Pack

Chapter Twenty

"No." The words fell from my lips in a hush. "You can't."

"Humans can't know about us," Liam said, pulling his shirt over his head.

"There must be another way."

"There isn't, Avery." Adrian moved in front of me, placing his hands on my cheeks and forcing me to look at him. "When there's an opening, I want you to get into the van with Scout. The keys are in it. Drive back to Logan's territory. Don't stop until you're there. Do you understand?"

"You're talking about mass murder, Adrian."

He shot a glance over my shoulder, before turning back to me. His eyes looked so lost. "Just this one time, Avery, do what you're told." He let me go and I slumped down, knocking into Jace.

Jace sprung to life beside me. A blood-curdling snarl ripped out of him before his body convulsed. I blinked and when my eyes reopened, he'd shifted into his wolf. I'd never seen any of them shift that fast. Even Adrian and Liam's eyes bugged at the sight. Jace shook out his fur before turning to his brothers. They all eyed each other for a moment, before Adrian and Liam nodded and started to shift.

Gunfire filled the air mingling with growling and snapping bones. I watched, frozen in fear? Confusion? Indecision? I didn't know, but I wasn't moving. Jace barked at me as if I spoke wolf. I stared at him unblinking. My pack was going to kill a bunch of humans to protect their secret. On some basic level, I understood the necessity and if the look of sickness on Adrian and Liam's faces when they shifted was any indication, they didn't want to do it. But it was happening and if I didn't move from my position on the ground soon, I'd end up watching.

Squealing tires drew my attention to the black van that now sat in front of me. Scout jumped out. "Avery." He shook me. "Get in the van."

"They're going to kill them. All of them."

He swallowed and nodded. "I know. They have to, it's . . ." He shook his head. "Nevermind. Just get in."

Jace continued to bark at me as Adrian and Liam nudged at my shoulders. "I can't move."

"Are you hurt?"

"No. I don't think so."

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly, his eyes shooting over my head. The triplets moved closer to me and growled, nostrils flaring.

"Get in," Scout ordered. "Now." He pulled me off the ground and managed to get me to my feet when an unfamiliar, and yet, extremely familiar scent hit my nose.

I spun around to find a pack of werewolves. They stood almost like a triangle. A large man, well over six feet, with wavy, dirty blond hair and narrowed blue eyes stood at point.

"Jonathan Grier." The man stepped forward.

"Stephen," Jonathan greeted and actually bowed his head, avoiding eye contact. The rest of my pack lowered their heads.

I stared at them in shock. I'd never seen them act so submissive. Not ever. I looked at Stephen, who turned to me and smiled. At first, the smile seemed friendly enough, but there was a glint in his eyes and he exposed his fangs as he grinned. Something about the way he looked at me, as if I was dessert, sent a chill down my spine.

"Hey, buddy," Grizzly interrupted. "These animals are ours."

Stephen turned to face him, his smile growing into a malevolent grin. "Human, you are already dead." With only a slight nod as a signal, his pack dropped to their knees and shifted.

The hunters started scrambling around. A few even tried to retreat into the trees. Some fired off their guns as if they were cowboys in the Wild West. Watching them run around, it was clear they had no idea what to do. They all held guns, but would fire randomly at anything that moved. I saw one hunter shoot another in the leg. Werewolves, hunters, more werewolves and the high possibility of stray gunfire had me dropping back to the ground.