Page 47 of Enter the Lair
She approached the door cautiously, but she needed her hands to open the door.She resumed her human form and reached for the door.
* * *
Sarah slipped into the building quietly closing the door behind her.She turned to face her mate.
Devon’s hands were wrapped around the steel bars.She ran over, placing her hands over his.“Are you alright,” she said anxiously.
Devon motioned to the injured man on the floor.“Yes, but Aiden isn’t.We need to get him medical attention soon or he won’t make it.”
Sarah peeked over Devon’s shoulder at the savaged man.“Who is he?”
“He’s the son of the former leader of the pack.”
Sarah hadn’t seen anything positive about this so-called pack.“Do you think it’s wise to take him?”
Devon linked his fingers with hers.“Don’t judge him by the people who currently surround him.He’s lost everything.He’s dying because he fought for his values.”
Sarah flinched as the shame of her judgment hit her.She knew full well what it was like to be judged by the company she kept.Still, she had done the same.“I’m sorry.Where’s the key to the cell?”
Devon motioned to the side wall.“It’s the big one on that hook.”
The door burst open as Sarah grabbed the key.She threw the keys through the bars and shifted.Her cat was barely formed when Razel attacked, biting into her shoulder.
Her cat prioritized its senses at once.The fiery pain that seared through her shoulder, the sound of ripping flesh and the smell of iron assaulting her senses.She stumbled before her reflexes kicked in, twisting away, as she swatted Razel across the muzzle.He yelped, positioning himself in front of her, eyeing her throat.
Razel’s coyote swayed back and forth looking for an opening.She moved with him, countering his moves, hoping for more time.He rushed her, bowling her over like a battering ram.His powerful jaws, clamping down on her throat like a vise before he jerked hard to the side, releasing her.
She watched Devon’s cat circle the enraged Coyote.His thick muscles twitched under his fur.His angry low growls filled the room.
Razel took a second glance as Sarah moved to Devon’s side.Her growls matched his before the coyote dashed from the room.Devon rubbed against her before chasing after him.
Sarah exited the building cautiously though it proved unnecessary.When she reached the clearing, the Cascades were loosely positioned in a circle.The agitated coyote paced in the middle.With the exception of two men with their hands behind their heads, on their knees, the rest of the pack lay dead or dying on the ground.
Devon moved in front of her when Razel shifted.“You have no right!”He screamed at the older cougar slowly approaching him.
When Galen shifted, Sarah averted her eyes, keeping the men in her peripheral vision.
“You had no right to touch my mate.To abduct my son.I have every RIGHT.”Galen roared.
White froth formed at the corners of Razel’s mouth.“You already had five sons.”
Galen huffed in disgust.“If you had spent your time searching for your mate instead of your stupid quest for power, you could have had sons of your own.”
“I should have been the pack leader.Not my brother!”Razel screamed.
Sarah’s swift intake of breath had Devon’s cat swing his gaze to her.She shrugged off the sick knowledge of what Razel had done to his own nephew.
“Mother Nature disagrees,” Galen said.
“Fuck you and fuck HER.Your whole species is going to be extinct.HE wants cougars, not coyotes.”
Galen goad the coyote, looking for information despite what Razel had done to his mate.“Doeshe?”Galen said coldly.
The men with their hands on their heads stood up.One stepped forward.“Razel what have you done?”
He turned on the man.“I have ensured our species will be spared.”
“From what?”The man said.