“I know that, you idiot. I’m trying to protect you. It’s obvious you can barely stand.”
“Thanks for the confidence, sugar lips.”
She choked on a burst of hilarity. Or was that incredulity? He wasn’t sure which. Because Lex launched himself at him, in his human form.
Lex tackled him and punched him in the nose, which hurt, and was also embarrassing. Dean couldn’t see straight, though his feline skeletal system could normally take a beating. Then again, he’d had a huge one already.
A flash of light signaled Lex’s change into his animal spirit.
“You are such an idiot,” Stacey spat.
He heard shuffled movement, and then Ted confused Dean even more when he said, “No, don’t. Let’s wait and see how this pans out. I’m enjoying this.”
He blinked hard to clear his vision, not sure he’d succeeded when he saw two cats standing in front of him where there should only have been Lex. And then the haze retreated and her smell hit him. Stacey had shifted, and the stubborn female had just inserted herself between him and Lex. Shit.
Lex hissed and screamed, the high pitch of his warning more jarring than irritating. He sounded as annoyed as Dean felt. Not good. “Well, hotshot? Let’s go. Or do you need a woman’s help to stand?”
“That would help, actually.” Dean let her assist him to his feet and panted heavily while he sought the strength to keep himself upright. “Let’s get to it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Lex snapped his tail. His ears went flat against his head and he bared his teeth. “I could rip your throat out in one lunge. But I don’t think I’m ready for you to die yet. I want you to watch while I mount my pretty pussy right in front of you, you weak bastard.”
Dean snorted. “Oh sure. Like she’ll let you. You tried that once and got slapped down for it, didn’t you?”
Lex reached for him but Stacey nudged Dean out of the way and struck back with a claw to his face.
Lex didn’t seem to like that much. Not from what Dean could see from his position lying on his side once more. Fuck, but his legs just didn’t want to hold him.
“Get up, damn it.” Stacey didn’t seem any more pleased with him. “I can’t take him by myself.”
“As if I’d let you.” I won’t let her. I can’t. I’ll never convince her to stay with me if I’m dead, he thought, a touch hysterical. Digging deeper than he ever had before, Dean forced himself to his feet and launched his tired-ass body at Lex. He took the big cat down, absorbing the claws and bites while buffering Stacey from his threat. But his girl wasn’t content to let him have all the fun.
While he used his dead weight to keep Lex occupied, she did massive damage. The feline ripped into Lex, tearing off an ear and gouging his throat while Dean locked his jaws around Lex’s shoulder to pin him down. The fucker wriggled like a worm on a hook, but Dean refused to let go. Even when blackness started to overtake him once more, he held on, unwilling to leave Stacey alone.
“Hold on, Dean,” she shouted between feints at Lex.
Lex, the bastard, had a lot of blood in him. Though much of it pooled beneath them, he had enough left pumping through his veins to toss Dean into the legs of several cats waiting on the sidelines.
“Stacey. Run,” he managed and clamped onto the leg joint nearest him. He recognized Jeremy’s yowl and ground his teeth deeper. This fucker had betrayed them. He would die if it was the last thing Dean did. Anything to save the woman he planned on mating if he lived through this. Hell, if she lived through this. She’d have to save herself. He just prayed she really was as self-sufficient as she’d always claimed to be.
Stacey walled off her panic at seeing Dean overwhelmed. He’d taken such a beating, and all because of her. Well, that and his smart mouth. But she didn’t intend to let his hard work go to waste. Concentrating on ending Lex once and for all, she snarled as she circled him.
He bled profusely, leaving a slippery mess on the floor beneath him. That she’d use to her advantage. She wasn’t sure why the Hunters hadn’t stepped forward. Lex’s cats had been held back by a few of Ted’s guys. With guns trained on them, the felines knew better than to disobey. But what did they expect working alongside Hunters? Had the pride really expected Ted and his ilk to play nicely?
“Fifty says the female takes him,” Ted offered.
“I’ll take that bet,” another of them said with a laugh.
A few of the other Hunters chimed in, and while she was glad to provide them some entertainment, she couldn’t wait to be done with Lex…so she could chew on the human assholes.
“You bitch.” Lex leapt at her but she was too fast. She rocked back and countered with a rake of claws down his chest, making the wound there even bigger.
“That’s right. A prime, grade-A bitch who’s going to make sure you never rule anyone again.” She hissed as he knocked her down. He sliced into her belly but she twisted away, using his fading strength against him.
Though weakened, he was still a good hundred pounds heavier than her, even in cat form. And he had a mean streak she’d never managed, not on a good day. But after seeing what he’d done to Dean, she had every intention of killing Lex and not batting an eye over it.
A sudden roar behind her made her smile. She heard more cats, a few wolves, and if she wasn’t mistaken, the growling of a fox. Good. They could take care of the Hunters while she finished Lex.
She just prayed Dean would make it. If the bastard died on her before she could yell at him for turning macho at the worse possible moment, she’d kill him herself.
Monty didn’t know what he’d expected, but Dean Chastell covered in blood and not moving had to be the worst of it. He raced past the Hunters and spitting felines, what few of them there were, and darted to Dean’s side. To his right, Stacey and another cat, presumably Lex, fought. But she seemed to be winning, and damn it all, Dean looked close to death.
“S-save her,” Dean slurred. He’d lost a lot of blood, but his heartbeat sounded strong enough.
Thank God.
“Holy shit. I knew I’d find you again if I looked long enough.”
Monty froze. He knew that voice—one that had haunted his dreams and perpetuated his nightmares for years.
He turned and saw Ted Norris, the man who’d first captured him and introduced him to what Hunters were all about, standing and smiling with an evil glee that turned the animal in Monty inside-out. Something about Ted wasn’t normal, even for a Hunter. He had power, and it made Monty’s wolf want to run away and fight all at the same time. Most humans couldn’t tell one wolf from another. But Ted had always known him. The Pits, where Hunters forced Ac-taw to fight one another or die, had been a brutal mess of fur, fangs and claws. Yet Ted had kept track of Monty, his personal pet, no matter where Monty went or what he did.
Monty growled and took a step toward him, wanting to but not able to leave Dean, not with the mess of Hunters and rogues still fighting. Monty didn’t know who was who, and though he’d brought a few of Quince’s cats with him for backup, he didn’t trust them. He only trusted pride, and there were few of them as it was.
“We have unfinished business, wolf.” Ted would have lunged when Burke knocked into him and bit down hard.
From Monty’s vantage point, it looked as if Burke had a hunk of the man’s shoulder. But then Ted screamed and twisted, and Monty saw the skin of his cheek flapping in the wind.