145
Matt
The pull to lend my power was too strong to ignore, I let it go surging into him as our beta opened his shirt and started to fumble the bullets out of his chest.
He choked, and his eyes fluttered open as the last one came out. He looked at me, his eyes hazy.
“Matt…”
“Just rest for a second.”
“Matt…” He said again, blinking blearily. “You’re… I can’t…”
A bullet hit a rock nearby, shattering a piece of it and sending the debris scattering. Our beta looked at me.
“You have to take him. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”
I swallowed and looked down.
“No,” Tony groaned. “We’ll… fight. We can’t—”
I reared back and punched him in the face. Tony’s head flew back, and he fell unconscious. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I bent and lifted Tony onto my shoulders. Our beta looked up at me in shock. His eyes dropped to my chest.
“We’re not leaving you behind. If you have a gun, great. If not, we’re running.”
I didn’t stay for another minute but headed into the dense forest. I heard him following behind me as I tried to stick to the shadows. The rain started to pick up the further into the forest we went. I could smell Blue Moon Territory in the distance. I didn’t know how many miles it was.
Soon, my vision started to blur from the blood loss. I stumbled and dropped Tony into a shallow puddle of mud. He groaned and opened his eyes as I leaned against a tree and tried to breath. Gunshots went off behind me as I reached into my side, grit my teeth and ripped the bullet out of my side. It was slick and still whole thankfully.
Tony growled at me. “You punched me.”
“Shut up,” I growled back. “You were being stupid and you needed the rest. Can you stand?”
Tony glared at me, rolling onto his side. His limbs faltered, but he still pushed himself up.
“Get moving. T-The rain will cover some of our tracks, but not all of it,” our beta said, he leaned on the tree as I struggled to get out of my jacket. I was burning up. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. It felt different than the last time I had wolfsbane or silver in me.
“There!”
“Fuck!”
They were moving too fast. One of them barreled into our beta, tackling him to the ground. For a moment, the world swam, and I felt something surging forward. A deep, furious growl came out of me, and I darted forward, tackling the next man and ripping his throat out with a strength that felt entirely alien to me. It was nothing like using my strength like normal.
I turned as another bullet whizzed past me. I felt the heat of it across my chest, but I didn’t slow down. If anything, I felt like I was speeding up, slamming the man nearby into a tree. I lifted him into the air, blocking the bullets as I made it to my beta and he managed to get the man off of him.
“Take Tony!” I growled as the gunshots started.
Our beta scrambled to his feet and ran towards Tony as he struggled onto his feet.
In the distance, I saw more men heading towards us. I could smell them. Human, all of them. They were all dressed in black tactical gear. Mercenaries or soldiers? I didn’t know.
I turned back and headed after Tony and our beta. My heart was pounding in my chest as we ran through the forest. They staggered and stumbled forward as the rain started to get heavier. I yanked at the collar of my shirt, popping buttons as I felt the heat in my blood starting to rise. I felt them getting closer. I could smell their sweat and adrenaline even through the rain. They were excited. I heard them.
“Why aren’t they shifting?”
“The silver’s going to keep them from doing so.”
“Come on, boys. We’re going to catch us a pair of alpha werewolves!”
The laughter made my blood boil as he stumbled under an outcropping of rock. Tony was getting paler. I pulled off my shirt and started to rip it. Our beta did the same and pressed against the wounds. I tied the strips as tight as possible. Tony’s eyes were bleary, looking up at me as I worked.
“Matt…” He breathed and grabbed me, his hand tightening on my arm.
The rain was making it hard to hear. It would make it harder to move quickly.
My mind was racing, trying to think of who would send humans after us. Hunters at that. Who would have known where we were except for the Hecate Coven and David?
“What?” I asked.
“Leave me,” he gasped. “I’m dead weight.”
“I will knock you out again. Shut up.” I looked at our beta. “How far do you think we are from Blue Moon?”
He shook his head. “Too far. Our best chance is to kill them if we can and maybe call for back up.”
I swallowed and looked between the two of them. They both looked ill like they’d pass out at any minute. I could carry Tony, but I could carry our beta too. I took a deep breath.
“I’ll draw their attention—”
“Matt—”
“You two head on as fast as you can, and don’t fucking stop.”
“Don’t be fucking stupid,” Tony growled. “They have silver and wolfsbane bullets. They will kill you.”
“Neither of you can fucking outrun them. The longer we wait, the closer they get.” Desperation turned my stomach into knots. “The pack needs you, Tony… With everything going on, if it has to be one of us, it’ll have to be me.”
I got up. “Now, get moving.”
Tony shook his head, about to protest, but our beta hauled him onto his feet and started to hobble away. I headed back the way that they were coming from, sure to run where they could see me.
They fired after me. I ran through the barrage of bullets, ducking behind an outcropping of rocks. I smelled Tony and our beta getting further away. We couldn’t outrun them forever. We just had to outrun them long enough.
As the sun began to set, I heard them getting more desperate. The darkness would be helpful against the, but I didn’t know if Tony and our beta could manage to make it through without light either. Between the rain and the darkness, things were going to be hard.
“There!” Shots were fired. I heard a tree explode. I was just behind Tony and our beta and they were just behind me. I reached them, tackling them to the ground as another round of bullets went through the air.
“Stay down,” I hissed. “Crawl forward.”
I crawled in the opposite direction and hissed as I saw the night vision goggles on their faces. One of them turned, aiming at Tony.
“I’ve got one of them—”
A roar filled the air and something lumbered near us. Burning red eyes glared at us all. A large shadow rose above us. My heart pounded.
It was a dragon shifter.
“Fuck, it’s a dragon!”
“Shoot it!”
They turned on it just as the dragon opened its mouth to let out a large bank of fire at the humans following us. The light of the fire set its scales gleaming. My heart was pounding.
I heard them screaming and more bullets being fired. Soon, another wall of fire heated the air and lit the area. I heard them screaming in agony. The fire turned bright blue, curling across the forest floor, but nothing seemed to be burning other than the humans who had been chasing us.
I was breathless as the forest fell quiet except for the sound of the rain.
As the flames dissipated, the dragon turned towards us, and the large figure shrunk and shifted into the shape of a large man. His eyes continued to glow, and he conjured a ball of fire nearby. I shivered as he looked at us.
“What pack are you from?” he asked, looking at me. He eyed our beta and Tony warily.
I cleared my throat. “Blue Moon.”
He narrowed his eyes, seemingly confused, before nodding.
“As you say.” He pointed west. “Blue Moon is nearly a day’s walk in that direction. I suspect it will be longer with your injuries.”
His voice resonated, and he looked back the way we came. “There will be more of them coming after you.”
His lips twitched. “I will take you to the border, but no farther.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “We’re not allies.”
I winced at that, but I helped haul Tony onto his feet and started to follow the Dragon.
What are you thinking? Tony asked. The brush of his mind against mine felt different now. Distant.
That you need to rest. I shifted him so I carried him on my back. And we’ll be home soon.
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