Grayson (Completed)

Twenty-One

I started to run forward, but English clamped a hard hand on my shoulder, preventing me from moving.

"What?" I asked him, my tone full of anguish.

"You can't go near them," English said. "This is a matter of pride for Grayson. You're his, and so he needs to protect you – a right that was taken away from him when Kade Turned you. If you get in the middle of them, you will be hurt."

"You idiot," I said as I shoved his hand off my shoulder. "I'm not going to them – I'm going to Edgar. My kitty needs me."

He spluttered for a second, unsure what to say, and I took that time to run over to Edgar as fast I was able to. He was still sitting in a lump by the tree he had hit, and I fell to my knees beside him.

"Oh, my poor baby," I whimpered as I looked at him. He had dirt all over his fur, and one of his ears had a small cut on it, and blood was matting down the fur. When I looked in his creepy gold-green eyes, I think I understood him more than I ever did before. My kitty loved me, and he had instinctively known that Kade was a threat of some sort, so he had defended me in the only way he knew how.

I felt tears pushing at my eyes, and one fell down my cheek as I tried to find a way to carefully pick him up. I didn't want to jostle him too much, but he needed me. I finally picked him up as gently as I could, and he curled tighter into my body. The small movement made me smile in relief.

I had to walk back to English, too worried about hurting Edgar more to hurry by running. I stopped right next to him and trained my eyes on the fight just in time to see Kade get a vicious swipe of his claws against Grayson's right shoulder, and then part of his stomach.

If anything, that just enraged Grayson more. He lunged forward, getting the same swipe to the stomach that Kade had just a second earlier. Kade didn't take it as well, losing his footing and giving Grayson that single chance to take him down.

Grayson was in a frenzy. He tackled Kade to the ground, putting his paws on him and digging his claws in to keep him from moving too much.

"Jonah, look away," English told me, trying to turn me away from the scene.

"No."

"Jonah, you don't want to see this," he said, giving me an earnest look. "Look away."

"No."

With one final, lasting look at me, he shrugged a little bit as if saying Well, I tried. He turned back to the fight, watching with interest. Grayson was snarling in Kade's face, saliva dripping down out of his bared teeth as he snapped at him. There was blood dripping from his wounds, matting down his dark fur and making it even blacker than it was.

Grayson ducked his giant, black head down, and I realized what he did when he pulled his head away, blood staining the areas around his muzzle. He had just ripped Kade's throat out.

There was one final, tiny growl from Kade as his limbs relaxed. Grayson stumbled off of him and padded closer to me and English. I bent down and ran my hand over his large head as he nuzzled into my touch. He let out a rumbling growl – this one softer – as I stood back up to my regular height. In less than a second, Grayson the man was standing in front of me, naked at the day he was born.

He groaned and blinked at me before he suddenly lurched forward, falling into me. I had to move my body so that he fell into my side rather than my front, where I was still supporting Edgar. I looked to English in panic, hoping for some help.

He pulled Grayson off of me, supporting him. "Come on, Gray. Let's get you cleaned up."

"Need... Jessica," Grayson gasped out as his eyes fluttered closed.