Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,23

four hundred pounds of me, tense and ready to pounce as I heard the footsteps toward my door.

“We come in peace. We’re only here for the girl. If you give her up, you’ll live,” the werewolf in human form called out.

I snarled, making my answer known. They had already broken one rule by coming onto my territory without my permission. They were here for my girl, my charge, my Duty. They were idiots if they thought I was going to let them leave with her and just go back to my life. I was in this now. There was no turning back.

The door opened and a wolf ran in. I took my shot, leaping off the bar and barreling into the smaller predator. The yelping noise it made as bones crushed from the impact would stick with me. I would win. Only fools came after a werecat.

Something bit into my back leg, trying to yank me from my prey. Snarling, I pushed the wolf I was on down more as I turned to swipe at the other wolf. I could smell them now. Even if one or two lived through this fight, I would always remember them. I would always know which idiot wolves thought they could come into my territory and take something precious.

I missed the wolf, who jumped back, releasing my leg at the last second. I spun around completely, snarling, sizing them up. The average werewolf was normally between two hundred and three hundred pounds. Only smaller werecats were close to three hundred. I probably had each of them by nearly two hundred pounds, and one of them already knew exactly what that meant for them. The wolf I pounced on wasn’t getting up for a long time, if it even could.

I roared, letting the sound shake everything in the room. The werewolf in his human form walked carefully behind his wolves, glaring down at me. I gave him a very feline grin.

“It didn’t have to be this way, cat,” he said almost casually, but I could smell the rage and hate in the air. It was a cat versus dogs problem. Unlike house pets, though, I would win.

The wolves jumped. One landed on my back, trying to push me down. Another ran for my back leg, grabbing hold of it. The third was coming straight for me, probably trying for a neck bite.

I swung a paw, slamming it on the side of its head. I heard the bones break and crunch, heard the yelp of pain as the wolf flew to the side and hit a table.

It was on now. I bent, trying to bite the one on my back. When I couldn’t reach it, I shook and directed my teeth and claws towards the one hanging on my back leg.

A gun went off and I growled from the burning pain that hit one of my shoulders. Silver. Of all the dirty tricks, that one had a gun full of silver bullets.

It was a weakness werewolves and werecats shared, but no one knew where the weakness came from. It wasn’t an instant kill, damn near nothing was, but it stung and would kill us eventually. The metal would hit the bloodstream and slowly poison us if we didn’t rest and recover and remove whatever the source was. It also made healing slow, another serious problem if I was going to be tangling with wolves.

I was able to shake off the wolf on my back, but I didn’t get my fangs into the other wolf. Something hit my side and caught me off guard. I roared as I tumbled to the floor, clawing at whatever hit me. Teeth sank into my belly, and the next roar I made was one of pain. I kicked with my back legs, feeling flesh rend and a howl greeted me. It was painful music to my ears.

Fur flew as the battle waged on. I lost track of the ability to really judge and plan my movements, instinct kicking in and taking over. I snapped and clawed at whatever flesh was around me. Anything that smelled like a wolf was a problem.

The wolves were fast and agile, something I wasn’t expecting. They dove in, got a hit on me, opening up my flesh and tearing through my muscles. One of the knocked down wolves was up again and rejoining the fight.

Finally, I was able to gain purchase on one and sank my fangs deep into its neck, holding it down as the