pet each of us, but it was with a look of sadness on her face. I didn’t know whether she was sad to let go of the past, or whether she felt like she had no choice in the matter.
She didn’t have any choice in whether we fought, because we had to defend our territory But I knew, in my heart, that she had a choice about whether or not she was going to stay here or not, because we couldn’t keep her prisoner forever. If she wanted to go, then we would let her go, but we needed her to be safe first.
“Good boys,” she said softly, and then turned and went up the stairs. I understood that she did not want to want to see what was going to happen, and I respected her for that. This was for us to handle.
I turned around and grunted at my brothers, and they seemed to understand. We headed out to the back of the house, and I could smell the wolves approaching. This was it; it was time to defend our territory and defend our mate.
Even though I had been fighting with my brothers through all of it, I was so glad that they were with me now. I didn’t think I could do it any other way.
Chapter Nineteen
Jonathan
The wolves were snarling at us, and I could see that they were ready for battle. It had been a long time since I had seen a wolf shiftier up close, and I had forgotten how big they were. They were much bigger than regular wolves, and they tried to stay away from regular wolves when they ran as a pack because they would be easily spotted.
I saw three to my left and three to my right, which made me wonder whether the last one was.
I hated that I didn't bother to do the leg work about things like finding out what Matthew smelled like or what he would look like.
I hated that I felt unprepared. This wasn’t like me. Of all the brothers, I was the one who had all the information and all the supplies. Now, we were just going into battle unprepared.
I heard Frances grunt beside me, and I turned to him. His muscles were tense, and he was prepared to leap.
I decided to focus on the wolf that was nearest to me. I moved forward, with one foot then another, and then he leaped.
That was the only advantage that wolves had over bears. We weren’t really great at jumping, and if we did try, it did not turn out well.
The wolf was probably about half my size, and he bared his teeth as he flew at me. He wasn’t ready for my strength, however, and he fought against that. I grabbed him with my paw and pushed him back. I bared my teeth more and moved forward as he dragged himself up.
I didn’t know who this wolf was. I didn’t know whether he was the one at the bar or whether he was a wolf shifter I had never met before. However, he was not one to give up, it seemed. He got up again and again, each time that I hit him. I thought that this situation was under control until I felt pain in my neck.
There was another wolf hanging onto my neck, and he didn’t seem like he was going to let go. I felt his teeth break my skin as I started to shake, and then I felt another searing pain. I was certain that he was going to take my neck right off.
I stood up and roared and tried to shake him off. It didn’t seem to be working, although it had worked for his friend.
I took the opportunity to look around and see what my brothers were doing. They were in a similar position, but they had three wolves on them each. It made me feel like I was slacking, and I managed to shake the wolf off.
The rest of the battle was a blur. There was a lot of blood and there was a lot of noise, but at the end of the day, wolves were no match to bears. We knocked all of them down or got them to run away, until we got to the last one.
I knew that it was Matthew. He looked at the three of us, and I think his spirit broke. He could see that there was no way we were letting him get out