Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Trey whoops. “Let’s get this party started!”
Caleb and Grizz are silent, focused. I take my place beside them. Normally I’d be yodeling a war cry with Trey, but tonight the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.
A cheetah comes hurtling from the road, on his bike, chased by three Harleys. He leads them on a winding route around the fires, but they’re coming straight for us. The welcoming committee.
The Harleys are almost on us.
“Left,” Caleb calls.
“I’ll take right,” Trey offers. He and Jared step to the side.
“I got center.” Grizz cracks his knuckles, and it sounds like gunshots.
The werecheetah zips past us. The Harleys are so close, we can see the whites of the rider’s eyes. Their eyes are glowing–they’re shifters, every last one of them.
At the last second, Trey and Jared dart forward. Trey leaps and kicks the rider off the bike to Jared, who finishes him off.
Caleb lunges to the side and grabs his opponent, plucking him off the Harley and tossing him to the ground. There’s a crunch, and I turn away before I watch the enemy rider’s fate.
Grizz doesn’t move. He waits until the Harley’s on top of him, then grabs the handlebars and lets out a roar. In an unbelievable show of strength, he lifts the entire heavy motorcycle over his head and smashes the entire hog to the ground.
The rider goes bouncing over the pavement and comes to rest close to me. I skip a foot and kick the downed rider in the head, hard enough to snap his neck.
Three seconds, and it’s over. We took the first line out without bothering to shift. The ultimate insult.
Trey rises from the body he’s searching, holding a weapon–a big bore revolver. “They have silver bullets.” His eyes glow the color of liquid mercury.
“They’re shifters.” Jared sniffs, gets a nose full of clove cologne and coughs. “I don’t know what type.”
“They’re here to kill someone.” Caleb examines the gun he took off his downed opponent. “The only reason to carry a silver bullet is to shoot a shifter dead.”
Everyone looks at me.
“Sorry, guys. Don't know what I did to piss them off.”
“Doesn’t matter how it started,” Grizz’s normal growly voice is swallowed up by the rumble of his bear. “We’re going to end it. Tonight.”
I make a mental note to never get on Grizz’s bad side. Just the sound of his bear’s roar is enough to stop a lesser man’s heart.
An explosion booms. The source is out of sight, but it was big enough to shake the ground. Eerie laughter echoes all around.
“Did the hyenas bring big guns?” I ask Trey.
“No,” he says, as serious as I’ve ever seen him. “I think that was your friends.”
“They’re not my friends,” I say. “After tonight, they’re off my Christmas card list.”
That gets a snicker.
An SUV barrels from the road, chased by cheetah bikes. One of the cheetahs zips in front of it and wrecks, sacrificing his bike to stop the SUV. The cheetah rolls to safety but the armored vehicle rolls over the bike and keeps coming.
A familiar whistle of a launched rocket makes the hair on the back of my neck rise.
“Incoming,” Caleb shouts, and we scatter. The rocket whines as it shoots past us and hits the warehouse. Boom!
“Get clear,” I shout as debris rains down. The front of the warehouse collapses, its steel frame creaking.
Geo’s startled cry reaches my ears. “Stay back,” I shout, waving an arm. He’s at the forest line, standing frozen. “Get him out of here.” I point to the bookies, who are trying to drag Geo back.
“Airlift,” the Irishman shouts.
The grey headed shifter puts his fingers to his lips and lets out a piercing whistle.
A giant owl swoops down from the trees and grasps Geo’s arms, lifting him into the air. Its huge wings flap as he carries Geo off. He’ll be safe, deep in the woods.
Metal crunches. A huge bear has attacked the armed SUV, scoring the sides with its giant claws.
Trey and Jared rip off the doors and drag out the driver and passengers. Bullets crack and bodies slump to the ground. Since the enemy brought the silver bullets, it’d be a shame to waste them.
More dark shapes pour out of the road on foot. No sign of Hannibal in the smoky air.
Grizz is still in human form, marching into the fray. I catch up with him, and we both start to run.
There’s a drum beat in my head, a soundtrack for war. Cheetahs zoom in and out, their bikes buzzing like angry hornets. Two more SUVs cut through the smoke, ramming through the line of cheetah bikes.
Grizz and I separate. I get a running start and leap on top of one SUV, scoring the roof with my claws. The metal squeals, opening the top like a tin can to pluck out the enemy within.