Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,77

knife to her neck and his fist around her hair. And I lose my shit.

I roar and my animal bursts out of me with uncontrollable rage. My coyote is pissed and out for blood, especially when he sees Addie wincing from Jordy’s hold on her.

Herrick and Lafe are still dealing with Drag, but my coyote is strong, and his protective instincts make him even more fierce. A vicious howl tears from my coyote’s throat, and Addie’s eyes lock with me. One second, she’s struggling against Jordy as he pulls her toward a waiting SUV, and the next, her duck bursts out of her.

Jordy immediately loses his hold, and all I see are a flurry of tawny feathers and a snapping beak. Her duck latches onto Jordy’s pointy nose, and the guy starts screeching in pain as he tries to dash her away. Too bad for him, he doesn’t notice that her friend Zoey has also shifted into her snake, and has managed to wrap herself around his leg. With a warning hiss (and a rattler with no rattle,) the snake sinks its fangs into his calf.

Jordy’s screech turns into a scream, and Zoey’s snake quickly disengages and slithers away before he can try to yank on her. Addie’s duck still has a good hold on his nose, and all his crazed flailing makes him go falling back. The second he lands, he shifts into his bear form with a roar, bursting out of his clothes, and Addie’s duck is forced to let go.

Before his massive brown paw can take a swipe at her, my coyote’s jaw is locked around his neck. He’s still on his back on the pavement, so his bear desperately tries to throw me off, but my coyote wants blood. He digs his teeth in more, showing the bear exactly who has the upper hand.

“Penn.”

My coyote hears her voice, but it doesn’t register. Blood flows into his mouth, the bear’s throat locked inside. All it will take is one tug—one jerk of his head, and my coyote will rip his throat out.

“Penn. Stop.”

My coyote’s eyes flare wide at our mate when she steps in his line of vision. She crouches in front of him. “You can let go. He’s not worth it.”

My coyote whines low, craving more of the bear’s blood, wanting to sink his teeth in deeper, punish him for hurting our mate. But Addie gently brings a hand up and brushes it against my coyote’s side. “Come on, Penn. Come back.”

My coyote watches her clear blue eyes and he senses her distress. Finally, my coyote’s jaw unlocks, and he steps away from the bear. As soon as he retreats the slightest bit, I take over and shove myself back into the forefront. I shift back, and look around, seeing that our reinforcements have finally showed up.

Drag is standing now with a couple of his packmates, staring down Herrick and Penn. He’s bleeding in several places and looks like he wants to rip apart their coyotes, but he’s outnumbered now, and he knows it.

I look back down at Jordy at my feet. In my human form, I’m able to study Jordy’s bear more thoroughly, and I realize he’s worse off than I’d originally thought. His throat is bleeding slightly, but not with a killing puncture, but his leg where Zoey’s snake bit him has swelled up at least twice the size.

It appears that he’s gone unconscious too, whether from the venom or hitting his head on the pavement, I’m not sure. Still, I’m struggling keeping myself together. This male hurt my mate, and all of my instincts are screaming at me to end him.

Like she can sense my struggle, Addie comes forward and takes my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. The other members of Pack Aberrant have surrounded the entire parking lot, but Pack Rockhead is still fighting viciously, despite being suddenly outnumbered.

When I see Drag and two other males trying to take a cheap shot from behind at Jetta, I nearly shift again, but a booming voice cuts through the parking lot and makes every shifter in the vicinity immediately freeze. “Enough!”

Even the Pack Rockhead shifters stop and turn to Alpha Hugo. They can’t help it. When an alpha of his power uses a particular tone, the magic in us responds to his natural authority.

Hugo steps forward, from the fifty or so members of Pack Aberrant that are surrounding the parking lot. Drag and the other members of Rockhead eye them nervously.

Hugo’s second-in-command, a huge motherfucker