Chapter 3: Wolves in Bikers' Clothing

Cyrus

"Get off of me!" Harlow's voice rang out from across the road. I'd just gotten her car into the garage and hooked up the OBD scanner. Peering out of the garage, I saw those two college-looking guys roughing her up and pulling at her clothes.

It was all happening on Blood Dogs territory. Our paper-thin truce dictated that no one from either pack cross over for any reason. But I knew that the bar was so loud inside that no one would hear her. I had to do something. They were hurting her, and they were gonna do a lot worse.

I didn't have time to weigh the pros and cons of breaking the truce. I saw red, and my body just took over. Before I knew it, I ran across the road and tore those motherf*ckers off of her.

I could have just kicked the sh*t out of them and let them run away like the cowards they were. But guys like that didn't deserve second chances. The wolf inside me was begging to be set free, so I tore off my cut and let the beast come forward. Bones and muscles snapped and contorted as dark hair covered my body. I don't think I'd ever shifted that fast in my life.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I went straight for one of the guy's throat, ripping it out with my powerful jaw. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

The guy's friend screamed, scrambling to get to his feet while his buddy bled out. I pounced on him with full force and felt his spine snap beneath me. He tried yelling for help, but in a second, my jaw was locked onto his throat just like his friend. The last thing to come out of his mouth was a gurgling sound as he choked on his own blood.

The sons of b*tches lay still in the parking lot, pools of blood spreading around their lifeless bodies.

"Oh, my God," I heard and looked over to see Harlow on the ground staring at my wolf form. I took a small step forward, but she whimpered and scurried back. She was scared of me.

"Dammit," I thought. "What have I just done?"

Harlow

I couldn't believe my eyes. This gigantic black wolf stood before me, his mouth dripping in my attackers' blood. He stepped toward me a second time, and I put my hand up as if that could defend me against this monster of an animal.

"Please," I begged. I was shaking despite myself. Shock maybe. Or utter terror. I couldn't tell which. The wolf stopped in its tracks as if it understood me. Like it knew me. But I couldn't have seen what I thought I saw. Right? I'd hit my head really hard on the pavement. That was the only explanation. There was no way that the wolf was actually… "Cyrus?"

Then, the wolf closed its eyes, and I heard a crunching sound as its body contorted. Its fur seemed to retreat into its skin, and soon the form kneeling in front of me was no longer an animal. Tattooed and muscular with bronze skin, Cyrus opened his dark eyes and looked at me. He was naked, the remains of his clothes in tatters on the ground.

"What the f—" I started.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he interrupted. "I'm sorry if I scared you. All I wanted to do was help."

My eyes darted to the two dead men, who moments before had attacked me. Shaking, I pulled my tank top down to cover as much of my midriff as I could. I could barely re-buckle my belt; my hands were trembling so much.

Cyrus picked up his only in-tact piece of clothing, his Bone Hills Howlers cut. Keeping a respectful distance, he extended his arm to hand it to me. "You might be in shock," he said. "You need to stay warm."

Speechless, I pulled the cut over my shoulders like a blanket. It engulfed me. I looked away from his naked figure, unsure of where to direct my eyes. Just then, the bar door swung open.

"What the hell is going on out—Cyrus, you know you can't be h—what the hell did you do?!" It was Red, the bartender. He was taking in the scene.

"I'm getting back on my side," Cyrus raised his hands in the air and began to back up. "Those guys were attacking her."

"So you killed them on Blood Dogs property?!" a female voice scolded. Bonnie had come out. She was pissed. Then she saw me, and her expression softened. She walked over to me. "You're bleeding," she said. I realized she was referring to the blood on my face. I'd almost forgotten I'd given one of the guys a bloody nose, and it had gotten all over me.

"It's not mine," I replied. But then, I felt the back of my head where it had slammed into the concrete. There was a sharp pain at the touch of my fingers and something wet. I brought my hand around to see blood on my fingertips. "Or, not all of it."

"Bonnie—" Cyrus began.

She put up a hand to silence him. "Just shut the hell up and clean your mess. Then get off my property."

"YOU clean it," another voice retorted. It was Blayze standing in the doorway of the garage office. "Your territory. Your mess." He walked across the road toward us but stopped short of the bar driveway. "Maybe if you and your mutts knew how to protect your borders, my Beta wouldn't have had to save the dumb broad in your parking lot."

I didn't understand what was being said. Aside from being called a "dumb broad." Beta? Territory? What the actual hell?

"Don't call her a dumb br—" Cyrus began, but Blayze grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back onto the road separating the two businesses.

"And what the hell were YOU thinking!?" Blaze's eyes bored into Cyrus's. "Crossing into enemy territory? Shifting in front of a nonaffiliated HUMAN?!"

"They were hurting her," Cyrus said sternly.

"Oh Jesus' tits," Blayze said, throwing his arms up. "Some girl shakes her a** at you, and you're smitten."

"Enough!" Bonnie yelled. "Your boy here killed two humans on Blood Dogs land. He did the right thing, but it's his mess to clean up."

Suddenly, Blayze pulled off his cut. Bonnie and Red both quickly responded by removing theirs as well. Without further warning, all three of their bodies twisted and contorted until they took the form of massive wolves.

"No. Freaking. Way," was all I could muster as a black wolf and red wolf lurched forward at a sandy-colored wolf. They gnashed their teeth but didn't attack yet.

Then several men and women from inside the bar ran out, and they too removed their cuts and transformed into wolves, all moving in on Blayze.

"Alright, alright!" Cyrus screamed over the growls. "It's on me. I'll take care of it. Blayze, the other Howlers are all gone for the night. We're outnumbered here."

Blayze looked from wolf to wolf surrounding him and seemed to slowly compose himself. In a few more seconds, his body contorted back into its human self. The other wolves followed suit, and soon I was surrounded by a bunch of naked men and women, picking their precious cuts up off the ground.

Bonnie walked up to me. "Here, let me see," she said as she started inspecting the source of blood on the back of my head.

I was stunned but managed to get out, "You're— You're all—"

"Werewolves," Bonnie confirmed.