Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Dozens of dead cougars littered the field. Many of his pack mates and allies were working in teams to bring the live cougars down, and they were taking their time about it, since there weren’t many foes left standing. The rest of his pack mates and allies stood aside, watching while Taryn healed their wounds.
But what grabbed Eli’s attention was that some of the live cougars were covered from almost head to toe in a mass of writhing, clawing minks. More of the little critters surrounded them, hissing in tune as their pack mates savaged the felines.
“That beat sounds oddly familiar,” Eli said to his mate, who didn’t look whatsoever surprised by the sight in front of them.
Clearing her throat, Casey shrugged. “It’s Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust.”
Eli stared at her. He’d have said she couldn’t possibly be serious that the damn minks were, essentially, singing while slaughtering fellow shifters. But, yeah, he recognized the song now. “They do this a lot when they’re in battle?”
“I want to say ‘no, of course not,’ but you’d know I was lying. Look, they don’t get to battle like this often—they’re just making the most of it.”
“Making the most of it,” he echoed.
Just then, a cougar staggered past them with a pallas cat wrapped around its face and a second pallas cat curled around its hindleg. Of course, the sight wouldn’t have been so weird if there wasn’t a long line of minks following, each clinging to the tail of the mink in front of them while the leader clung to the cougar’s tail with its teeth. It was like they were doing the fucking Conga dance or something.
“I see you judging them,” said Casey.
“How can I not judge that?”
A yelp made Eli’s head snap to the right. Zander’s wolf jerk away from a cougar who’d torn a strip out of his flank.
A loud curse burst out of Gwen, who was stood amongst the spectators. “For God’s sake, Zander, stop playing with the fucker!” She aimed her gun and fired. Instantly, the cat slumped to the ground. “There,” she said to her mate. “See how easy that was?”
Shaya snorted a laugh and turned to speak to Taryn, but then she noticed Eli and Casey. Shaya beamed at them. “Hey, you’re here.”
Eli crossed to her. “Doesn’t look like our help is needed.”
“Oh, it’s not.” Shaya smiled at Casey. “Glad to see you’re okay after the Sherryl-thing. Your mink friends made all the difference here.”
Gwen nodded. “Don’t know how they got on our territory without setting off any motion sensors, but they came out of nowhere. And then they were just everywhere.”
“Some were scrambling up trees and then dropping onto the backs of cougars, puncturing spinal cords with their teeth,” said Taryn. “Some just jumped onto the cougars and scalped the fuckers. Other minks were latching onto cat-jugulars while their furry little friends swarmed the body of their prey until you couldn’t even see the cougar anymore. In fact, some are still doing that.”
“Ooh, and a bunch of them circled a cougar and did that weird war dance,” Gwen added. “But it was more like they were just playing with it for messed-up fun … and then they all just lunged at once—it was amazing.”
“I wish we could have recorded it all with our phones,” said Shaya. “I’ve heard it said that minks go into killing frenzies, but … yeah, I guess I just didn’t expect them to decimate the cougars’ numbers so fast.”
Eli glanced at the cats. “Which one of them is Ignacio? I’m hoping you’re going to tell me he’s among the dead bodies.”
“I spoke to Jesse a minute ago when Taryn healed his wounds before he threw himself back into the battle,” said Shaya. “He said he hadn’t scented Ignacio out there, but that doesn’t mean the asshole isn’t among them.”
Brow furrowing, Eli gave the area another once-over. “Where’s Cain?”
“According to Ally, who calls me every five minutes to check that Derren’s okay, Cain insisted on guarding the basement,” said Shaya.
Eli exchanged a look with Casey, and then he took her hand. “Let’s go have a chat with Cain.” He kept his body slightly in front of hers as he led her into the main lodge. They’d only made it a few steps inside when a familiar scent reached his nostrils, making his wolf bristle. Eli bared his teeth. “Ignacio’s here.”
“Bastard,” she hissed.
Adrenaline pumping through him, Eli followed the scent trail, which took them to the hallway near the basement. It was empty. No Ignacio. No Cain.
“Look,” said Casey, pointing at the floor.
His jaw hardened as he noticed a few specks of blood there. Eli’s nostrils flared as he drew in the scents around them. “That’s Ignacio’s blood. And he went that way,” Eli added, gesturing toward the back door. “Cain’s scent is tangled with his, so it looks like they went outside together.”