Page 16 of Never Submit (Bad Wolves #2)

Chapter 16

Ren

F lora’s growl is louder, harsher, rumbling through her hold into me.

It’s in my bones and my blood, and something inside me sharpens. It twists my muscles and tendons, and my eyesight sharpens on the two men. Flora angles herself in front of me as if somehow this delicate, pregnant wolf will take on the world for me.

The two men scent us at once and crowd closer. The silent standoff affects even the most human among them.

I’m only half aware of Carrigan at my elbow, tugging on me. “Ren. Come on.”

“Do you know who they are?” I whisper from the corner of my mouth.

“No, but I know a bad seed when I see one. Let’s get you out the back door. They seem to be focused on you.”

Carrigan isn’t wrong.

I barely tear my gaze away as Flora takes a stand solidly in front of me. Using her slight body to shield me from the two men. “Go,” she urges. “Get out of here now. ”

“What are you going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she tosses over her shoulder. “I’m making sure you get out.”

Carrigan might not understand exactly what’s happening, but she saw enough with Dax to know something shitty is about to go down. Danger follows me now. No matter how I might wish it otherwise, it followed me here. Andras followed me here.

I never should have left the penthouse.

How stupid of me, to let my emotions hold the reins this way. I catch a flash of movement on our way out the back door, and my gaze flickers to table five.

Anna is gone.

The table is empty, the food left behind.

My gut clenches. Okay, super suspicious.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, or whether your friend can handle those dudes, but let’s get you out,” Carrigan says in a rush.

Her tone is bright and her accent has deepened, a sure sign she’s gone into management mode. She’s like a pissed-off Paula Dean when she’s stressed, and she always sounds so chipper.

She’s got an unbreakable hold on my elbow, her fingers digging into my skin.

My muscles ripple and contract, my face twisted in a snarl, a small part of me back with Flora and the rest hustled forward on leaden legs.

Shit .

“You really need to explain things to me,” Carrigan continues breathlessly. It seems my silence has bothered her. She slams her hand into the back door and a blast of cold air hits us. “I’m serious. I think you’ve gotten involved with some kind of mob that uses trained animals as weapons. Correct me if I’m wrong!”

She’s wrong, but I can’t correct her.

A howl erupts from behind us, and heat rises inside of me. I whip around, sucking in a breath. “They’re coming.”

“ Run! ” Flora’s warning sounds right before I catch a glimpse of the two men shoving her aside and pushing for the double doors to the filthy kitchen.

Carrigan slams the back door shut but I push her to the side before she has a chance to shield it with her body, too.

“No,” I grind out. “You can’t. They’ll hurt you.”

She’s wide eyed, staring at me. “Are you kidding me, Renee? They’ll hurt you, too!”

And they won’t stop until they have me shackled, either.

I glance wildly around. There’s nowhere to run. And if I try to run, they might hurt Carrigan, or Flora. I have to fight.

My skin tingles, tightens. No . Not yet .

“Carrigan, go!” I warn.

Her chest heaves in panic. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I can’t control it yet! I might hurt you.”

White fur sprouts from the back of my hands and along my forearms, my shirt tightening uncomfortably at the changes.

No, no, fuck, no!

The pain inevitably follows and the breath disappears from my lungs, my body doubling over as my bones grind together. Everything is twisting unnaturally, contorting me through the change, and the scream dies before it ever reaches my teeth.

My very sharp teeth.

“Ren! ”

No, there’s no stopping the change once it happens. My fingers extend and claws push out through the nail beds, my canines lengthening in my mouth. And I know from experience that no amount of pleading will stop the change. It’s here.

My wolf, whatever is inside of me, is a separate beast even though we are the same. A flicker of something extra fills my head.

“What are you doing!” Every word is a screech of surprise and fear. “You’re?—”

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to control the shift, and my own fear makes it harder to resist. The she-wolf inside of me is rising to the surface, shooting faster than a falling star, pushing against my consciousness and melding with me.

Carrigan is freaking out and hyperventilating, but she isn’t moving.

I reach out for her just as the door erupts outward.

The two men snarl at me, their features changing faster than my eyes can follow. But I don’t need my eyes to understand it. My wolf knows.

She senses exactly what they’re doing and takes control, despite the way I want to cower back. To let someone else handle the problem.

There’s no one else around, and Carrigan needs me. She’s a part of me, a part of my family, a better friend than I could have asked for and better than I’ve deserved in some cases.

My wolf will do whatever it takes to make sure she’s okay.

She’s screaming as they reach for her, grabbing her by the hair and throwing her down to the sidewalk. The second she hits, the moment I hear the thud of her hip against the asphalt, I burst into motion .

Half changed, I head for the man towering over Carrigan and swipe at him, slicing my claws across his bicep.

“Leave her alone!”

It’s tough to speak with a mouthful of teeth.

My claws slice through his jacket and reach skin but not deep enough to draw blood. Before I can attack again, the second man grabs me by the neck and hauls me off my feet.

His breath is hot against my ear. “Andras has been looking for you. After the little stunt you pulled in the woods, he’s eager to?—”

I drive my knee into his groin.

No matter what, protecting my friend takes precedence. And whatever happened to Flora…well, it’s up to me to make sure these assholes don’t get any farther than this alley.

We’re blocked off from the street by the angle of the buildings. There is nothing but the stinking garbage container to the left and a sewer grate belching hot stale steam to the right. Rudy’s car must be parked somewhere beyond, but he’s nowhere around.

There’s only me.

My attacker doubled over with my knee to his groin, so before he can right himself, I bring my knee up again into his chin. Hard. The man lets out a yelp of pained surprise. I leap away, landing surprisingly light on my feet.

The second man abandons Carrigan and reaches for me, slipping his fingers up into my hair and wrenching my head backwards.

I stomp down on his foot.

It’s a human move. Rather than fighting like a wolf, I’m going classic self-defense, which he clearly doesn’t expect, especially not when I’m half shifted .

His grip loosens and gives me enough room to swivel around and drive the butt of my palm up toward his nose. I make contact and blood spurts. But the second man is still on his feet. He grabs my arms and whips me toward him.

“You little bitch,” he snarls.

Then he bites my forearm, his teeth sinking through fur and skin and muscle.

I let out a shriek. Motherfucker! That hurts. I drop to my knees and roll myself out of the way before either of them can grab me again. I jerk upright then crouch in front of them.

The first man swipes his hand underneath the nose dripping blood. Rather than being pissed at the sight of the blood, it seems to bolster him, his chest swelling.

He sneers. “Your beta protector isn’t here to save you now. It’s just us. And you’re not going to be able to fight much longer.”

Somehow I know exactly which beta he means. “It doesn’t matter whether Dax is here or not.” My mouth is too crowded with teeth, my lips stretched tightly over my canines. My jaw hasn’t shifted yet and every word is agonizing. “I’ll take you down myself.”

“Big words from a second-rate bitch like you.”

“Don’t forget,” the second wolf warns. “Andras wants her alive.”

The one staring me down is oddly familiar but I can’t place him. All I know is that his blond hair is pissing me off and I’m ready to gut him.

“We can rough her up a bit,” the first says. “Show her what it means to be a real wolf.”

“Ren, watch out!” Carrigan calls out just as the two men move at the same time. They attack with their claws, swiping low to cut me off at the knees. Or sever my Achilles tendons, whatever they can reach first.

But I’m not fresh out of a cage in a mountain hideaway. I’ve had sleep, I’ve had food. I’ve had sex.

Which means I’m in a much better place to hold my own.

The dark-haired one lands a hit against my hip and I hiss, the ache deep in my muscles. They come for me again and again, both of them much larger and stronger than I am. They’re working for a monster. I’m fighting for the people I love and I’m out of options.

I’m all Carrigan has.

The change takes over me a little more and when I punch at the blond, my entire arm has shifted, my hand changing into a wolf paw the size of the dude’s face. He’s not even surprised, he only ducks, and the motion is like pouring gasoline over the fire inside of me.

Another howl cuts through the grimy air of the alley, gruffer and deeper than Flora’s. I barely have a second to breathe and flinch when a third massive wolf storms toward us.

His scent is familiar and I suck air into my overheated lungs.

“You guys are definitely fucked now,” I take particular grim pleasure in telling them.

Because Dax definitely just showed up and he’s even more pissed off than I am.

Dax growls, striding purposefully forward, his shoulders hunched and his glowing amber eyes and expression the stuff of nightmares.

“Oh my god, it’s back!” Carrigan is screeching, huddled behind the dumpster and using it to protect her.

I wish I could assure her that Dax isn’t a problem, not for her. He’d never hurt her; she’d only been at the wrong place at the wrong time before.

And now.

He doesn’t wait for a signal. Dax erupts, going ape-shit on Andras’s men.

He goes for the throat, tearing into the dark-haired man before he has a chance to shift to protect himself. Two shifters in their human forms are no match for Dax as a full-fledged wolf.

I stop, rooted to the spot in awe, watching him move. He is violence in physical form. Smooth and precise, bloodthirsty and deadly. Dax tears into the man until his screams subside in a gurgle of blood.

The blond takes one look at Dax, now covered in crimson, and bolts for me.

Stupid man.

Flora is there all of a sudden, taking me in her arms and pulling me back toward the door. Andras’s man pulls up short, his arms clasping around empty air. Dax leaps and lands on his back, knocking the man to the asphalt and using his entire weight to crush him.

“Don’t look,” Flora urges. She drags me into her bony chest. “Please, Ren, don’t look. You won’t like what you see.”

Except I do like it, and I’m not going to turn away.

I’m not sure I understand it myself but there is something so delicious about watching Dax lose it, all to protect me. Something about watching Dax fight, about seeing the easy way he turns violence into a symphony, becomes a song in my blood as well.

My mouth goes dry and I lick my lips.

Only the sound of Carrigan’s sobs breaks the spell. Dax uses a paw to slam the blond’s face down into the asphalt again and again until the yells stop. A halo of energy surrounds him, and in the next beat Dax is a man again, standing naked with his legs on either side of the prone body.

“He’s out,” Dax grunts. “Not dead yet. We can use him. For information.”

I break away from Flora with little effort and run to him, throwing myself in his arms and finding his lips with mine.

“You came for me,” I say through kisses.

“Stop fucking running away if you don’t want me to find you.” His smile is feral. “Although you know how I love to hunt you down.”

Desire stirs to life inside of me, and I might have given in to it if Carrigan weren’t there crying her eyes out.

So I force myself to kiss Dax one final time. “You know wolves aren’t supposed to be here. It’s neutral territory. Mathis told me that.”

“It might have been neutral before these cockheads tried to attack you, but I’m gonna guarantee old Steel Claw himself will excuse us for this one. As long as I bring you back safe and sound.”

He pats the top of my head hard enough to clack my teeth together.

And he’s still naked, hard, ready to go. I’m aching for him. He smells delicious, a combination of musk and blood, and my wolf is eager to taste him. Then he wraps his arm around my waist, and I swoon.

“This wolf was in my house.” Carrigan’s voice is thin and reedy.

When I glance over at her, Flora is helping my friend to stand, tears winding down Carrigan’s cheeks and leaving streaks behind.

“He destroyed everything. I’ve had to stay at Aspen’s for the last week, and now he’s back, and you’re telling me that he’s actually a man? That he’s a…what?” Carrigan is nearly hysterical. “A werewolf ?”

Oh boy.

I force an awkward smile across my face. “Let me explain.”