Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Raura
I grip the door handle tightly, my knuckles turning white as the vehicle bears down on us. Terror grips me, my heart pounding so hard I can hear the blood rushing in my ears.
Then Riot flings himself out of the truck, his powerful body primed and ready. “Wait here!” he bellows at me.
Two heavily armed men get out the front of the vehicle, their weapons raised menacingly. They’re the ones from the diner. My stomach drops as two more emerge from the back, both hulking and dangerous-looking. But Riot doesn’t seem fazed at all, standing his ground defiantly.
“We’re here to take you back,” one of the men growls. “The girl’s a bonus. But we’ll be happy to get rid of her if you even think of giving us any trouble.”
Riot’s eyes blaze with fury. “You’ll die first,” he snarls, his hands curling into fists.
“Or maybe you will,” the biggest of them – he looks like the leader – spits out.
“Either way, you’re not taking us back.” Riot’s features set into a grim line
I find myself nodding in agreement. There’s no way I’ll ever go back to that place. I’d rather face death than be caged again like an animal. Riot saved me once – if he’s willing to fight for our freedom, then so am I. With trembling hands, I ready myself to shift forms if needed. We’re not going down without a battle.
There’s a dry chuckle from one of the men at the back. “You’re big, wolfboy, but you don’t know what you’re up against. You think we haven’t done this before?”
I swallow hard. If they’re prepared for us, that means those weapons will be loaded with silver.
The big one raises his weapon and draws a line on Riot. “Make this easy, and you might both get back in one piece,” he says. “Otherwise—”
There’s a sudden blur of movement that leaves my mouth hanging open.
I brace myself against the door, my heart pounding as Riot springs into action. He moves so swiftly that the gunman doesn’t even have time to react before Riot is on him, a blur of lethal grace and coiled strength. Riot’s fists are like lightning, raining down brutal, punishing blows that land with sickening thuds.
The man crumples to the ground like a broken doll, his weapon landing uselessly beside him – no match for the ferocious power rippling through Riot’s every movement.
I can’t tear my eyes away, my heart pounding as I watch the warrior at work, ruthless yet controlled, unstoppable yet somehow restrained. Riot fights with a raw intensity, but there’s a cold precision to his brutality that leaves me in awe. This is his element – the dance of combat that has shaped his life for so long.
A movement catches my attention. The second gunman swinging up his arm – and I realize that Riot had taken the first one out with such speed that the others hadn’t realized what was happening. But they’re reacting now…with deadly force. I see the man’s finger on the trigger, and then a gunshot cracks out. I scream as the bullet clips Riot’s shoulder, but he doesn’t even flinch. The silver must hurt like hell, but he simply pivots and charges the second gunman with the same ruthless efficiency.
The fight is over almost before it’s begun, the man lifeless on the floor so fast it’s hard to figure out what happened.
My hands are trembling, but I force myself to stay focused. There are still two more assailants left, both looking more wary now that they’ve seen what Riot is capable of. I tense, my nails elongating into claws as my wolf’s energy starts coursing through me.
Without warning, one of the remaining men charges at Riot, automatic weapon raised. Terror grips me as I see the muzzle flash and hear bullets start peppering the side of the pickup truck.
“Riot!” Without thinking, I bound out from my cover, halfway shifting into my wolf form as I move. My bones crack and reform, fur sprouting over my body as I rush to help Riot. But before I can reach him, a powerful arm wraps around my throat, jerking me back against a solid chest. The cold muzzle of a gun presses against my temple.
“Don’t move, wolfboy,” a gruff voice growls past my ear. “Silver bullets in this thing. One wrong move, and I blow her pretty head off.”
Riot freezes, his eyes locking onto mine. I can see the conflict raging within him – the desire to keep fighting warring with his need to protect me. A sickening sense of powerlessness washes over me as I realize I’m once again being used as a bargaining chip, just like Parker had done. And it was my own stupidity that got me into this position.
The man holding me chuckles darkly. “There’s no escaping Franklin Parker. You should know that by now.”
But he’s underestimated the situation. In a blur of motion, Riot’s body contorts and shifts. One second he’s standing there, the next the massive black wolf with glowing silver eyes takes his place.
He’s magnificent!
Before the man holding me can react, the wolf explodes forward with a ferocious snarl, taking us both off our feet.
There’s a sickening crunch as his powerful jaws clamp down on the gunman’s throat. Blood sprays across my face as Riot’s teeth tear through flesh and bone with ease. The man’s screams are abruptly cut off in a nauseating gurgle.
The last gunman turns to flee, but Riot is on him in an instant, his jaws closing around the man’s leg and dragging him down. It’s over in seconds, everything deathly silent except for Riot’s rumbling growls.
I clamber to my feet, trembling, stunned by the carnage surrounding me. The entire fight had lasted less than a minute or two – a violent, efficient display of Riot’s lethal power. As he shifts back to human form, I can’t help but stare at the body lying at his feet, chest ripped open.
Riot approaches me, his expression concerned, seemingly oblivious to the blood that’s spattered across his bare skin. “Are you alright?” He reaches out to cup my cheek, his eyes searching my face.
I can only nod mutely, still trying to process what I’ve just witnessed.
“I’m… I’m fine,” I croak out, my voice rough with the sound of my wolf. But already, I can feel her fur retracting now that the danger has passed. “Are you okay? Your shoulder…”
I look at his bicep, where the pulse of blood has already begun to slow. He frowns down at it. “Flesh wound. Silver didn’t get a chance to get into my system.”
“You heal fast.” I stare, half convinced that I can see the wound closing before my eyes. “I think we were lucky, though.”
He gives a casual shrug. “They were amateurish. Unskilled.” His gaze drifts to the bullet-riddled pickup truck. “Vehicle’s a write-off, though.”
I glance past him. “Yeah…but at least we have their ride.” Sure enough, the black SUV idles on the road, powerful engine still running – our newly acquired getaway car waiting for our next move.
“Looks like it’s a bit of a step up,” he says wryly. He reaches for my hand, fingers threading through mine like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Go get in. I’ll clear up here.”
“Clear up…?” I look around, my stomach lurching.
So much blood.
“We can’t leave them out here. The minute the traffic picks up, someone will find them, and then there’ll be trouble. I don’t want the police on our tail as well as Parker.”
“Good point.” I swallow hard. I’ve always been shielded from the more bloodthirsty side of my species. The story I’d spun to Parker about Steel Lakes being a peaceful artist’s commune wasn’t entirely untrue. Many of our community are creative. It’s an outlet for those who need somewhere to channel the wolf energy that would have us running through the woods for miles if we had the chance. Not possible when there’s so much human habitation around us.
But I like the life I have there. I’ve managed to exist peacefully in our pack, running the clothing stores and trying my hand at sketching and pottery. I mainly eat vegetables, for Pete’s sake.
A freaking vegetarian wolf shifter.
What next?
“Go get in the car,” Riot repeats, leading me to the passenger side. I follow him mutely, keeping my eyes away from the bloody mess we’re leaving behind. I keep them firmly averted for the next few minutes until he climbs into the driver’s seat.
“All done?” I clear my throat when the words come out hoarsely.
He nods. “Tossed them all into the back of the pickup and pushed it off the embankment back there. Nobody will see it if they’re driving by, but if anyone stops…” He leaves the sentence hanging.
“Nice duds,” I say, changing the subject rather than thinking of having to face even more challenges.
Riot glances down at the denim overalls and stained white T-shirt he’s wearing. “I think our benefactor may have been a maintenance guy. Not much fashion sense.” He grins ruefully.
“Yet somehow you make it look good.” The compliment slips out, and I feel my cheeks warming.
“Are you flirting with me?” There’s a flash of amusement in his eyes.
“Maybe.” My blush spreads.
Nice, Raura. We just killed four men, and you’re eye-fucking the man.
“We’d better get moving.” He puts the car in drive and casts an eye over his shoulder, checking for oncoming vehicles. And I feel like an idiot for blurting that out.
Pushing it aside, I settle back into the deep leather seat, exhaling deeply as Riot maneuvers us smoothly onto the road, and we leave the carnage behind. The SUV rumbles reassuringly beneath us, the powerful engine thrumming. Riot was right – it’s a definite upgrade from the pickup truck.
“You okay?” he asks, glancing over at me. I love how he keeps checking on me.
I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Yeah. I’m good.”
His brow creases with concern. “That back there…it was intense. I know it’s not something you’re used to.”
A humorless laugh escapes me. “You could say that.” I shake my head, memories of the bloody fight replaying in my mind’s eye. “I can’t believe how quickly you took them down. You were like…like a force of nature.”
His shoulders lift in a shrug. “Comes with being what I am, I guess. I’ve had to learn to use the wolf’s power over the years.”
“Even so…” I trail off, unable to shake the image of him mid-shift – a blur of rippling muscle and ferocious snarls as his body contorted. It had been utterly savage yet undeniably beautiful in its own way. “You saved my life.” I gnaw on my lip. “You were magnificent.”
What is it about this man that has me telling him he’s amazing every five minutes?
He gives me a sideways look, those piercing gray eyes of his drilling into me for a moment before returning to the road. I feel heat creeping into my cheeks yet again and quickly look away, out the window at the scenery blurring past.
We drive in silence for a few miles before he speaks again. “I owe you my life, too, remember?”
I turn back to him. “You keep going on about that. It was nothing, I—”
“It wasn’t nothing,” he insists. “Three times now, you’ve saved me. Twice when we were escaping. And back there, you distracted them when you shifted. If you hadn’t done that…” He shakes his head. “I might have been dead.”
My heart clenches at the thought. “Well, you’ve done the same for me, so I’d say we’re even. We can stop keeping score now.”
He’s quiet for a long moment before speaking again, “No one’s ever done that for me.” Then, so softly I almost miss it, “I’d lay down my life for you, Raura.”
The words hang in the air, heavy with meaning. I blink rapidly, trying to process the sudden intensity. My pulse kicks up a notch as I study the hard lines of his profile, the stubborn set of his jaw.
He means it. Truly and completely.
The realization steals my breath. Because despite everything – the horrors of the Enclave, the blood spilled in our escape – there’s been an undeniable magnetism that’s been drawing me to this man from the first moment I laid eyes on him in that cell. A crackling energy that I can’t resist, even now with dried blood flecked across those chiseled features.
I swallow hard, my mouth suddenly dry. Because the truth is, no matter how savage he may appear on the outside, there’s something in Riot that calls to a part of me. A wild part of me that I’d barely acknowledged until he walked into my life.
He calls to my wolf.