Page 99 of Defiance
As everyone’s attention snapped to the two wolves barrelling towards them, Cole spun round, syringe in hand, and plunged it deep into Simon’s neck.
“What the—” Simon tore it from his skin but the serum was already working its way into his system. He fell to his knees, head falling back as an agonised cry tore from his mouth. His gums split open, huge fangs erupting where they had no right to be. Blood ran from his mouth, but Cole had no time to dwell on how fucking satisfying that had been, because all hell was breaking loose around him.
Paul had shifted, his black wolf rolling on the floor with Logan as they clawed and bit at each other. Aaron growled as Logan was thrown clear across the floor into the far wall, and leapt in to take over, teeth sinking into Paul’s shoulder.
Cole caught movement out the corner of his eye and turned to see Rich heading straight for him, still in human form, but that could change any second.
“Get Nick out of here!” Smith yelled at Cole.
Rich stopped in his tracks and he turned to stare at Smith open-mouthed. “What the fuck, man?”
“Do it!” Smith shifted mid-air as he launched himself at Rich, tackling him to the floor.
“Motherfu—” Rich shifted, still caught underneath Smith’s body, but now they were evenly matched and Cole watched them fight for a moment before remembering what he was supposed to be doing.
He ran to the table, searching for the key to unlock those fucking handcuffs, but it was nowhere. “Shit!”
“Never mind the fucking key,” Nick shouted to him, “We can deal with that later, just untie me.”
Cole pulled at the ropes securing him to the chair, but they wouldn’t budge.
“You have a knife strapped to your thigh.”
Oh.
He snatched the smaller knife from its sheath and started on the rope. “It’s my first day wearing this bloody uniform,” he hissed. “Cut me some slack.”
Nick snorted, pulling himself free and standing. “I think it’s likely to be your last too.”
“I think you might be right.” Grabbing Nick’s upper arm, Cole ran towards the open doorway. “Let’s go!” he shouted back over his shoulder. They all needed to get out of there.
Another roar sounded behind him as something flew past them and crashed into the wall. The wolf slumped to the ground unconscious. Cole’s heart stopped until he realised it was Paul and not anyone he cared about.
Logan and Aaron bounded towards him, closely followed by Smith now in human form.
And very naked.
“Hurry,” he urged, running up to them. “Rich is out cold, but the other two won’t be out of action for long.”
They ran out into the corridor, all ideas of stealth forgotten. Cole helped Nick keep his balance with Smith alongside him and the wolves up ahead. Logan whined, he and Aaron way up in front, but Nick couldn’t run that fast with his hands cuffed behind his back, and he couldn’t shift with them on either.
“We’re going as fast as we can.” Cole half-dragged Nick along, catching him every time he stumbled.
A roar sounded behind them, echoing along the walls and filled with such rage it raised the hairs on the back of Cole’s neck.
They were close, way closer than Cole expected, and gaining ground fast.
“Comeon.” He and Smith grabbed an arm each, virtually carrying Nick down the corridor as they headed for the double doors at the end.
And freedom.
Aaron reached them first, shifting back on the fly and grabbing for the handle as the scrape of claws caught Cole’s attention because that was right fucking behind them.
Aaron yanked open the doors, flailing wildly when he saw who was waiting on the other side.
Michael and Baker filled the doorway, their escape route cut off so suddenly Cole couldn’t quite believe it. He turned to run back the other way, but Simon and Paul now stood behind them, no longer in wolf form.
“Shift back,” Michael snarled, glaring at Logan. When Logan remained as his wolf, Michael roared.
