"Dad's gone," my cousin's voice was barely above a whisper. "You must come home for the Evaluations," she uttered and the phone line went dead.
*****
After Keri's Uncle - the Alpha of the Silver Bullets pack - loses his battle with cancer, the young...
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I mentally prepared myself to shift, clothes be damned. Obviously, I didn't have time to strip. My jeans and top and favorite leather jacket would rip, but the clock was on now and the first to turn wolf had an advantage in an animal form fight.
Except that Anne had a different idea.
As my vision began to change from human to that of a wolf, the other woman reached behind her and under her long-sleeved t-shirt, pulled out a large kitchen knife and lunged at me.
I barely had time to bend backwards - the blade slicing the air where my throat had been only seconds ago - when she raised the knife again, this time to plunge it into my chest. I blocked her weapon-wielding arm with mine, pushing it away and landed two consecutive punches to her face. She staggered back, momentarily dazed, and I focused on her right hand, which was still gripping the knife.
Slamming my body to hers and tucking my head in the crook of her neck so she couldn't headbutt me, I thrust forward until her back hit the wall next to the window, grabbed her by the right wrist and bashed it over and over again against the wall until Anne finally dropped the knife and it slid under what was left of a wooden corner table.
I did not have time to rejoice in my small victory.
She pushed at me, the back of my knees hitting the corner of the bed and bending. I landed on all fours on the floor and lifted my head in time to see her darting towards her weapon.
Hell no!
Heart thumping in my head, I jumped up, stumbling, but the loss of balance worked to my advantage: I found myself on the floor again, but I had taken Anne down with me. We struggled for dominance, clinging to each other and rolling on the floor among pieces of broken furniture, kicking and punching. My knuckles stung from hitting her and my ribs throbbed where she'd landed a blow to them. The iron taste of blood was invading my mouth because of my split lip and warm drops of the same liquid - this time coming from a gash on Anne's left cheekbone and nose - fell over my forehead when she managed to get me on my back and loom over me, one arm trying to restrain me while the other lifted for a punch.
I was quicker.
I shot forward and headbutted her, pain exploding in my forehead just as she howled in pain. Pushing up and to the side, I managed to reverse our positions. Anne had landed on her left arm, trapping it with her own body, but her right one was free and she thrust it towards my throat. Just like when she'd been holding the knife, I pushed the arm away and grabbed the wrist, slamming it against the floor. She cried out again, a glass shard of something she'd destroyed before piercing her palm in the middle, the piece sticking from both ends of her hand.
"You bitch!" She shouted, glaring up at me, hatred filling her dark eyes, both of us struggling to let the air we needed into our lungs. She trashed underneath me and I felt as if I'd suddenly found myself on top of a wild horse, bucking to throw me off itself.
