My Girlfriend Bites (Young Adult Paranormal Werewolf Romance)

Chapter 18

Bree

A silver pike strikes Chevalier's chest and pierces his heart. His eyes feel the silver as it poisons his tissues. The attack is so quick and blatant that our Alpha has no time to react. Our mighty Chevalier drops to his knees and shakes as the silver attacks his bloodstream, eating him up from the inside and laying waste to his body. He rolls to the ground and dies right in front of the entire pack.

"Bree! Run!" Mom yells.

I can't move. The sight of his death shocks me, and I can't rip my eyes from the scene. The murderer stands over the body of Chevalier. The thing came out of nowhere. I never got a whiff of it, and judging by the reaction of the twenty werewolves standing around me, neither did they. Fear chills the air inside our little community building.

The murderer is a...human? Really? Is it human? The intruder's face is stitched together with pieces of human skin. Like some gruesome jigsaw puzzle. Its eyes black. Its stare cold and lacking any hint of emotion. This creature wears a layer of chain mail composed of pure silver. I can tell by the way the tiny, interlocking rings glisten under the lights. A huge belt of weapons bristle across its hips: knives, throwing stars, and a pistol.

I force my terrified legs to move away as the werewolves around me shift. My own skin burns, fear pushing my natural instincts to kick in and shift so I can fight like a wolf.

Windows shatter all around us, tossing glass everywhere as more of the creatures swarm into the building.

Again, no scent. No sound. No warning. How can they not have a scent?

Mom shoves me at the door. "Get out."

Dad's back legs and torso have shifted. His gorgeous black fur is unmistakable. Mom's snout forms, her teeth growing over her bottom lip. Her yellow eyes glare at me to leave.

No! I want to stay and fight.

Mom barrels into me at full speed and knocks me clear through the wooden front door. I hit the ground outside and roll about twenty-five feet along the dirt before stopping. Only my pride hurts. I should be fighting along with my pack because Chevalier was my Alpha too. I scramble to my feet and think about disobeying Mom. The burning feels intense, and I want to release it and shift.

But then I hear all those painful yelps coming from inside. I've never heard werewolves cry out like that. There's also a strong scent of blood in the air. Those sounds and smells make my stomach sick. I sense that my pack is dying inside that building. I still want to race inside and help, but I'm not as big as the adults. And judging by the sounds I'm picking up, the adults aren't big enough for these creatures either.

So I run.

Weaving through the vehicles parked inside the compound, I pass by our Ford Expedition and stop. I need keys. I run to our house on the far side of the compound and slam into the front door, almost forgetting to turn the knob first. I search frantically for Mom's purse. Where is it?

The kitchen counter. I snatch it and Dad's laptop and then race to my bedroom. Rocky and Bullwinkle grin at me from on top of my bed. I can't leave them behind.

I stumble out the front door with Mom's purse, Dad's laptop case, and two stuffed animals tucked under my arms. I waddle up to the Ford and dig into the purse for the keys.

My ears pick up barks and growls coming from about 250 feet away. A handful of werewolves scatter into the forest that surrounds our compound. Some are wounded. All of them yelp in some degree of pain. The attackers chase them with shotguns, pistols, and an assault rifle.