The Breed: Nora's Choice (31 page)

            Charging
full force, he and Cass hit the fray fists flying. He was immediately over run
by three Hunters. Their blows to his back and kidney enraged him. At this rate
it wouldn’t be long before he went full wolf and tore this roof apart.

            They were
like a swarm of angry red ants. For each one of them he tossed off, another was
right behind him to take his place.

            “Fuck
this!” he snarled and pulled out the jagged edged hunting knife from his boot.

            Wildly he
began to stab and thrash, hitting anything that he could. Normally he would
attempt to go for precise and calculated shots, but not now. Now he hoped he
missed precious arteries and they were left to bleed to death instead.

            Next to him
he heard Casstiel bellow out in an equal rage.

            Hot, wet
blood spurted on him, covering his neck and chest, soaking through his shirt.
He slid on the pools of it gathering at his feet.

            Someone bit
him on the side of the neck and he lost it. Reaching up he snapped the mans
neck clean in half.

            It felt
good.

            It felt
raw, and visceral, and real. It was everything that he needed.

            He battled
hard, on and on until he could finally see Cass, who was every bit as bloody
and exhausted as he was. He had to make it to him.

            His fist
connected solidly to one of the last Hunters standing in his way, and he felt
the man’s jaw break apart against his fingers.

            He didn’t
want to be an animal, but he couldn’t help loving the feeling of it.

            Finally it
was only him, one Hunter, and the group trying to take Cass down.

            Taking in a
ragged breath he waved the man on. Time to end this thing.

            The man
charged forward at full speed, pushing every muscle in his human body.

            Ducking
down Quinn flipped him over himself and straight over the edge of the roof.

            The sound
of screams died out as he reached Cass. Grabbing two men by the backs of their
necks he gave Cass some breathing room.

            He was
pissed off, his mind raging with thoughts of nothing but inflicting pain on
those who had dared to attack his home.

            God have
mercy on their souls if he found that they had harmed one hair on his precious
mates head. He would come for them with a fury so intense it would make the
last time look like a warm up.

            With a
tight grip on both of their throats he proceeded to march them to the edge of
the roof and throw them over as well. He was tired of playing games with these
fools. They didn’t deserve a civilized death. Being tossed over the side of a
building seemed like a good enough ending for them to him.

            Looking
over he found that Cass was in bad shape.

            Quinn
barreled to his rescue making quick work of the last three Hunters that were on
him.

            Cass
collapsed to one knee, his breath heaving from his chest. Blood gushed like a
sieve from a gash that split his forehead nearly in half.

            His arm
dangled limply from the shoulder and had been clearly dislocated.

            “Fuck!” he
screamed, pounding his fist into the chest of the nearest dead Hunter.

            Quinn felt
a surge of sympathy for him, but knew better than to show it.

            “Reset my
arm,” Cass barked.

            Moving
immediately Quinn placed one hand on his back and one hand on his shoulder,
then with a sickening pop, snapped it back together.

            “You’ll
have to leave me up here,” he wheezed and it was clear that his lungs had some
sort of damage done to them, “set me up with my rifle, I’ll do the best I can
from here until I heal enough to jump back in the fight. I’ll only slow you all
down in this condition.”

            He spoke
the truth and Quinn didn’t have time to argue with him just for the sake of
pride.

            Ripping off
the bottom of his shirt he wound it around the gaping wound on Casstiel’s head.
It would be healed in a matter of minutes, but he didn’t want blood running
into his eyes and ruining his shot.

            A massive
eruption knocked him off balance and he rushed to figure out what was
happening.

            Jax and
Kain were being overrun at the medical wing. One of the helicopters had blasted
a hole through the grates that were covering the windows. Teams of Hunters were
descending from ropes into the exposed hallways inside.

            “Go!” Cass
shouted and adjusted his snipers position to put the copters in his scopes.

            Quinn took
off like a shot, adrenaline spiking through him to propel him forward.

            He took the
sky walk between buildings that had now been covered in the same bullet proof
metal grating.

            Shots
ricocheted off of the shield making a grotesque symphony as he ran.

           
Faster….
Faster…
he breathed.

            If those
bastards got into their laboratories and medical supply rooms they could
permanently cripple this Embassy.

            The door
didn’t stand a chance as he bolted through it, crumpling the hinges like
fragile china.

            He barely
made it up three floors before he ran into a cluster of them.

            Reaching
for his side arm he began squeezing off rounds as he charged them. They
attempted to flee but the only effect it had was to piss him off more.

            The ones
who fell from gun shots were the lucky ones. Anyone he caught with his bare hands
were going to wish he had simply thrown them off the building.

            Once he had
cleared out the first small infestation of them he decided to change to his
wolf form. Those he met after that fell easily as his claws tore through their
soft bodies like butter.

            He slashed
and clawed and bit and ripped and tore at anything that he could get his hands
on.

            The last
small cluster of Hunters he found surrounding the double doors to one of the
medical supply room. They were fixing the outside of it with charges and
preparing to blow the door open and slither inside.

            He didn’t
fucking think so.

            With a roar
that would have had weaker men collapsing he informed them of his presence and
prepared for the fight.

            Fear filled
their eyes and clogged his nostrils. He hated their stink.

            They tried
to pull their guns out and shoot him from afar, but he was too quick for that.
He exploded into them like a supernova, not hesitating to take them all on at
once.

            He wanted
their blood, and he was going to get it.

            They hit
him, cut him, shed his blood as well, but it didn’t matter. What he could feel
was microscopic in comparison to what he was inflicting on them.

            Bones
snapped between his thick claws with addictive little pops, just like bubble
wrap. They had invaded his home…
pop
… they had put his woman in danger…
pop
…
they had hurt those that he loved …
pop..pop
… and now they were going to
pay for it.

            The next
minute flowed through time in slow motion.

The
sound of a gun being cocked behind his right ear… Turning his head to find the
hollow barrel of a gun inches from his face…. The crooked smile of a Hunter
with bulbous eyes… Taking in a deep breath and accepting his fate…. Nora’s face
swimming past his mind one last time… The crack of a bullet leaving a guns barrel.

He
looked up and past the Hunters falling body. Jax was out of breath but smiling
at the end of the hallway.

~

Things
had quickly gone from bad to worse as the firefight at the front of the Embassy
morphed into a fist fight.

Ghost
and Nora held their ground well, but the Hunters swarmed Tessa constantly,
instinctually knowing she was the weak link of the group.

She
fought bravely and more fiercely than any of them would ever have given her
credit for, but at the end of the day she was still a human. All the training
in the world couldn’t change that about her. She tired out quicker, lost her
balance easier, and went down harder when their muscled fists cracked her in
the face.

Her
lips were bleeding profusely from all the punches, and with the way she was
favoring her left side she had to have broken ribs, but like a champion she
kept going. When they knocked her down, she somehow found the strength to get
right back up.

Nora
couldn’t have been prouder of her, but knew that if she didn’t find a way to
give her friend a break, a serious injury was inevitable.

Looking
at Ghost she could see he was having the same thoughts.

Back
to back the two of them fought hard, not letting themselves become surrounded,
and doing their best to stop the Hunters before they reached Tessa.

Like
one fluid cohesive unit they moved in a series of elbows, fists, knees and
kicks. Her knuckles were swollen from the blows, her breath coming out in
shallow gasps from the exertion she wasn’t used to, but her mind was in love.

It
was hungry and focused on taking down every man that passed her way. She had
defeated so many of her own personal demons lately, that it felt almost poetic
in a way that she now got to take on living, breathing nightmares.

A
surprise solid arm to the chest had her falling and struggling for breath, but
she latched on and took her attacker down with her. With the speed only someone
in the Breed could have she tucked his arm between her legs and pulled creating
tension until finally it snapped like a chicken bone and his screams filled the
night.

She
needed a moment to breathe. Kicking her attacker away she looked up to the sky
and focused on the oxygen traveling into her lungs.

Smoke
covered the night sky and she was forced to accept that her home was burning to
the ground around her. The sound of gunfire had somehow numbed in her mind to
the point that she was barely able to hear it. All around her the world seemed
to be on mute.

Time
to get up Nora
… she lectured herself…
it doesn’t
matter if you’re tired you have to keep going.

            Behind her
Tessa let out a scream of pain and it had her bolting upright like a shot of
electricity.

            A large
brute of a Hunter had her arm twisted painfully behind her back and was ripping
the bulletproof vest off of her body. Even in the middle of a battle pigs would
find the time to rape a woman.

            With every
ounce of energy in her body she kicked him in the kidney’s taking him down. If
he lived through this battle he would be pissing blood for a week. Before they moved
on to their next victims Nora booted him angrily on the side of the face and
watched his jaw crumble.

            Aside from
the obvious pain she was in, Tessa seemed unphased. She joined Ghost in the
fight as if she were just another warrior, and Nora ran to take down the last
of the stragglers at the SUV.

            Dodging
bullets as she ran she made a beeline for them. Once this was cleared they
could get to the underground bunker just as Cass had ordered them to and make
sure everyone was alright.

            A bullet
whizzed past her bicep, piercing the flesh, but not slowing her down in the
slightest.

            The men
swarmed her assuming she would be an easy target. Big mistake.

            Blow after
blow landed heavily on them. She went for all their weak spots, not trying to
prove a point, just trying to finish the fight.

            Blood
spurted across her cheek from a Hunters busted lip and it tasted like victory.
She was running off of every animal instinct that she possessed and it felt so
damn right.

            Finally she
stood on victorious ground after she had smote her enemies.
This
is what
it felt like to be a warrior.

            From out of
the sun roof came one last Hunter that she hadn’t seen. He pointed his semi
automatic rifle right at Tessa and Ghost who were giving each other a victory
high five after they had defeated their own throng of enemies.

            She
screamed a millisecond before the gunshots went off, but it was enough to warn
Ghost.

            Without a
moment’s hesitation he hugged his body around Tessa’s and threw them both to
the ground.