Chapter 46

WARNING: VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE

Val pulled up to the gate; the armed guard let him in. He drove to the delivery door.

When he stopped, he looked around the area. He never fully trusted these creeps. Thankfully, this was the last time he was going to deal with them.

He got out of the car, went to the back, and opened the door just in time to be rushed by a werewolf. She snapped her teeth at him but was in too much of a hurry to stop for anything else.

She bolted into the yard, and with her momentum, managed to jump the seven-foot barbed wire fence. There were guards, but they were human and not fast enough. Val shifted to his Tiger form and went after her. He didn’t have any trouble clearing the fence; his larger frame just made him slower going over it.

Val knew it was important to find her quickly. She couldn’t outrun him, but she could outlast him. If she were to get a big enough head start, it would be to her advantage. He had truly underestimated the Luna; it wouldn’t happen again.

He was actually happy she ran; he hadn’t had a good chase in a long time. He was relishing catching up with the Luna, it would be satisfying to teach her a lesson.

Artemis and Adira were running, but not at full capacity. Being pregnant, they didn’t want to use all their energy. Artemis knew that they couldn’t outrun the weretiger in a race, but they could win if it became a distance run.

Adira mind-linked Duncan as soon as she cleared the fence. She told him which direction they were heading and where she ended up. Duncan gave his location. Artemis turned a little south to catch up with Duncan and Apollo before the tiger caught up to them.

Still, Artemis kept her nose in the air to pick up any scents that might be of harm, especially feline. She could smell something faint about a mile behind them. They picked up a little more speed.

Still, they couldn’t overdo it, or it would cause harm to the pup. Artemis stopped for a second and turned to sniff the air. The weretiger was closer than they realized; he was masking his scent so they couldn’t tell how far behind he was.

Artemis let out an earth-shattering howl and took off running again. They heard an angry roar behind them. They both smiled, though, when they heard a howl in front of them. Just a little further.

Duncan put on another burst of speed. Shortly behind him were his lycan pack of warriors, as well as Jack and Archer. Duncan was far out front. Once he heard Adira was being chased, he put all his anger and rage into his running. He leapt over fallen trees and bushes. All the while, Apollo was wanting to go faster; they must get to their mate and pup.

He heard her howl ahead of him; he let out a howl in answer. He also heard a roar. No way in hell was that bastard ever going to get his hands on his little wolf. He wasn’t going to be using his hands ever again because they were going to rip them off.

They scented their mate before they heard her running full out toward them. Just as they were almost to each other, a weretiger pounced out of the shadows, aiming straight for Artemis. Artemis dodged as she ran past Duncan and Apollo in their Lycan form.

The weretiger snarled at them and launched at their head. Duncan dodged and grabbed the tiger by the tail, whipping him around like a carnival ride, letting go at the last minute, tossing the tiger back deeper into the woods. A loud crack was heard as the tiger crashed into a tree.

Artemis ran straight to the other lycans as they formed a circle around her, closing her off from any further attacks.

Jack and Archer took flanking positions on either side of Duncan. Neither was going to step in unless Duncan asked or got into trouble and needed help. Otherwise, they were there to make sure the tiger stayed in the fight.

Duncan wasted no time going after the tiger. Loud snarls and growls were heard; the trees moved violently as they were crashed into. The tiger came up from behind and latched his jaws onto Duncan, going for the throat. Instead, his bite landed on the shoulder. Duncan let out a growl of pure anger.

Duncan shook off the tiger. Blood was running down his torso from the bite. The tiger came at him again; this time, Duncan was ready for him.

He dodged at the last second, at the same time reaching with his other hand, full of razor-sharp claws, and tore open the tiger’s belly.

This went on for about an hour, until finally, the tiger showed signs of getting tired. Duncan was still running on adrenaline and rage. At one point, the tiger tried to run past Duncan to the other Lycans, trying to get to the Luna.

Jack met him head-on and pushed him back into the fight. Duncan grabbed him by his back legs and dragged him away.

Val was getting tired of all this; it was getting time he found a way to either end this fight or escape. "Damn Werebear had the balls to get in my way. How dare he?" He had fought plenty of werewolves in their natural wolf form; he had never understood the lycan form until now.

He didn’t like the way this fight was going, but the bastard just kept coming at him. Why wasn’t he getting tired? He managed to get a little more energy, enough to get up and fight again. His tiger form was healing fast, but not fast enough.

Perhaps if he lets the Alpha think that he killed him, he can play dead, and when their backs are turned, make a run for it. Yes, that is what I will do. As he leapt out toward the Lycan, landing on his back, Duncan let out a roar when the tiger landed a scraping blow with its claws. This, however, made him really pissed off. Perhaps the tiger was hoping to make him so mad that he would start making mistakes. Duncan chuckled to himself. "Good luck with that strategy. Lycans are at their best when they are fed by rage."

Duncan dodged another blow; this time, he sunk his claws deep into the side of the tiger, holding on and then slamming it to the ground. The tiger lay just a few feet from him as if it were dead. It wasn’t. That’s when Duncan realized that the tiger was playing dead.

Duncan pounced onto the tiger, clamping his heavy jaws on its neck, holding and suffocating the tiger while shaking him back and forth violently until the tiger's neck gave an audible snap.

Duncan wasn’t finished, though; the large tiger was still alive. Duncan ripped out his throat and then beheaded the tiger, grabbing the tiger once again in his heavy jaws and whipping the head at the feet of his lycan warriors.

What was said next shocked Archer and Jack.

“I want you two to escort your Luna three miles to the south where Marco is waiting with the second wave of warriors. They will take your Luna back to our territory. When you have handed her over to Marco, I want you to come back and catch up with us.”

He sat down for a minute as another warrior was tending to his wounds. Apollo was already healing them to the point that they didn’t hurt or bleed much anymore.

He motioned for Jack and Archer to come to him. With a smile, he said…

“It is time to put an end to all this evil shit. What do you say, boys? Let's go have some fun; it’s time to go hunting.”