Chapter 553 Chapter 553
Griffin knew he’d been instructed to keep going and she’d be upset with him for not listening, but when he’d glanced behind and not seen her, something inside him told him to stop. What chance did he have out here on his own? Not much. He had no idea where they were, was really bad at directions, not to mention had no idea how to work this animal inside him. She’d saved his life when he’d fumbled it trying to remove the tracker. She could have just left him there on the floor bleeding out. She could have left him behind too, but she hadn’t. He wasn’t going without her.
He moved as quietly as he could, with the new body of his. The boots were pinching his feet, but going without them wasn’t an option. It was good they were freezing, then he couldn’t feel the smaller boots. He tripped over something in the snow, numb feet weren’t good for that.
His whole body tensed when he saw her squaring off with a large hyena. Raising the gun, he aimed. He’d never shot something that was moving before. There was no way for him to take the shot without possible injury to her. When the other animal lunged for her, Blaise rose and batted him down, pouncing with her large paws. She had her teeth sunk into the animal’s neck before the idiot with his face planted in the snow could recover,
The hyena twisted and struggled against her grip. Griffin would have shaken his head at the stupidity of all the movement when teeth were the only thing blocking him from bleeding out, but he didn’t want to take his eyes off the sight of the gun. He doubted she would need the help, but he would be ready if she did.
Blaise dragged the animal five feet and then shook her head, and the other shifter stopped moving. Had she broken his neck? Or maybe she’d bit through all major arteries in its neck he couldn’t be sure. He watched her large cat paw at the body a few times, and when she was sure it wasn’t getting up, she used her strong bite to rip the pack off the motionless body.
Griffin was about to lower the gun when she turned and looked right at him. Clearly, he hadn’t been as silent as he thought. He was about to lower it when movement behind her had him retake aim. She crouched down and emitted a low growl. Did she think he was aiming at her? He didn’t have time to ponder the absurdity of that. The wind gusted and then cleared, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the creature again. It was inching its way silently up behind her. Sucking in a breath, he squeezed the trigger, and it dropped into the snow.
Blaise spun around and looked at the animal behind her. Dropping the pack, she took cautious steps toward it and then straightened and walked over. She ripped the pack off it.
Griffin hurried over to pick it up when she came over and dropped the other one at his feet. “Was that all of them?” She made a sound and looked around. He had no idea if that meant yes or no. “Do we keep going?” He knew it was a stupid question as soon as it left his mouth. Of course, they couldn’t go back. Aiden knew where he’d been and would send others after him.
Turning around, he went back to where he’d left the snowmobile. Tucking the packs under her bag, he got on and turned around to see Blaise was not behind him. It took him a minute more to find her in the trees, she was lifting her head and scenting the air. He mimicked her and then rolled his eyes at his stupidity; all he could smell was the stench of the snowmobile.
When she turned and looked in his direction, he put the gun inside the suit and started the machine. He had about a thousand questions at this point but getting somewhere out of the weather probably made more sense than talking to a woman who, in her current state of body couldn’t talk back to answer him—or he couldn’t understand. Both applied.