Fuck this. "You wanna go, banana eater? Let's go." He's big, but not the brightest bulb in the box. It'll be easy.
The gorilla stops in his tracks. I can practically read the moment he has an idea.
"Hey," he shouts to the cat shifters. "Didn't one of your females get bitten last week?"
Fuck.
The head cheetah, a guy with a face full of piercings and a black mohawk lopes forward. He's lean but not scrawny. "Not one of ours. We protect our own."
"She was a cat, though." Another pipes up. "A rare one. Lynx or something."
"Yeah. And a vampire bit her." The gorilla says.
"Yeah? So?" The cat's hackles are up. If he was in animal form his hair would be on end. Pissed.
"So this guy works with vampires." The gorilla points at me. I growl at him and he shows his teeth. Not blunt like a normal gorilla. Sharp like the predator he is.
"Asshole," I mutter as the cat shifters head from their bikes towards me.
"Not so brave when the odds are against you," the gorilla scoffs.
"Fifteen to one isn't a fair fight," I mutter and back up until I reach Jordy. "Kit, you get ready to run."
"Grizz," she grips me. The cheetah pack spreads out, starting to flank me. I can't let them circle until Jordy's outta here.
I reach into the jacket she's wearing, pull out my flask, unscrew the top and take a swig.
"Now. Head for the Camaro." I give her a push. Declan, Laurie and Parker are still a half a parking lot away, watching us. They'd have my back but they're smaller than most shifters. Their animals are messed up, broken. Not exactly fighting material. Still, I know they'll protect Jordy.
I turn back to the lead cheetah and growl loud enough to set him back a step. "You know I can take you?"
"Not all of us." His eyes are lit. Fuck, I'm surrounded by crazy shifters. "You the grizzly?"
I straighten. "I'm a grizzly. One of them. We're apex predators. Not exactly endangered species. At least, not like cheetahs." I show my teeth.
"That's funny. There's a bunch of us and only one of you. Now who's the endangered species?"
One of the cheetahs breaks off from the pack and heads for Jordy. Fuck. No.
"Leave her alone," I snarl just as the cat blocks my Kit's path.
"You with him?" He bends down, getting in her face. "You with the grizzly?"
She looks at me, eyes wide.
"You smell like him." He grabs her and she squawks.
Aw, hell no.
"Get your hands off her." I head towards the guy tugging at Jordy. She's fighting, trying to free herself.
The pack closes in. I grab the first body in front of me and haul it out of the way. It goes flying, three more take its place. With a roar I push forward.
They push me back, but I got a secret weapon. I raise my flask and drain it. Power hits my cells. Before my vision turns black, I call my bear.
Jordy
A RUSHING SOUND like the wind and brown fur bursts from Grizz's skin. His animal explodes out of him, shredding his clothes. Cheetahs go flying as giant bear paws hit the pavement, sending a mini earthquake rippling through the parking lot. The black top cracks.
The cheetah holding me pauses, watching his friends rip their jackets off and shift. I bite him hard, and he snarls, gripping my throat and raising me above his head. I kick him in the crotch. He drops me and I twist away. Sucking air through my bruised neck, choking a little, I scuttle away from him as fast as I can. He doesn't follow.
All around, greasy bikers fall to their knees and contort, their cats emerging. They're bigger than any natural cheetah, with teeth like sabertooth tigers. They leap on Grizz.
"No," I shout when someone clutches my arm. I fight wildly and another hand clamps on my other arm.
"Lass, it's all right, it's us." Declan tugs me towards the Camaro. "We're on your side."
"No, I can't leave him." I try to dig my feet into the pavement.
"You're not. We just gotta get you safe."
Behind us, the grizzly bellows as cat after cat leaps on him while a huge gorilla hangs from the chain link fence, laughing.
"We gotta help him!"
"Not our fight, lass." Declan tugs me the final few feet to the bike and pushes me down. "Stay here."
I gnaw my lip, wishing I was stronger, faster, more dominant. So far Grizz has swatted most of the cats away. It's crazy. The bear's completely outnumbered…and he's winning.
"Never seen anything like it," Declan whispers beside me as Grizz whips around, smashing an attacking cheetah to the ground. Another move, too fast to track, and more cheetahs lay out on the blacktop, moaning. Grizz throws cats like they're hollow. And-
"He's moving so fast he blurs," Parker says.
The gorilla roars in frustration. More cheetahs fall.
"Uh oh," Declan murmurs and my heart seizes. Five cheetahs crouch behind Grizz, waiting to jump him. Two more run at the bear, who easily deflects them. But he takes a step back, right into the trap.
"No," I moan. Five cats jump Grizz at once. One gets on his back, claws dug in, head rearing back for a killing bite.
"They're killing him!" I shriek. "Do something."
"Feckin' hell," Declan mutters and shouts to Parker. "Wrap this up."
The grey-haired shifter is on top of the Camaro. "Cops are coming!" he hollers. The brawling animals don't notice.
A whistle pierces the air. The cats scream and I cover my ears, wishing Declan warned me he was going to whistle.
Parker repeats, "Cops are coming."
"Cops," one of the bikers takes up the cry. He lets out a scream and his buddies stop mauling Grizz.
"Cops!" Declan whoops. "Every animal for himself!"
The cheetahs turn tail and run.
Grizz picks himself up. His fur is red in patches and he's limping. But he's still alive.