Chapter 271
Athena
But I couldn’t shift. Not with these men here. They didn’t know about the baby, and if I shifted, they’d see how protective my wolf was of
my stomach.
They’d figure it out.
And what if I lose control again, I can’t. I’ll have to hold on till help comes.
I pushed my wolf down, fighting the urge to let her free.
Not yet. Not unless there was no other choice.
The men attacked again, all at once this time.
Sarah took on two, her movements still fluid despite her injuries. She was amazing to watch, even now. Every strike had purpose, every
block was precise.
I faced the other two, trying to keep them both in my line of sight while protecting my stomach.
One of them swung at me and I ducked, but the other caught me from the side. His fist connected with my ribs and pain exploded
through my torso.
I gasped and stumbled, and he pressed his advantage. Another hit to my side, careful to keep me turned so he could strike at my ribs and
back.
I managed to slash at him with my knife, catching his arm, but he barely seemed to notice.
My wolf was howling inside me now, desperate to come out. The urge to shift was almost overwhelming.
Just shift. I heard Claire say.
Let me out. Let me protect us. Protect our pup.
No, I told her firmly. Not yet.
But it was getting harder to resist. The adrenaline, the fear, the need to protect the baby, it was all combining to make my control slip.
I could feel the shift starting, feel my bones beginning to change.
No, I thought desperately. Not now. Not like this.
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Chapter 271
Across the room, Sarah cried out. One of the men had gotten past her defenses and grabbed her hair, yanking her head back.
“Sarah!” I screamed.
I tried to go to her but the two men I was fighting blocked my path.
The shift was coming whether I wanted it or not. My body was responding to the threat, to the desperate need to protect.
My vision started to change, sharpening. My hearing became more acute. My fingers began to lengthen into claws.
This was it. I couldn’t hold it back anymore.
I was about to shift fully when suddenly the front door burst open with a crash that made everyone freeze.
“Get away from them!”
I turned, my partially shifted body shaking with the effort of controlling the transformation.
Kiara stood in the doorway, her eyes blazing with fury. Behind her were Leah and three other women I recognized from the training
center.
How did they know to get here? Tristan.
Even though he wasn’t around, he still found a way to help out.
God, I love him.
“Who the hell are you?” the first man demanded, releasing Sarah’s hair.
“Someone who’s about to ruin your whole night,” Kiara said, and then she and the others rushed into the room.
The relief that flooded through me was so intense that I lost my grip on the shift completely. I felt my body starting to change fully.
No, I thought desperately, using every ounce of willpower I had left to pull the wolf back.
Slowly, painfully, I forced the shift to reverse. My claws retracted, my vision returned to normal, my bones settled back into their human
form.
I was shaking and sweating from the effort, but I’d done it. I hadn’t fully shifted.
The baby was still secret.
What happened next was chaos.
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Chapter 271
Kiara moved like a force of nature, taking on the first man with a ferocity that was terrifying the kat
them. Her fists and feet were weapons enough.
She landed a kick to his chest that sent him flying backward into the wall. Before he could see, the was on the salting ses proces
with brutal efficiency.
Leah went for the man I’d shot in the leg, and despite his injury, he was fighting back hard. But last wos dents, duckag muter be swings and landing her own strikes to his injured leg, making him howl with país.
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