Chapter 246
She’d caught them off guard. Idiots. Only kids would assume she’d stand there and let Josh do whatever he wanted with her. The sound of a loud growl came from behind her. The lioness argued with her to stand and fight. That beast was going to get her killed.
Andi knew better than to listen to her now. Dashing through the trees, she moved closer to the road, trying to get them away from the cabin.
She did a quick glance back. They were still hot on her tail and way too close to the cabin, which she could see just up ahead.
A loud growl sounded out of nowhere. Josh was close and coming at her fast. Branches cut at her arms. A new set of crunching leaves were followed by a growl sound from her right.
They’d spread out, trying to cage her in again. Lord save her from horny-ridden men-boys. The lioness urged her to shift, but she damn well loved her jeans and didn’t want to rip them to shreds. She’d just bought them!
Fucking hell! The lioness won. She got a burst of speed and let the bones crack, muscles tense, and skin turned to fur so flawlessly, she didn’t slow. Now she ran on all fours. A loud hiss escaped from her lioness. Pissed wasn’t even the word at this point. Andi wanted blood.
Someone tackled her to the ground. One of the men chasing her. She knew by his scent it was Josh.
“Relax and let it happen,” he said through their animal bond.
“Fuck you!”
She wiggled underneath, her animal’s body shaking from anger. All her life, she’d been taught to stand up for herself and her people, and this asshole was not going to be the first to make her feel weaker because she was female.
As she struggled to get him off, she could hear the other lions talking through their animals.
“We’re not far off,” one guy said. “I want to get my hands on Cat.”
“Don’t worry, brother,” a different one said. “I’ll hold her down for you.”
“What about the old woman?” a third asked. “Do I just kill her and this way we all have our way with the kitten?”
Andi growled loudly, her lioness ready to kill all four men but most especially the one breathing over the back of her head, trying damn hard to bite down on the back of her neck to hold her still for mating.
His hind legs pushed at hers to spread her open for ease of entry.
She continued to shake, not holding still long enough for him to be able to do more than lay on top of her.
“Stop this, Andi,” Josh said into her head. “Things will be easier once I’m in charge. You’ll get all the dick you need and a man that can lead for you. And baby, I know you need some cock. No woman is ever this uptight once I’ve fucked her a few times.”
That motherfucker! She doubled her efforts. The other three stared toward the cabin not far off. Oh how she wished she could find the strength to kill them all at that moment. Her lioness continued to fight, but she didn’t see herself going anywhere with Josh’s much larger body pinning her down.
“Get off,” she hissed at him.
“I plan to get off inside your tight pussy, sweet thing.” Josh laughed in her head. “You’ve been playing hard to get for far too long. I can’t wait to finally have you be mine.”
Her mind screamed for her to get up. Her body strained to the point of pain. She would rather die than let him beat her at being alpha. Even if it was because he used his larger body to dominate. That would only teach her that anyone could take control from her.
She shook her head from side to side and he slid just a little. The movement caused him to place a paw next to her head. Finally, A break.
She opened her mouth wide and clamped down on his paw, locking her jaw shut. The disgusting sound of bones breaking became a balm to her angry soul.
He yanked, but she had his paw in her mouth and wasn’t letting go. Fuck you, dick face. This was what he got for trying to take a position rightly hers, in the worst possible way.
He howled in pain, but things only moved faster at that point. One of the other guys rushed up to try and paw at her face, hoping to get her to let go. He was going to have to shred her muzzle apart before she did that.
The other two came closer. She’d slackened her jaw to grab at a new place and break Josh’s paw into smaller bits when something rushed into the pile and shoved Josh off her. She was up fast, glancing around for the missile that hit them.
She didn’t see anyone, but two of the guys were gone. That left Josh and another. Josh was on the ground, licking at his paw and crying in pain. He might have a larger body, but when it came to fighting, he knew nothing about it.
The other lion came at her, his teeth bared and in full attack mode.
She ran into the trees. He chased her down. Her animal was doing all kinds of crazy things and she didn’t know why. It ordered her to move and get this kid out of the way.
She was able to lose him and find a spot to hide. Once he passed, she jumped, dug her claws into his back and bit down on his coat. He cried out and tried to shake her off, but Andi’s lioness was good at hunting and fighting. She dug her claws deeper and yanked, pulling ribbons of the lion’s hide with her razor sharp claws.
The lion gave a good shove and she fell off him. She watched as he took off, running away. She rushed back to the spot she’d left Josh, but he wasn’t there. Her immediate thoughts went to Cat. She darted through the trees toward the cabin.
God, if something happened to Cat or Belinda, she’d never let herself live it down. These people counted on her to protect them.
She skidded to a stop when one of the other lions jumped from between the trees. He was bloodied and limping.
She knew she hadn’t done that. He didn’t even bother looking at her. He rushed forward as much as he could with his very broken hind leg. Then, she saw him.
What the hell? A massive black wolf stood at the top of a rock not far ahead of her. He glanced at her and licked his bloodied muzzle. She didn’t have to ask to know that wasn’t his blood. This was what had knocked Josh off her and had given her a chance to fight. A wolf.
Her lioness did something she’d never done before, she went quiet. The move left Andi shifting from lioness to human and covered in blood. She was too angry to worry about the fact she was naked.
The wolf watched her for a long moment before he, too, shifted. Then he was this massive guy that could give Josh a run for his money in height and girth. Even at almost thirty feet away, she saw how good looking he was. Too bad he was on private land.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped, ignoring her lioness’s interest in the wolf. Nope. Not happening. That was one can of worms she wasn’t going to open.
“Saving your ass, it seems,” he said with a thick rumble. The fucker had a southern accent that went against living in Pennsylvania. Clearly, he wasn’t from around there, was he? Not that she cared or anything. He was trespassing.
“I had things under control,” she lied. She totally didn’t. If he hadn’t shown up, she would’ve had to fight all those guys on her own. That would’ve sucked balls.
He smirked, which on a mouth covered in blood should not have looked sexy, but it did. Obviously, she had bigger mental problems than she realized if she found a wolf shifter covered in her attacker’s blood, something to swoon over.
“Sweetheart, you didn’t have shit under control.”
He started walking toward her. No, not walking, prowling. Like the wolf was still the one making the moves. Fucking hell, why was she now getting turned on over this?
She stood her ground. Man, she wanted to cover herself so badly. Nakedness wasn’t a big deal in her pride. This guy? He made her feel like she was putting on a strip show.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” she murmured.
Damn, the urge to cross her arms over her chest screamed, but she ignored it. Luckily her mass of long hair covered some of her naked chest. She tried not to think about anything lower or she’d turn all kinds of colors.
“What are you doing here anyway?”
He barked a low growly laugh that her stupid lioness found adorable. Bitch.
“I was riding down and stopped to look at the sign up the street. My bike’s GPS was acting up so I had to look at my phone when I heard all the commotion.” His blue eyes glowed with his animal’s power. Goddamn that was sexy. No, no it wasn’t. He was a trespasser. A wolf. All wrong.