In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,16
terrifying. But these were worse. So much worse. Because these fangs weren’t just long, they were also wide. Rows on top and bottom. To accommodate those fangs, Stevie’s head shifted next. Her nose growing into a snout; her ears turning into just holes against her head; her neck expanding, muscles rippling.
Orange, black, and white fur exploded over every bit of skin. Giant, lengthy claws burst from her fingertips and her toes. Powerful muscles covered her legs and arms.
When she landed on all fours, Shen thought she was done. She wasn’t.
Stevie’s entire body began to grow.
And grow.
And grow.
In length and width.
In horror, Shen watched as little Stevie MacKilligan grew into . . . something absolutely enormous.
She was the color of a Siberian tiger, but she was still a honey badger. A giant twenty-foot-long and ten- to fifteen-foot-wide orange, black, and white honey badger with humongous paws.
Blayne had fallen off Stevie’s back when she’d shifted, and, in full panic mode, the wolfdog jumped to her feet and turned to run. But Stevie brought her head down and grabbed Blayne by the back of her T-shirt, lifting her off the ground. The wolfdog screamed hysterically as Stevie tossed her into the air, then caught her by the back of her T-shirt again, letting Blayne hang from one of her giant fangs.
Unable to move, Shen watched Kyle slide to a stop in front of the open door.
“Oh, my God,” he gasped.
Blayne, struggling to get loose, yelled out, “Get me out of here!”
Kyle looked at Shen. “What are we going to do?”
Shen glanced around, wondering who the kid was talking to. When he didn’t see anyone and understood the kid was talking to him, he asked, “What do you expect me to say?”
“We have to do something!”
Coop ran down the hall until he reached them, freezing when he spotted what took up most of his family’s ballroom.
And, unfortunately, right behind him was Bo “The Marauder” Novikov. Hockey pro, former child prodigy—of hockey—and well-known rude bastard.
He was also Blayne’s husband.
“Blayne!” he barked when he saw his mate hanging from Stevie’s fang. “What did you do?”
Blayne glared. “You’re blaming me for this?”
“Get down from there right now!” Novikov ordered.
Poor Blayne, still hanging from that fang, threw up her hands. “Are you fucking kidding—”
Stevie suddenly shook her head and Blayne’s T-shirt ripped, sending her flying into the far wall. But when she landed on the floor, she managed to get to her feet and attempted another run.
A giant paw slammed down in front of Blayne. She turned and tried to run the other way, but another paw ended that. Then the first front paw suddenly swiped the air and Blayne went flying again, only to be slapped the opposite way by the other paw.
That’s when Shen understood that Stevie was playing with Blayne like a house cat playing with a toy mouse. Or a live one.
Novikov growled and gold-brown hair suddenly dropped from under his white hair, passing his shoulders. A minor lion’s mane, because Novikov was another hybrid. A polar bear–lion.
The hockey pro shifted, forcing Shen to grab Kyle and Coop to yank them out of the way so the pair didn’t get crushed under the big hybrid’s bulk.
Roaring, gnashing his . . . tusks—yes, Novikov had what could only be called tusks coming from his maw—he charged into the ballroom, destroying the closed second door in the process.
“Stevie!” Shen yelled, pushing the Jean-Louis Parker brothers back before running forward. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he wasn’t about to let Novikov kill—
Shen slid to a stop, then quickly reversed course, turning and charging back seconds before Bo Novikov’s shifted body exploded through the wall.
Tossed out of the room by little Stevie MacKilligan.
“We are so fucked,” Coop said softly.
* * *
Max had stopped on the sidewalk to tie her bright pink Converse sneaker. The color matched her current hair color perfectly and she liked that.
But just as she began to stand, the roar that rattled the windows of the entire block had her head snapping up and she looked at Charlie. Eyes wide, her sister stared back and together they took off down the street to reach the house they knew Kyle’s family was staying at for the summer.
They went up the stairs and started banging on the door to get someone to open it, but then Charlie’s grizzly came up behind them and with one kick, the door flew open.
Max followed Charlie into the house. The first thing she saw was Kyle