking.

That bear kept walking upright toward her. He would try the same thing he’d tried on Ares. To crush her.

Ares lunged at the ankle he’d started tearing into before, this time with claws slashing fast. When blood and tendons broke free, Ares grabbed a chunk and dragged them out.

Pixie quieted, staring up at her death. She had to be in shock, unable to move.

Ares growled at her.

She jumped back then spun around and ran twenty feet.

Good thing, because the grizzly fell face-first in her direction. Its long arms came down beyond the head, reaching for Pixie.

Ares ran around and clawed the second ankle, destroying it. Any other time, he and Ares would agree to take off to live another day. Not this time. Ares would not leave until he ensured the bear could not get up and reach Pixie.

The bear’s outstretched body had landed outside the woods, not far from the destroyed motorcycle and Mitch’s mangled corpse. While the bear lay there whining in pain, Ares sat down hard. He fought for breath after breath.

Corbin gave the words his wolf deserved. That was the most powerful fight I’ve ever seen you execute. You are one hell of a wolf, and I am honored to share my life with you.

Ares had nothing to say, which was encouraging for Corbin. Maybe his wolf really heard him this time.

Pixie waited beyond the bear’s reach. It would take a while for this one to die, but Ares had done his best to end it quickly. He could not risk getting close enough to rip out the bear’s throat.

Adrenaline could push the monster to kill Ares with one slap.

Besides, this bear did not live in this park. Someone had brought him.

Corbin told Ares, We should leave as soon as we can before whoever brought this bear shows up with weapons and titanium rounds. They’ll see the bear the minute they get into this clearing.

Ares stood, sidestepped, then shook off the dizziness. He made a wide circle around the bear and exited the woods on the left of where Pixie stood. He gave a huff, and she came running to nuzzle his neck.

Corbin had never seen Ares smile since the attempted drowning, but he could swear his wolf was happy now. Ares licked Pixie’s muzzle then angled his head away from the bear.

She nodded and followed him. When they reached the woods beyond where Corbin and Eirene had picnicked, Ares froze.

Water roared far below them.

Corbin said, We’re out of sight of the bike explosion and the bear. Take a moment to rest, and we’ll figure out what to do next.

Turning until he had a spot shielded by underbrush, Ares dropped all the way down with his front legs extended as he faced the carnage.

Corbin would like to talk to Eirene, but Pixie was being a trooper. She dropped to the ground next to Ares.

A minute later, Corbin found out who had paid Mitch to find them.

The Romanian walked in, surveying the destroyed bike and the dying grizzly. He rolled his eyes. “I pay for best. How did the wolf defeat this one?”

Behind him, two vicious human men with high-powered rifles stepped out from Vlad’s left and two more on his right. That cut off any exit they had except one.

Ares said, I kill them all.

Corbin replied, I have the greatest faith in you right now, but we can’t battle four men armed with titanium-loaded weapons. His wolf must have agreed. He didn’t argue, and Ares would argue with a sock.

Finally, Ares asked, What is plan?

Try to trust me. We only have one way out, and it’s behind us.

Panic flared in Ares. Water? No!

Give me the body and I’ll go into the water. I can keep us alive.

Not shifting, Ares argued. No energy to shift again soon. If we fight new beast, we die.

Corbin’s heart broke for his wolf. You’re absolutely right.

Vlad ordered, “Find the wolf. Do not kill him. That is my right only.”

Corbin pleaded, Please do this, Ares. If we can escape now, we will never hunt for the Romanian again. If he captures us, he’ll torture us and keep us alive to do horrific things to me as a human and you in wolf form for as long as he can.

Ares shook with agitation. Corbin’s wolf had never backed down from a fight, but his terror of water couldn’t be more real.

One of the men holding a rifle called out, “Let’s clear the easiest area between us and the cliffs.”

They would find Ares and Pixie in minutes.

Pixie leaned her head toward Ares and nuzzled his neck.

That was Corbin’s only hope. He rushed to convince Ares. Pixie loves the water and will stay with you. If we do not get up and run, the Romanian will capture Pixie. You remember how he treated all the female shifters, right? He would torture her to hurt us. Then he’d sell her to some monster.

Ares continued to shake. His bones should be rattling by now, but he stood. Pixie followed his action, giving Corbin hope they could pull this off.

Turning to Pixie, Ares pushed her behind him and began backing up. With every step back, Corbin questioned what Ares intended to do.

Was his wolf moving Pixie back until she had to jump first? She would, too, because based on what Eirene had said, Pixie loved the water and had no fear of heights.

He wanted all four of them to live, but if saving Pixie was the best Ares could do, then at least Eirene would survive.

By the time cool air blew over his wolf’s coat, Corbin prepared for Pixie to leap into the water.

She didn’t. Instead, Pixie had planted herself at the edge of the cliff, but to the side of Ares. Eirene might have figured out what Ares was doing and discussed it with her wolf.

Ares swung his head around and gave a deep huff at Pixie.

She lifted her chin and ignored him.

One of Vlad’s men shouted, “I see them. Close in now.”

He raised his rifle and pointed it at Pixie.

Ares swung around fast, knocking her off the cliff. A shot rang out, then Corbin felt Ares backpedal, but his paws were slipping. Ares went flying off right behind Pixie.

The dam must have been opened. A wall of water rushed through the deep mountain gorge. The high water would make rapids difficult for rafters, which might be why he had yet to see any on the river.

Turned headfirst toward the water, Corbin saw what was coming at them fast. As Ares fell through the air with wild paddling movements, Corbin silently admitted that raging froth scared him too.