Chapter 47 Chapter Forty -Seven
Aquilla's words seemed to put the world around us on pause. Nobody made a move. Nobody dared to breathe too quickly or too fast.
We thought we would have the elements of surprise on our side, but the creature has had its eye on us all this time. But for how long?
As though sensing the devastation to come the first form of rain hit my shoulder, and hell broke loose.
The thicket exploded.
Branches snapped like gunshots. Leaves and debris burst outward in a wave. And my body reacted faster than my mind could comprehend the massive beast that landed where Aquila and I had jumped away from.
Easily twice the size of wolves here, the weretiger was even more frightening than I'd imagined.
Howls and growls rose into the wind as Omira and the others shifted, the air tearing with the sound of bodies reforming, bones cracking and snapping into place, fur exploding from human skin. Within seconds, five massive wolves surrounded the beast without me needing to bark out any orders to them.
Omira took point. Jorik, a greyhound flanked left, Elder Calhoun right, and the twins dropping back to cut off retreat. And Aquila was to my right. It was seven against one.
The odds were against the creature.
So why did my gut scream that something was catastrophically wrong?
"ASHER!" Aquila's shout came before he tackled me out of the way just in time to see a blur of fur, teeth, and claws that could have easily severed my head clean off my neck flash by.
"What the hell are you doing?! Move!" Aquila yelled, shoving me hard.
The battle had already started and I had the nerve to be distracted?
I gritted my teeth so harshly my gums hurt and without thinking, I drew my gun from my coat and aimed at it without hesitating.
"Come get it."
The weretiger let out a powerful roar that shook the ground, then it lunged at me with monstrous speed. Its muscles coiled with raw power, and fur that shifted between deep orange and black in thick, irregular stripes. But the fur was matted with blood and dirt, patches of it missing entirely to reveal wounds that hadn't healed properly.
It was wounded. But it was furious, which was bad for us.
I fired multiple times, but it moved fast. Dodging each bullet like it was nothing. It wanted to get me. I could see it in its yellow-green eyes, then it used its powerful hind legs to leap into the air. Claws extended, ready to tear me up, but before it could pounce, Elder Calhoun tackled it mid-air with a colliding force.
The impact sent both beasts crashing through the undergrowth in a violent tumble of snapping branches and snarling fury.
“CALHOUN!” Omira shouted, joining the Elder wolf in the attack as he held on with terrifying determination. His massive jaw clamped around the weretiger’s shoulder as they rolled through mud and roots and Omira went for its hind legs and the weretiger roared.
The sound ripped through the forest with enough force to make the horse rear violently somewhere behind us.
Then the beast slammed its forepaw into Calhoun’s side and he flew sideways like dead weight, smashing hard against a tree trunk with a whimper before whipping around to swat Omira back.
“Shit!” Aquila hissed as he fired his own gun at the weretiger, but I yelled at him to stop when I saw the twins lunging together and the weretiger stood on its powerful hind legs. And it was huge.
Too fucking large. I knew the twins didn't stand a chance and I was right.
Bang Bang
Aquila fired multiple shots again and I snapped.
"Stop it! You'll hit them!"
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!" He yelled back.
“Spread out!” I barked.
The wolves obeyed instantly this time, circling wider as the creature dropped back onto all fours with enough force to shake mud loose from the roots around us.
Rain hammered harder now.
Thunder cracked overhead.
And the storm hit.
Aquila appeared beside me again, breathing heavily as black smoke curled faintly around his fingers.
“That thing already put three of our wolves down."
"I can see that." I gritted my teeth. There was only one thing left to do now. But the second I stepped forward, Aquila grabbed my arm in a vice grip to stop me from moving.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't fucking do it." He snarled, his inky black eyes scrutinizing me as his usually porcelain-like skin cracked like dry earth, giving way to an ashier patch under it.
His teeth became sharp, claws curved to point. "Your body can't sustain your dragon form right now. Take my gun, cover my back. Leave the rest to us."
The beast lunged again. Omira, Calhoun, and Aquila moved in sync but the werebeast moved like a nightmare given flesh.
Aquila cursed before dark energy exploded from his palm in a violent wave of green-black flame that collided with the beast mid-charge.
The explosion lit the forest in unnatural green.
The weretiger roared as it skidded sideways through mud and shattered roots.
For a moment, smoke covered everything.
Then two glowing yellow eyes appeared through the haze.
"SPREAD OUT!" I roared, trying to impose some kind of order on the madness. "DON'T LET IT CORNER YOU!"
But Omira tried to flank it from the left. The creature spun faster than should have been possible and its claws found her. Four parallel gashes opened across her shoulder, deep enough that she collapsed immediately, shifting back to human form in her shock. That was enough to send me into a flying rage.
Bullet after bullet. I pulled my trigger, stalking the weretiger until each one was emptied and I reloaded again with practiced ease.
"FORMATION!" Calhoun's voice cut through the chaos. "ALPHA PATTERN!"
"Asher!" Aquila's voice was desperate. "We can't keep this up! It's fucking strong!"
"Do not break formation!!" I yelled.
I had to do something.
I charged forward, pulling the short blade from my hip. It was an inadequate weapon, but with my guns empty, it was all I had. If nothing else, at least I could distract the thing long enough for them to regain their standing.
When the tiger leapt, I slid underneath it, kicking up mud and debris in its eyes, temporarily blinding it will I managed to slash across its already-injured flank, opening the wound wider.
The weretiger spun on me with impossible speed. I saw the blow coming. Tried to dodge, but I was fast enough.
"ASHER!!"