Mark sniffed around in the bushes, but today his senses were confused.
There were too many unfamiliar scents in the woods—familiar and yet unfamiliar.
The unwashed smell of the goblin lingered in the mix, but it was as if someone else was tracking them, too.
Following their every move. And it wasn't him or Jake.
None of that mattered, though. Today was the day he led the goblins into a trap.
He and Jake had all the details planned—they brought down one part of the protections around the main property.
The goblins would see it as an opportunity to break in .
.. when in reality, the second they crossed the border, they would be incinerated.
Those carefully detailed plans fell to pieces the second he heard Jennifer scream. He growled and raced off in that direction, uncaring for anything but that sound. His heart beat with the thrum of fear.
What was she doing out here?
Why wasn't she in the house?
The questions swirled in his mind up until the moment he found the part of the tree barrier that he intentionally broke off. The scent of treasure goblins was thick in the air, thicker than it ever had been before.
They were here, and there were lots of them.
And his mate wasn't inside.
Mark howled and pumped his legs harder than he ever had before. Their plan to take care of the goblins as they passed through the fence had failed ... but how?
Now his mate, and his mother in law, were in danger.
Mark heard Jennifer and Arabelle in the trees before he saw them. They passed through the trees, running back toward the mansion, Jennifer with a shovel, waving it back at the goblins that were in pursuit.
Six of them in all, but Mark knew there were more hiding in the trees. He could hear them. He could smell them.
Nothing out here was safe.
One of the goblins grabbed hold of Jennifer's shovel, using its inhuman strength to rip it from her hands.
She fell back onto the ground, and that was when Mark pounced.
He snarled as his claws and fangs bit into the goblin, and he snapped its neck in one clean break.
Spinning around, he ducked out of the way of another that threw itself at him.
His claws flashed out, hitting and felling another, which landed on the forest floor with a thud. With two down, the last four looked at him with a measure of hesitation, long enough for Jennifer to climb back onto her feet.
Mark backed toward her, his hackles raised as he stood by her defensively. But the goblins regained the confident stances. More eyes appeared in the trees; their reinforcements.
Mark turned his head to make eye contact with Jennifer. He hadn't wanted to reveal his true form to her this way, but assuming they made it out of this alive, he would have a lot of explaining to do.
But when he looked at her face, none of the fear in her eyes was directed at him.
The way she looked at him, it was like she knew it was him.
The connection they shared was more than enough for her to look at him and, even if she didn't quite understand what was going on, she trusted him. She knew he would keep her safe.
That's what he wanted to believe, at least, when her expression softened.
He jerked his head in the direction of the mansion, and she nodded.
Jennifer grabbed her mom's arm. "Back to the house!"
And they ran.
Goblins leaped from the trees above the second Jennifer and Arabelle moved.
They missed, landing on the ground beside them, reaching out for them with clawed hands.
Mark clawed one into oblivion before it could touch his mate, and then he turned to dodge the attack of another . .. but there were too many.
One latched onto his side. Another grabbed his back leg, weighing him down. Too many for him to fight. Too many to run from.
He just had to hold them off long enough for Arabelle and Jennifer to make it to the mansion. Even if he fell here, the goblins wouldn't make it through ... the defenses were too solid.
Mark rolled, trying to throw off the goblins holding him prisoner. He mauled the next one that came closer to his front paws, but another jumped onto his back, digging into his back with sharp claws. They scraped and cut him, sending spikes of pain all through his sides.
With a howl, he kicked up and tried to run, but the goblins were too heavy. He could barely move, barely stand ... and all around him, the goblins cackled like little demented children. They would eat him alive if he didn't stop them.
So foolish, to think he could outsmart these goblins ... but at least he would die having found the woman he loved with all his heart. Knowing that she still lived, and he had sacrificed himself for her.
Amongst the goblin's victorious cries, a booming roar silenced them.
A massive tiger leaped into the fray, a streak of amber and black as it clawed the goblins from Mark's back.
In the instant he was free, Mark bit into the goblin right in front of him, cutting down another three with an angry swipe of his front claws, and finally kicked off the goblin on his hind leg.
Even with Jake in his tiger form here to help the fight, there were too many goblins. A dozen more replaced the ones they defeated, swarming around them from all sides.
They'd vastly underestimated just how many treasure goblins had come hunting them.
They had to get back to the mansion—rely on the defenses they put in place just for this purpose. Otherwise, they didn't stand a chance.
Jake and Mark fought their way free of the horde of goblins, sending another half-dozen of the wart-covered creatures into the dirt. As soon as there was an opening, they ran in the same direction as Jennifer and Arabelle, toward safety.
They broke through the tree line. In the distance, Mark made out the glinting window made of stained glass in the colors and shapes of scattered leaves. Safety.
Just below, he spotted Arabelle rushing into the house. Jennifer stopped on the front steps, watching. No, go inside! he wanted to yell at her, but she wouldn't understand him in his wolf form.
On the edges of his vision, the true extent of his 'pest' problem came into view. Fifty more treasure goblins swarmed the grounds, creeping toward the house. Several attempted to cross the threshold and closer to the mansion, only to be shot down with blasts of light and fire.
Only ash was left behind.
At least the defenses worked. He could fight here knowing that, without a doubt, Arabelle and Jennifer were safe. Another bzzz sound and various flashes told him that more goblins tried to cross, only to get incinerated, as had always been the plan.
More waited in the trees. If enough of them charged at once, would the cannons be able to keep up?
Mark didn't want to think about that.
He and Jake rushed toward the mansion, but the space to make it in safely became smaller and smaller until everywhere in front of them was blocked by dozens more of the shiny, warty, ugly little creatures.
They grinned up at Mark and Jake with their sharp teeth and claws, some already making to attack.
They knew they were significantly weaker than shifters ... but they won in number by a landslide.
Shit. Mark tossed his head to the side, searching for another escape route. The path behind them was blocked, as were their sides.
This time, it seemed like they were done for.
Mark glanced at Jake. Back at home, his mate, too, was waiting for him. Mark had dragged him into this mess ... a messy vendetta that should have just ended with his death. Then no one else would have had to get hurt.
Now, Jake would fall with him.
Yet, Jake didn't seem upset. The look he gave Mark was more like a reassurance that he wanted to go fighting rather than standing around, cornered.
In a split second, they made a plan with simply their eyes.
They might not make it to the protective zone around the mansion where the defenses were activated, but they were sure as hell going to try.
Mark met Jennifer's eyes way in the distance. He would hold her again. He would kiss her, make love to her, after all of this was over.
Or he would die dreaming of it.
The first goblins neared again, falling instantly to a flurry of claws and fangs. Mark and Jake protected each other's flanks, but there were still too many goblins for the two of them. They killed two, for five more to replace them. They scraped at Mark's sides, slowly wearing him down ...
And then there was a howl in the distance. No, not one howl, three, and then six. Mark's ears twitched, searching for the source, but it was difficult to pinpoint through all the growling of the goblins as they attacked.
Mark and Jake took down another six, but the goblins who came in next were less enthusiastic about the attack. They shifted about like a wave on the ocean, turning toward the arrival of six wolves to the left of the swarm.
The goblins on the right kept attacking Mark and Jake, slashing, clawing, falling to the ground with a thud. Between the skirmishes and trying to keep track of Jake, Mark tried to get a better glimpse of the wolves joining the fight.
The largest of the pack was snow-white with eyes like ice. He tore a goblin to shreds, then looked up and met Mark's gaze. The wolf nodded to him, a ghost from his past life.
He was supposed to be dead. All of the wolves around him—dead. But Mark also recognized the shaggy gray wolf fighting alongside the white one, the brown and black one ... and the others.
It was impossible for Mark not to recognize them: he'd grown up alongside them.
No way. These were the survivors of his old pack. The ones he thought were dead.
Excitement burned through Mark, and after defeating another goblin, he threw his head back and howled his acknowledgement of them.
With the addition of them to the fight, they stood a chance against the massive amount of goblins.
The other wolves howled in turn, and with the flow of the fight changing so the goblins focused most of their might on the newcomers, Mark and Jake finally made it to the safe zone around the mansion.
Waiting on the steps, looking terrified, was Jennifer. From here, Mark would make sure nothing broke through to reach her. But he couldn't abandon his pack members, either. So another plan formed in his mind.
He threw his head back, growling at Jake and jerking his head up toward the light rays firing down at the goblins. A bunch of them weren't firing as often as they should because the goblins weren't coming close enough, but Jake could go back in and control them.
Jake looked up at the motionless turrets, nodded, and ran off toward the house. Jennifer skittered out of the way as the massive tiger leaped up the steps, barreling through the open doors.
Inside, Arabelle screamed, but Mark knew he could rely on Jake to get the turrets under control.
He circled the edge of the safe zone, inching toward the wolves slaughtering the waves of oncoming goblins.
On his own, Mark didn't risk just running in a diagonal line straight for them.
Instead, he dragged goblins along the edges right into the zone protected by the turrets, letting them go as soon as he heard the bzzz sound of the light firing.
A few minutes later, and the rest of the turrets activated.
Three started firing wildly into the horde furthest from the wolves.
Another flashed and glowed with a bright white light before slowly firing a scorching ray of fire in a perfect line, burning up a dozen goblins in its path before puttering out.
A third one picked off some of the goblins nearest to Mark, clearing a way toward the other wolves.
Mark tore into more goblins, finally reaching the other wolves who were currently in battle.
The white wolf, Ryel, nodded at him again, and they fought alongside each other, clawing and cutting their way through the horde.
Mark checked back often to make sure that Jennifer was safe, as winning the fight meant little to him if he made it out of here and she didn't. But by the doors, she was safe from the goblins.
In the yard, goblins rushed at the wolves from all directions, but between the wolves and the guns from the mansion, they thinned the tide, and at last, the battle turned in their favor.
When only a dozen or so goblins were left in his immediate vicinity, Mark noticed how the leftovers began their retreat, running off into the trees, terrified of their horrible defeat. Mark and Ryel stayed in the heat of battle, ripping apart the last few treasure goblins.
Axel, Finn, and the other wolves howled and snarled, running off in pursuit of the ones fleeing.
Mark wanted to chase after them, too—after coming this far, ten years of waiting for this moment, he wanted to make sure that none of them could come back to haunt him, his pack, or his wife and family ever again.
But he trusted the others to deal with it. He had to make sure Jennifer was okay. Even if she was spared from the brunt of the fight, watching all of this ... not knowing what was going on, it couldn't have been easy.
Mark and Ryel finished off the last of the goblins that stayed behind to fight. The yard smelled like death and unwashed bodies—the signature smell of the goblins. He was breathing heavily from the fight, covered in uncomfortable scratches, but thankfully nothing life-threatening.
Looking out at all the death around him, Mark wasn't proud of how things had turned out. He wished it hadn't needed to be this way. But it was him, his wife, and his friends ... or them.
Next to him, Ryel shook out his fur, gave Mark a knowing look, and then jerked his head up to the stairs, where Jennifer was still waiting.
They had so much to talk about. Mark and his old pack members ... the ones he thought were dead. But Ryel showed with his body language that he was more than happy to wait a couple of minutes.
For now, Mark had to go check on Jennifer.
He ran toward her, slowing as he approached the stone steps and looked up into her worried face.