Once he'd caught most of his breath, he lifted his head and looked at Nika. "Take the sword, and use it to chop through the length of chain between my wrists and the bar."
Nika took her bottom lip between her teeth while she wrapped her hands around the pommel just above where he held onto it. He let go, and she pulled away. The point of his sword slammed down onto the cement, causing a spark to fly.
"I can't do this, Garrick," she wailed. "It's too heavy, and there isn't much space between your wrists and the bar. I'm liable to chop your hands off rather than hit the chain."
"At least I'd be free," he said with deadpan humor.
"I'm serious, Garrick."
He met her worried gaze. "You can do this, Nika. I'm putting my trust in you.
Lift the sword over your head, and then bring it down on the chain. It's sharp and tough enough so it should cut through the links, which luckily aren't that thick. It should only take a couple of hits."
Garrick pulled on the chain, stretching it tight. He gave Nika a nod. She bettered her grip on the sword and took a deep breath as she struggled to lift it over her head.
She then brought the edge of the blade down on the chain, right in the middle of it. The sound of it hitting rang through the empty building.
Sparks flew when Nika struck at the chain again and again. After the third time, she lowered the point of the sword to the floor while she puffed for air. "I don't know if I can do this too many more times."
He gave the chain a hard tug and felt it start to give. "One more time should do it, Nika." At a sound from outside, Garrick cocked his head toward the front of the building. "Hurry, they're coming back."
"I don't hear anything."
"Werewolf hearing, babe, is a lot more sensitive than a mortal's. Get me free before they come in."
Nika lifted the sword again. It shook in her hands as she strained to keep it held above her head, and then quickly let it fall. This time, the blade grazed the knuckles on his clenched hands, but it hit true, and one of the links broke. With a mighty tug, he pulled the chain free of the bar. He pushed the weakness he felt aside and surged to his feet to protect his mate just as Nathan and his three thugs returned.
All four of them rushed him and Nika. The three he'd fought earlier shifted to their werewolf forms while Nathan tried to reach Nika. Garrick fought back the werewolves, swinging the short length of chain that hung from his wrists. He tried to keep Nika at his back, but the three werewolves worked to draw him away, giving Nathan a chance to get around him.
With a howl of fury, and drawing on some reserved strength he hadn't known he was still capable of, Garrick beat back his attackers. He used his teeth, claws, and the chain until he had them subdued enough for him to focus on Nathan.
Spinning around, he saw Nika holding his sword out in front of her to hold Nathan back. Her arms shook, and the blade wavered. Just as he launched himself at the pack leader, Nathan moved to bat the sword out of Nika's hands. To avoid Nathan, she pulled it away, then thrust it forward at the same time Garrick rammed into the pack leader's back. His momentum was enough to push Nathan onto the sword, the blade piercing his chest.
Everyone froze and stared at the sword. It couldn't have hit Nathan's heart, because he was still breathing, but it must have come close. A gush of blood welled out of the pack leader's sizzling chest when Nika pulled the sword free.
Nathan staggered back, clutching his wound. His face turned a sickly grey. Being one of Fenris' get, he'd suffer from the silver in the sword just as any other of his kind.
He looked at his werewolf thugs and pointed at two of them. "Kill them," he said in a pained voice.
Garrick grabbed his sword out of Nika's hands and shoved behind him. The two werewolves moved to attack. The third werewolf—now in human form—helped Nathan toward the entrance of the building.
With the need to protect his mate at all costs beating at him, Garrick viciously swung his sword two handed, necessary because of the chains still binding his wrists.
The weapon gave him the needed advantage he hadn't had earlier. Neither of the two werewolves could get close enough to sink their claws and teeth into him without feeling the bite of his blade.
One of his opponents suddenly changed tactics and reached for Nika. She whimpered, and Garrick turned his back on the second werewolf and moved to intercept the other. He lunged between the beast and Nika, jabbing his sword into the werewolf's stomach. The beast howled in pain, but Garrick quickly put it out of its misery by stabbing it through the heart. The werewolf dropped to the floor dead.
Nika shrilly screaming his name was all the warning he had before the second werewolf was on him. The beast dug its claws into his sides and tried to take the back of his neck in its jaws. Garrick howled, unable to jab his elbows into the stomach of the creature because of his bound hands. He threw back his head and slammed it into the werewolf's forehead. The move gave Garrick enough time to break free of the beast's grasp and to bring up his sword. He rammed the blade into the werewolf's chest.
Letting the beast drop to the floor, Garrick sank to his knees, unable to hold himself up on his feet any longer. Blood dripped down his sides and into his fur, adding to what was already there from his previous wounds. He tried to shift to his human form to heal himself, but he was still unable to.
"Garrick!" Nika shouted as she came to kneel in front of him.
He lifted his head to meet her concerned gaze. "I still can't shift."
"There's too much blood. We have to get you some help."
"We need to get in contact with my brothers-in-arms, but first I have to take care of the bodies. I need you to help me drag them outside."
"Why?"
"I need to call Tiw's fire to get rid of them so no mortal will come across them.
Tiw is the sky father, so his powers are much stronger outside."
Garrick painful pushed himself to his feet. Nika quickly moved to his side and put an arm around his waist to help steady him. Knowing Nathan would be long gone, Garrick managed to will his sword away after the second try. Calling on what little strength he had left, he hooked the first dead werewolf under the arms and dragged him toward the building's door. Nika grasped an arm and pulled along with him.
Between the two of them, they managed to get both of the dead beasts out into the night.
Looking up at the night sky, Garrick called, "Tiw, I have need of your fire."
Blue god-fire engulfed the bodies of the werewolves, and Nika jumped. As it burned hotter and brighter, he pushed her farther back. Once the fire had turned the bodies to ash, an unnatural wind blew it away, leaving no evidence behind.
"We have to call your friends, Garrick," Nika said softly as she once again put her arm around his waist to help him stay upright.
Garrick looked down at her. His blood had stained her T-shirt. She looked shaken, but he was pleased she didn't seem to mind touching him now, even though he remained in his werewolf form. It wasn't as if there was anything he could do about it anyway. He lifted his gaze and did a quick scan of the property. The building they had been in was a barn. The farmhouse sat a short distance away.
"Let's try the house and see if there is a working phone inside," he said.
"The barn looked as if it hadn't been used for a while. Don't you think the house would be abandoned as well?"
"Maybe, but I have a feeling the werewolves might have just killed the owners."
As he hobbled along with Nika under his arm, Garrick kept his senses open for any sign of Nathan and the other werewolf. He sniffed the air, scanning from side to side, but he didn't see or smell anything out of the ordinary.
At the house, they walked up onto the porch. He noticed the door had been boarded up, along with the window next to it. The house was abandoned, after all.