It was good to be a wolf.
I ripped my crushed door off its hinges and extracted myself from the wreckage.
Screeching tires echoed behind us.
“Holy shit!” Savannah’s cousin was hanging halfway out the passenger-side window, pumping his fist into air. He was a fucking lunatic. Then again, he was Laurel’s son. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Two masked male shifters climbed out of the crumpled Oldsmobile, and with a burst of speed, I circled around the rear. The one in the front seat was dead. Neck broken.
The rogue shifters put their backs together as Regina and Sam closed in around the wreckage, their claws extended.
The two shifters took one look at them and me, and then sprinted down the street, heading north.
I grinned and tore off after them. I liked a good chase, and tonight, I had some steam to blow off before ripping Savannah a new one.
But they ran fucking fast. Faster than possible.
What the hell was going on?
Sam and Regina shifted into wolves but still couldn’t catch up.
My wolf roared with rage as they rapidly pulled away from us. I started to shift, and my shirt ripped, but Sam growled and snapped.
I understood her intent, as I could speak without words to the wolves of my inner circle: We’ll hunt. Don’t let the LaSalles blow anything else up.
I snarled but slowed. She was right. I had to get the LaSalles out of pack territory before they were spotted. The destruction Savannah’s cousin had likely caused was sure to draw attention.
Savannah was peering into the smashed Oldsmobile. Her cousin hobbled out of the car and leaned against the hood as I approached. His foot was injured, and I could smell the repressed pain streaming off him. He deserved more for unleashing hellfire on my city.
“You were told to leave, and yet, you came back,” I growled, smelling the faint traces of wolfsbane on her.
Did this woman have a death wish?
Savannah spun and met my gaze, her eyes blazing. The skin on her cheek was red and swollen where she’d been struck. Rage and protectiveness flooded me, threatening to spill out.
I’d beat the hell out of the shifter who’d hit her.
“What are you doing here?” I roared.
Savannah flinched and I could smell her fear, but she planted her feet and stared me down, giving me that ridiculous look she used when she thought she could make me bend. “I needed my stuff, so I came back and was jumped. In. Your. Territory.”
Anger burned through me, and my claws itched to come out. How did this woman know exactly how to drive me over the edge?
I strode up to her, my body shaking as I fought for composure. My wolf wanted control. He wanted her to submit. I wanted her to submit.
And something else.
Her heat flooded into me, and her pulse pounded in my ears. I could taste her sweat from here, so fucking sweet. “I told you to stay out of my territory tonight. When I tell you something, you’d better listen.”
Her cousin scoffed as he limped around the car. Broken ankle, I noted. I’d have liked to break the other.
“I do what I want. I’m not a wolf. I’m not beholden to you,” Savannah hissed, though I could sense her trepidation.
“Apparently, you want to fuck up as much shit as possible.”
She grabbed my partly torn shirt. “Well, I guess we know one thing: your plan to use me as bait would have worked. Except without my cousin, they would have grabbed me and been long gone before you knew what had happened.”
My body shook. She had no idea how close I was to shifting. Nor how close I was to picking her up over my shoulder and dragging her back to my place to lock her in my spare bedroom. At least I’d be sure she wouldn’t be causing trouble.