Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 103(@300wpm)
“Yeeehaw!” the bare-chested one whoops, hanging from the skids. “Thunderbears are go!”
And he lets go of the skid, plummeting to the road, right in front of a pair of the oncoming SUVs.
Chapter Four
Fiona
I pull the collar of my t-shirt up over my nose to protect it from the flying grit. We’re in a temporary sandstorm caused by the helicopter overhead. My eyes water in the wind.
But I still watch Thunderbear One drop to the ground. For a moment his kilt flies up, answering the age-old question of what werebears wear under a kilt.
And if I was that well-endowed, I’d throw out the boxers and briefs too.
Another battle cry, and the second Thunderbear leaps out of the helicopter. Both of them land on the road, one a few yards in front of us, the other behind us. The helicopter pilot gives us a thumbs up as he passes, steering the helicopter away and out of sight.
With their backs to us, they start walking towards the respective oncoming SUVs.
As one, they rip off their kilts, giving us a view of a pair of very fine full moons before exploding into giant bears. Their paws thud onto the pavement, shaking the road as they charge the SUVs, roaring.
The black SUVs keep coming. The windows roll down and black gun muzzles appear.
“Take cover!” Declan cries.
Laurie pulls Allison behind my boulder and covers her with his tall, gangly body.
I squint through my shotgun sight then yelp as someone grabs my ankle and pulls me down.
“Look out, lass!” Declan tries to cover me.
“Fuck off!” We both wrestle until I can get free and peek over a rock to watch the battle.
Thunderbear One is up on its back paws. He’s hooked his front paws around the SUV grill, and as I watch, he wrenches the entire vehicle sideways with enough force, the SUV flips and tumbles off the road and down the incline. Gunshots ring out and Thunderbear One roars. He charges again, leaping onto the second SUV and ripping into the roof with scythe-like claws. He gouges the metal open like the car’s made of tinfoil. A gun pokes up to fire at him, and he grabs it, snaps it in half and whips the pieces down to brain the enemy in the car underneath him.
Thunderbear 2 sets his shoulder against one of his SUVs and pushes it backwards. The tires whir, smoking, and men shout, firing their guns at the giant brown bear. Bullets bite at its fur, and he bellows.
“Feck,” Declan mutters. I’m on my feet before I know it, sighting through my shotgun. Nights when the nightmares take over and I can’t sleep, I go out to my makeshift shooting range and shoot holes into as many empty tin cans I can find. All that practice has to be good for something.
The forerunner SUV has turned now. I squint and aim for the driver. My first bullet hits the door. The second makes the guy's head explode.
“They’re not vampires,” I shout. “They’re human.”
Why they're driving vampire vehicles with tinted windows and a mystery sewer scent we’ll have to solve after we’ve won the fight.
I fire again and again but can’t get a good shot in before a hail of bullets comes my way, and I have to take cover.
“Get ‘em!” Declan runs to the bus and slides the door open. He pulls up a floor panel and reveals bottle after bottle. Brown and unlabeled.
“What’s that?” I shout.
“Rotgut.” He pops the cork, and the scent singes my nose hairs. He winks at me, and the corners of my lips turn up despite my best intentions. “Extra flammable.”
Parker rushes up, stuffs a rag in to the top and lights it.
Declan slinks down the road, ducking behind boulders for cover until he can pitch the flaming Molotov cocktail into the open window of one of the SUVs.
I rush to set down my empty shotgun and help Parker open a second bottle. By the time we make our own cocktails, the battle is almost over.
Thunderbear Two pushes the forerunner SUV backwards into the second one, plowing both cars back step by step towards a cliff. Thunderbear One peels back the roof of his SUV like a can of sardines and pulls shooters out and tosses them off the mountain.
I dash up and toss my bottle into one of the SUVs. Thunderbear Two uses the cover to rip open the front hood of the other SUV, tear out the engine, and toss it at the second.
“Lass! Run!” Declan comes flying up to me, his face a mask of fear. He hits me, and we dive off the road, behind a boulder, as the two SUVs explode.
The werebears push the flaming wreckage off the cliff. They stand shoulder to shoulder to watch it bounce down the rocks, then turn to each other and smack their huge paws together in a high five.