Claws & Jasmine

Recovering

Chapter three: Recovering

Word count: 2133

Author's note: I hope you enjoy chapter three! Just a heads up, there's a tiny bit of gore at the beginning. Nothing major, though!

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My muzzled wrinkled back to reveal the sharp curve of my fangs. The two men on top of the blonde were initially five feet away, but stumbled backwards in shock. I stood defensively, my ears back and head lowered. Saliva dripped from the corners of my mouth as I snarled. One of the men tripped and fell onto his back. I only had seconds to act before they began attacking, so I pounced and went for the kill.

My jaws connected with the shoulder of the man who fell back. My large frame crushed him into the ground, my paws resting against his chest. I managed to knock the air out of him, stunning him long enough to keep him from fighting back. I shook his frail body violently, liking the sound of his flesh ripping. The iron taste of blood filled my mouth and pooled out the sides as I let out a roar without releasing him. My claws managed to cut through the soft flesh of his stomach, the warmth of his insides soaking into my fur.

I left him to die, turning towards his partner who was still retreating. He didn't get far, as I was much swifter than he. I felt how my teeth entered the meat of one of his legs, dragging him to the ground. He kicked and screamed, his foot connecting with my eye and forced me to release him. I only backed off enough to recover from the blow. I looked up his trembling body and into his eyes. They were wide and glossed over with a fear that reminded me of an injured rabbit. In this moment, we both understood which one was the predator and the prey. I decided to leave him cowering into the ground and turned towards the group of them.

My dad was shouting something, but I didn't have time to try and listen. The others were panicking while trying to get their guns out and loaded. One aimed and fired, just missing by a couple of feet. A scream came from behind me and I turned my head to look over at the girl who was freaking out at the sight of all the blood. Her eyes met mine, wide and petrified. She sat unmoving, besides her constant shivering. My heart pulled at the sight, but I didn't have time to think about it right now. I turned back, meeting the brown eyes of the ringleader, who stared me down the barrel of his gun. He fired.

The bullet hit my side, only grazing me. But the force of the bullet followed by a burning sensation was enough to make me stumble and cry out. More shots fired, one bullet buried itself in my hind leg. I felt frozen for a moment, but my survival instincts kicked in and I released a horse howl into the sky. The bullet burned the inside of my leg, the smell of gunpowder polluting the air. Every time I tried to move my leg to run, it wouldn't cooperate. I dragged the lower half of my body towards the trees, hoping to find cover from the gun fire.

Then I felt Brent nearby. He was ripping through the forest, bursting through the trees behind the men and releasing a roar that shook my insides. Brent's wolf was much bigger than mine, his muscle flexing with each movement. He took out another one of their men, not hesitating to completely decapitate the hunter by grabbing his head in his mouth and yanking. The head flew through the air, looking a lot like a bowling ball without a body attached to it. It landed with a thump and rolled towards the rest of the hunters. They all stared with wide eyes and mouths ajar. Brent let out another roar, baring his blood stained teeth at them.

Another wolf burst through the trees behind Brent, snarling loudly as they took in the situation. More howls sounded in the distance, signaling that more help was on the way. Feeling lightheaded, I tumbled to the ground and whined as a bolt of pain shot through my leg. Everything blurred in and out, colors colliding and voices meshed together. Black dots filled my vision, the last thing I caught was Brent's green eyes staring into mine before darkness drowned everything out.