The first two Half Breeds exploded from the shadows amid a flurry of claws and teeth. Their long legs and lean bodies gave them such a gangly appearance, it seemed a wonder they could move at all. As soon as they spotted Cole and Paige, the creatures adjusted their course and charged at them even faster.
A few more werewolves followed the first two and three more came after them. There were more on their way, but Cole was too rattled to take a head count. He guessed the closest ones were about a hundred yards from where he and Paige stood. Before he could finish choking on the breath that had lodged in his throat, the first wave was nearly upon him.
A few feet away, Paige gripped her batons and said something that was lost in the chorus of raspy barks. The Half Breeds racing toward her weren’t like the ones that had been curled up in their dens. At rest, those creatures were gnarled tangles of limbs and broken bones held together by knots of muscle. These Half Breeds were in their element. Long, lanky bodies were covered in tangled, sweaty fur. Powerful limbs were in constant motion, and claws curled out from the tips of stubby fingers. They kept their ridged chests close to the ground as their vaguely canine heads pumped back and forth like pistons in an unstoppable engine. With most of their body mass clumped toward their shoulders, the creatures’ hind ends were narrow and bony, with short, ratlike tails dragging on the ground.
Ducking down over one knee, Paige snapped her right arm straight out to drive the pointed end of her weapon directly into the eye of the first Half Breed that reached her. The tooth fixed to that end of her weapon drilled straight through, hit home with a wet thud and dropped the creature to the dirt. Cole could only see that much from the corner of his eye as he braced himself for his first customer of the night.
The Half Breed that got to him before any of the rest looked about five and a half feet long. Extending both sets of legs all the way out, however, nearly doubled that length. It came at him with its teeth bared and a hungry snarl erupting from deep within its throat. Cole reflexively raised his weapon to protect himself as the werewolf leapt with enough force to knock him onto his back.
His blood burned with the proximity of so many of the creatures. The pain of getting those thorns driven so deeply into his hands caused him to grit his teeth and push the Half Breed away before it could tear off a piece of his face. Powerful jaws snapped shut less than an inch from his cheek. When the thing reared its head back to take another bite, Cole shoved it to one side and rolled to the other. The Half Breed compensated by twisting its neck at the impossible angle required to hit its mark. Jagged teeth tore through Cole’s upper arm and sent a spray of blood into the Half Breed’s mouth. Seeing the hunger that had grown to overtake the creature was enough to get Cole on his feet to defend himself.
He swung the forked end of his weapon at the Half Breed. One of the sharpened ends dug into the creature’s back, so he drove it in deeper to hold it against the ground. The Half Breed yelped and tried to get free. Its claws kicked and dug little trenches into the dirt but remained pinned. Before Cole could decide what to do from there, Paige buried one of her curved sickle blades into the Half Breed’s forehead.
“Don’t wrestle with them,” she snapped. “Kill it and move on.” Then she knocked away a snapping bite from another creature, tore the weapon free from where it had been lodged, and cracked the side of that blade against another Half Breed’s skull.
Cole heard paws thumping against the ground, whipped around and saw a werewolf racing toward him. It would have pounced if its rear leg hadn’t been caught between a set of iron jaws that popped up through a thin layer of dirt. Letting out a high-pitched yelp, the Half Breed fixed its gaze intently upon him. When the chain connecting the bear trap to the ground reached its limit, the creature’s front end flopped down and its chin smacked against the earth.
Raising his spear, Cole drove the single pointed end into the Half Breed’s side. Thanks to the tooth attached to the spearhead, it drilled all the way through the creature’s torso and sent another yelp ripping through the air. He turned toward the sound of more scampering steps to find a trio of Half Breeds running at him from another angle. He ducked down and allowed the group to leap through the empty air over his head. Using a scooping motion to reclaim his weapon from the trapped werewolf’s torso, he opened a wound wide enough to put the creature down for good. As an afterthought, he glanced down at the arm that had been bitten only a few seconds ago. The wound was there but had already stopped bleeding. When he flexed those muscles, he felt a coolness flow through him that normally only came after he’d been given a dose of Paige’s healing serum. Apparently, he’d taken enough injections for the stuff to be in his system. Even so, he hoped the pain and adrenaline wouldn’t stop. They were all that kept him moving.
“Paige, behind you!” he shouted.
Having taken a low, wide stance, Paige held her arms out so both weapons were well in front of her. Another one of the traps had caught a Half Breed’s front paw, forcing it to scramble and contort any way it could just to get to her. One of her blades punched a neat hole through the base of its neck, which killed the thing instantly.
She whirled around to meet one of the three Half Breeds circling around to rush at her from behind. The blunt end of her weapon knocked against the first one’s chin, temporarily stunning it. When that Half Breed flopped onto its side, it cleared a path for another to spring forward. Paige swung at its neck, but the Half Breed twisted its head away at an angle that made it look like a broken movie prop. After the sickle passed by the creature, it snapped its head back around to try and sink its teeth into Paige’s ribs.
The teeth sliced through the outer shell of her body armor and were snagged in the underlying layer of werewolf flesh. The Half Breed’s weight pulled her to one side, as if she’d caught a bullet. Hanging from her vest as its limbs swatted at the ground, the Half Breed desperately tried to regain some balance.
Seeing that Paige had been bitten, Cole took a swing at the creature that was still gnawing on her. His spear caught the werewolf in the neck, glanced off bone and ripped open a gash from its shoulder blades down to its tail. Hanging limply from teeth that were still snagged in her vest, the creature somehow managed to twist its head upside down, tear free of Paige’s armor and drop onto its side.
Cole buried the modified spearhead into its chest, but didn’t feel much resistance. The weapon seemed to drive through leathery skin while everything inside shifted to avoid being damaged. At the same time, the Half Breed folded its lower end until the spear ripped from its skin like a stick through a thick spider’s web. Flopping over until all four paws were beneath it, the werewolf snapped its head back from that unnatural angle and bared a full set of teeth at Cole.
Even as its long, thick fur bristled and stood on end, the Half Breed wasn’t as burly as a Full Blood. When he attempted to stab it with his spear, the creature scampered around in a semicircle and folded its torso like a jackknife, avoiding another strike from Cole’s spear. As soon as his weapon slammed into the dirt, the Half Breed lunged.
Cole dropped to one knee in a well-practiced set of movements that brought the forked end of his weapon up and around while his back leg braced for impact. The Half Breed came at him like a drooling battering ram, taking both points into its underbelly. After that, the creature’s own weight and momentum were enough to drag itself over the spear and spill its innards onto the earth.
Getting all that blood on his hands ignited a primal fire in Cole’s body. With another werewolf bearing down on him, he pivoted on one foot and swung his weapon across his upper body. The single spearhead caught the nearest Half Breed flush in the side of the neck and sank in until Cole’s fist thumped against its fur. From there, he forced it toward the ground until the spearhead emerging from the other side of the Half Breed’s neck dug into the dirt.
The creature refused to stop moving. Its legs slapped at the earth in what appeared to be death throes, but its claws grabbed on so it could find its center of gravity. With its head still pinned, the Half Breed got all four legs under it and slashed Cole’s shin. The thick denim of his jeans absorbed some of the punishment, but the werewolf’s claws shredded through the material and ripped into his flesh. He stepped back to remove his leg out of the Half Breed’s reach before too much damage could be done. When the cool flow of healing serum in his system kicked in, a light-headed sensation rolled through him like a reward for remaining on his feet.
Howls filled the air. When Cole looked to see if another wave was coming, he saw several more Half Breeds gathering around the simmering bait, nipping at each other in their haste to get to the mixture. His attention was brought back to the creature he’d pinned to the ground when it swiped at his ankle.
After clipping him with a paw, the Half Breed tensed the muscles in its neck and pulled until its own flesh gave way. The spear remained in the ground as the creature tore loose. Flaps of skin hung open at its neck, exposing the cracked bones of its shoulder, which moved like snakes trapped within layers of muscle. The creature sucked in a deep breath and jumped at Cole before he had a chance to brace himself.
Attempting to swing his spear at the Half Breed, Cole only managed to smack the weapon flat against its side. Some of the thorns from the handle snagged the werewolf’s skin, but it barely seemed to notice. Cole rolled to one side as its teeth brushed past his shoulder and its paws pressed against his upper body. He realized then that in another second or two he would be the one pinned to the ground.
But then the Half Breed grunted and twitched. Cole opened his tightly clenched eyes and saw Paige’s legs a few inches away as she pounded on the werewolf’s ribs. She hit the Half Breed again, even harder, and the creature stepped off him with a yelp. Since he didn’t have room to swing his weapon, he reached over his shoulder, got hold of the shotgun and wrangled it so he could use the barrel to push the creature away. His struggle, along with Paige’s continued assault, bought him another inch or two, which was enough for him to place the business end of the shotgun firmly against the Half Breed’s chest and pull the trigger.
There was a muffled thump that sent the Half Breed flying and sprayed blood across both Skinners. Paige’s T-shirt had been completely ripped away, exposing the body armor she’d crafted back at the hotel. The vest was shredded, and the hide inside of it looked like stuffing that had been pulled from a broken toy.
“Hit it again,” she said while grabbing his arm and lifting him to his feet.
Cole blinked as the adrenaline and serum racing through him threatened to overwhelm his senses. He looked down at the Half Breed he’d just shot and saw it struggling to get to its feet. The creature’s fur was singed and a good-sized hole had been blown through its rib cage, but its muscles had come together just enough to keep it moving. Hacking breaths shook its twitching body, but turned into strong panting when the Half Breed got another look at the prey that had eluded it. A slick, pointed tongue lolled out from between unevenly spaced teeth that resembled rows of broken stalagmites on a cave floor.
Taking quick aim, Cole fired the shotgun again. The wave of hot lead slammed against the Half Breed’s face, knocking it to one side. While it staggered as if shaking off a hard punch, Paige stepped forward to deliver a chopping blow that cut through the rest of whatever was keeping its head connected to its body.
More Half Breeds were still gathered around the campfire. Some were trying to tear each other apart, while others curiously sniffed at the stew pot. Cole fired again and again at the ones that were more interested in live bait. Although the shotgun blasts didn’t kill everything they hit, the encroaching werewolves were either wounded or forced back a few steps.
“Are you hurt?” Paige asked.
“Yeah, but I can’t feel it yet. That serum is in me, just like you said.”
She was bloodied and torn open in several spots, but was still swinging her weapons. “Shock’s got something to do with it, but we’ll worry about that later.”
“Looks like they’re backing off,” Cole gasped as he reloaded the shotgun. “This was a little easier than I thought.”
Paige didn’t take her eyes from the campfire. Shaking her head, she told him, “That was just the first wave of runners. When too many Half Breeds get together, they get reckless. The pack mentality makes them stupid. Just like humans. Once they snap out of that, they get really nasty.”
Cole counted nine Half Breeds near the fire. Three of them were fighting with each other, while the other six shifted their gaze toward the Skinners. Then the werewolves displayed their teeth as they hung their heads and fanned out.
“We can’t let them flank us,” Paige whispered. “How’s your body armor?”
Patting his hand against his torso, Cole found his vest was in even worse shape than Paige’s. The last few minutes had flown by so quickly that he hadn’t realized just how much punishment he’d taken. “It can probably take a few more hits,” he guessed, “but I’m starting to feel it in my arms and legs. Aw, shit! That looks worse than I thought.”
Both Cole and Paige looked down at his left leg, which had a set of deep, bloody tracks starting just above his knee and running almost down to his ankle.
“Can you stay up on your own?” Paige asked.
“I think so.”
“If not, drop to your knees and fight from there.” Once she’d dispensed that tidbit, Paige locked eyes with the closest Half Breed and took half a lunging step forward. The feint was just enough to set the creature off, and it charged straight at her, with a second one following close behind. There was a good amount of ground to cover, but the Half Breeds practically flew over it. Cole fired in the general direction of the creatures and dropped the closest one chin first to the ground. It skidded a few feet before its companions jumped over it and continued on.
“Son of a bitch,” he grumbled as the remaining Half Breeds scattered and bolted into the shadows before he could fire another shot.
Paige turned to keep her current target in front of her. The Half Breeds near the fire moved away from the blaze, using legs that weren’t restricted by joints. One of them crab-walked with its belly pressed against the dirt to climb over the bodies of its fallen brethren. A rasping growl issued from its chest, stuck in its throat, then came out in a huffing bark that made the remaining Half Breeds snap their heads up and look toward the Skinners. One of the werewolves that had scampered away from Cole’s shotgun reappeared, to come at him from another side, and was brought down by one of the hidden bear traps.
Meanwhile, another Half Breed launched itself at Paige. Hitting the ground with one knee, she swept her weapon up and across, to slash its face and stop it with a jarring crack of petrified wood against its temple.
Cole jumped in to help her by snagging the Half Breed by its neck with the forked end of his weapon. Doing his best to pull it off Paige’s back, he managed to give her enough room to wriggle free and slash at two werewolves that had crept closer to them. Her left hand whipped toward the werewolf that Cole had pulled away, if only to knock aside a claw before it dug into her. She snapped her right hand out to try and decapitate another Half Breed, but only ripped through a few layers of fur before the creature twisted around in a way that should have snapped its spine in half. Before it could straighten itself again, Paige drew her revolver and fired two shots at its head. One shot grazed the creature’s skull and the other only clipped its ear. Since neither wound was bad enough to put it down, the Half Breed shook off the effects and stalked around her to find another angle from which to attack.
Cole, still pinning one werewolf by its hind quarters, tried to do something more than annoy it. Just as the creature pulled away, he jabbed the forked end toward its neck. Both sharpened points stretched out less than a quarter of an inch before snapping shut, but the Half Breed had bent its head back like it was about to dispense candy from its throat.
Putting all of his strength into one motion, Cole flipped his weapon so the spearhead swept up and out, digging a messy trench through the Half Breed’s shoulder. The creature staggered and tried to get away, but wasn’t fast enough to escape before Cole swung again. This time he stabbed it in the side and twisted the weapon before it came loose. The Half Breed contorted just enough to slash at Cole with its paw. He defended against the first swipe, but another Half Breed joined the fray, to create a flurry of teeth and claws. Cole kept his spear in front of his face and chest, pivoting often to answer with a few jabs of his own.
Teeth scraped against the collar of his body armor and ripped away a little piece of his chin. One set of claws sliced less than an inch away from his eyes, and another set shredded the waistband of his jeans. One Half Breed finally reared up and placed its front paws upon his shoulders.
Cole could feel his legs start to buckle and realized that he wouldn’t have the strength to stay up if the werewolf pushed against him with all of its weight. Out of sheer desperation, he brought the spearhead up to impale the creature through the bottom of its jaw. The Half Breed craned its neck to pull away, but not before the modified spearhead dug a tunnel straight up and through its brain. With a quick push, Cole shoved the creature back and then let it drop.
As soon as he stepped back, another creature hit the ground. He turned and saw Paige place her boot on that werewolf’s back and drive her weapons into its sides. Even then, the Half Breed continued to drag itself toward Cole. Paige put a stop to that by pounding the sharpened handle of her weapon through its skull.
“That was a stubborn one,” she said.
There were still a few other Half Breeds nearby, but they seemed hesitant to approach. In fact, they were backing away from another werewolf that had a thicker, meatier frame and larger, longer ears that lay flat against its head. It was tough for the Skinners to make out the details of the bigger creature since its fur was so black that it absorbed shadow as well as the bit of light cast by the campfire. Once Cole saw the crystalline eyes glittering in the firelight, however, he knew exactly what they were dealing with.
The Full Blood was shorter than he remembered. Despite a more compact frame, raw power exuded from the beast like it would from a hurricane or a black wall of storm clouds. The burning that crackled through Cole’s scars ran like a live current all the way up to his shoulders.
“That’s not Burkis, is it?” he asked.
Paige shook her head. “No. Wrong coloring. That’s the one that took Henry away from us in Wisconsin.”
“Yooouuu waaaant Henrrrry?” the Full Blood snarled, using words that were crudely fashioned from growls and forced out through a latticework of fangs. Unlike the daggerlike protrusions that cut through Burkis’s face, this one’s teeth laced together neatly but prevented its jaws from fully closing.
The few remaining Half Breeds were getting impatient. When two of them huffed and began to rush the Skinners, the Full Blood stretched its body forward and opened its mouth to let out a quick, roaring bark. Upon hearing that, all of the Half Breeds pressed their chests against the earth and slunk away.
As his lips came down and his snarl faded, the Full Blood lowered his shoulders and lifted his chin. When he spoke again, it was through a muzzle that had shortened just enough to accommodate a more human voice. “Henry used to ask about you, Paige.”
“Good,” she replied as she adjusted her grip on her weapons. “Tell him to come see me. I’ve got a couple presents for him.”
The Full Blood’s lips curled into a savage grin. “I thought you’d already gotten to him, but now I see he’s simply run off.”
In the distance, car engines revved and faded as headlights swung wildly down a path leading through the nature preserve.
“It probably won’t be long before the cops or a ranger shows up,” Cole whispered to Paige.
“This’ll be over long before the cops make it out here,” she replied.
“Oh, I hope not,” the Full Blood said in an English accent that tarnished his voice the way rust corrupted glistening steel. “Your founding father didn’t show his face, but I’ll still have plenty of witnesses to see what happens to murdering ghouls like you.”
“Founding father?” Paige asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
The Full Blood drew in a lungful of passing breeze as if sampling a finely aged wine. “I thought he would come to your aid, but I guess I was mistaken. That changes nothing. I warned you to clear a path for my kind the last time we met. If you refuse to step aside, then I’ll just have to remove a few more Skinners from this world. Funny,” he added with a tilt of his growing head. “I thought more of you would come to defend this piss hole of a city. Perhaps there are fewer of your kind than we thought. How interesting.”
When the Full Blood lowered his chin and dug its claws into the earth, Paige raised her weapons. “Take one more step and I’ll gut you just like I gutted your friends!”
“Thaaat’s it,” the dark Full Blood snarled. “If you scream loud enough, you’ll catch someone’s attention.”
“Who else are you after?” Paige asked.
Standing upon two legs but keeping his body hunched over, the Full Blood approached and stared at her with his unnaturally clear eyes. The upper portion of his skull settled into a more human shape, and his snout retracted to a mildly protruding nose. “The one that’s hiding like a tick wedged in the middle of this continent.”
“I’m the only partner she needs,” Cole said.
The shadowy beast lifted his chin and then cocked his head to one side. His eyes narrowed before widening into glittering circles. “You know what? I believe you really don’t know about the man I seek.”
“Honest mistake, so I’ll give you one chance to leave,” Paige said. “If you go back to your forest or wherever you were before, we’ll call it a night. If not, then—”
“Then what?” the Full Blood roared. “I warned you when I collected Henry to stay away when we came to reclaim our territories! This is where all old debts are repaid, Skinner. The diseased leeches who spit their venom from their bloody cities will be gutted soon enough. Tonight, I send a message to all of those who think they’re strong enough to hunt us. It’s too late to save this place, so do what you can to save yourselves. The only chance you have is for you to tell me where I can find the others of your kind.” Baring his teeth, the Full Blood added, “All of them.”
The Half Breeds stood in the shadows, swaying on their feet and panting with anticipation.
When Paige spoke, it was in a snarl that rivaled the Full Blood’s. “You wanna do more than bark? I’m right here.”
The single puff of air that came out through the Full Blood’s nose was as much of a chuckle as a growl. He stretched out both arms and dropped back down into his compact, barrel-chested form. The challenging smirk remained on his face as his teeth nearly doubled in length. Barely another second passed before he bolted forward.
“Paige! Look out!” Cole shouted as he dove to push her out of the way.
Both Skinners were human, which meant neither of them was fast enough to avoid what was coming. Just when he thought he could shove her to the ground, Cole felt a rush of air as Paige was snatched away from him. Cole landed on his side, rolled over and popped back onto his feet with his spear raised in front of him. He didn’t expect the Full Blood to be close enough to reach out, grab him by the shirt, and toss him through the air.
Being whipped around like that took away his perspective. The ground rushed along the edges of his vision, and the moon flew by in another direction. His feet knocked into his legs. His arms flailed through empty air, and just when he thought he’d figured out which way was up, he was proven wrong. He hit the ground on his back, expelling all of the wind from his lungs in the process. Paige wasn’t in sight, but the Full Blood was only a few inches away.
Cole knew he needed to move, but he couldn’t. The Full Blood loomed over him, gazing down and drizzling saliva onto his arm. When Cole dug the business end of his spear into a huge paw, the massive creature seemed genuinely surprised. “I see you’ve already met Randolph,” the Full Blood said as he reached down to grab Cole’s weapon. “Either that, or he’s losing his teeth in his old age. Needn’t worry about that from me.”
Cole rolled away as the beast’s claws dug a row of trenches through the ground where he’d just been. When he felt the brush of a twig against his backside, he stopped rolling and scrambled to his feet. The Full Blood stood upright, flowing easily into his taller form. While this one looked a bit smaller than Mr. Burkis, he made up for it with speed and ferocity. Even with a burst of panic-induced strength coursing through him, Cole only barely managed to deflect a powerful swing with his spear, then felt the shock wave of the creature’s attack rattle all the way up to his teeth. Somehow, the petrified weapon remained in one piece.
Unable to get a look at Paige, Cole had to assume she was holding her own against the Half Breeds that snarled and clawed at her several yards away. Even if she wasn’t, he knew he couldn’t do anything to help her. The Full Blood roared and swiped at him again and again. When the beast finally delivered the overhand swing he’d been waiting for, Cole jumped aside. The thump of its massive paw against the earth was followed by the clang of iron jaws of a bear trap snapping shut around the Full Blood’s wrist. When it reared up and pulled the trap from the ground, Cole drove his modified spearhead into its chest.
The creature’s entire face twisted into a mask of pure rage. Although the tooth attached to Cole’s weapon pierced its skin, the bone beneath its flesh was like an iron plate. Cole leaned into the strike, but knew he’d reached his limit. After plucking the weapon free, he aimed for the stomach and stabbed the outermost layer of thickly banded muscle. The Full Blood pivoted on its feet and slapped the weapon away. Cole’s hands were nearly torn apart, but the thorns in the spear’s handle kept it rooted within his grasp. After that, he could only run away before the fury of an unnatural cataclysm rained down upon him.
Cole knew he’d never moved so fast in his life. He barely even felt his feet touch the ground until he dug in and skidded to a stop beside the campfire. The Half Breeds had nudged the kettle away from the flames when they’d sniffed at it, but there was still some of the concoction inside. Cole grabbed the kettle by its handle and hurried to retrace his steps. Heat from the handle would have burned a whole lot more if he didn’t already have a thick layer of blood and scar tissue on his palm.
The Full Blood ran toward him in easy, loping strides, the bear trap rattling from one wrist like a grisly accessory. It gripped the earth using all four paws and panted expectantly at the sight of its next meal.
Cole veered to the left, planted his feet, grabbed the bottom of the kettle and tossed the contents toward the Full Blood. Since the hulking werewolf hadn’t slowed down, Cole also slammed the kettle against its nose. Scorched iron met snout with a muted clang. The Full Blood snapped his head from side to side and huffed angrily through both nostrils.
Working his jaw only seemed to aggravate the beast. It arched its back and erupted with a bellowing roar as muscles swelled to form a thicker shell around a growing, two-legged form. Even as he brought his forepaws up to hold them like arms, the Full Blood was too enraged to act as anything other than an animal.
“Come on,” Cole whispered. “Come on!”
Just when it seemed that he had made the worst call of his short fighting career by goading the huge creature, smaller footsteps scrambled in from all sides. The Full Blood glanced to his right and spotted a trio of Half Breeds baring their teeth. Some more of the leaner werewolves closed in, while most of the ones fighting Paige left her to attack the Full Blood that was now covered in the bait mixture.
The Full Blood leapt back, but wasn’t able to get far enough away before the Half Breeds clamped onto his legs. One of the wretches bit down on the bear trap and was tossed through the air when the Full Blood finally shook loose of the metal jaws.
As much as he would have liked to watch the bigger werewolf wrestle with those things for a while, Cole had already spent too much time separated from Paige. She was still tangling with one Half Breed, but a straight, solid jab from Cole’s spear was enough to back it off. When that werewolf turned to face him, it caught a sickle blade straight across its jugular.
Paige grabbed the Half Breed’s ear, pulled its head back and nearly sawed it from its shoulders. Recognizing the glassy look in her eyes, Cole pulled her away and said, “Come on! We need to get out of here.”
She blinked a few times as if looking at the campgrounds for the first time. “How’d you get those Half Breeds off of me?”
“I sicced them on the big guy.”
Paige had no trouble spotting the Full Blood. It contended with the Half Breeds by wildly swinging his arms to toss the smaller werewolves into the air or ripping them to shreds. When one refused to be shaken loose, the Full Blood gripped the gnarled creature by the head and slammed it down while letting out a bellowing howl. As he ground that creature’s skull into paste, the Full Blood cast his eyes at all the other Half Breeds and roared in a way that forced them to scamper back while twisting their heads aside to bare their throats to him. The minute he ran out of breath, the Half Breeds again caught the scent of the bait mixture that was on him and renewed their attack.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Cole said.
Paige dusted herself off and discovered several gaping wounds in the process. Grabbing a plastic syringe from her belt, she injected the healing serum and growled, “We’re not leaving.” She waited for a Half Breed to get ripped apart and ran in to attack the spot on the Full Blood that the gangly werewolf had been chewing.
The huge, ebon creature started to climb onto its hind legs, but was dragged down by the weight of the Half Breeds. He howled a command for the Half Breeds to back off, which gave Paige a chance to drive her modified weapon in again. This time Cole lent his spear to the cause. Twisting around to bat away the two humans, the black beast left himself open to the persistent Half Breeds. When one of the wiry animals sank its teeth into the spot where the Skinners’ modified weapons had hit, the Full Blood lifted his head to the moon and screamed. Every Half Breed tried to join in with howls of their own, which turned into frenzied yelps as the Full Blood launched itself into the air.
By the time its paws hit the ground, the Full Blood had already shifted to its more compact form. It disappeared in a thick blur of motion, taking the last of the Half Breeds with him.
“God damn it!” Paige shouted. “Grab one of these bodies and take it to the car. Bring back that lighter fluid from the trunk.”
Cole surveyed the area, now a bloodied landscape of gnarled bodies and sprung bear traps. The soil had been churned up by so many different sets of claws that the ground itself looked completely different from when they’d arrived. Even the campfire was a sputtering relic of what it had been an hour ago. “How the hell do we explain this?” he asked. “What do we say to the cops? They’ll be here after all that shooting! Someone had to see what happened!”
Stepping up to glare directly into Cole’s eyes, Paige told him, “We didn’t come here to explain anything to anyone. If someone saw what happened, they can explain however the hell they want. If the cops get here quick enough to stop us, we tell them we were attacked by wild animals. There’s no law against that.”
“How do we answer all of their questions?”
“We won’t have to if you get that lighter fluid and help me torch the rest of these things!” Paige snapped. “Now pick up a damn body and drag it to the car!”
Cole didn’t have much to say to her after that. After pulling in a few deep breaths and wiping the sweat from his eyes, he picked up a damn body and dragged it to the car.