Jordan practically bounced on her feet and did a karate chop. “You should! It’s really fun, and we’re learning lots of new moves.”
“I’m not getting taken down that easily again.” Ellie’s eyes flashed with anger. She’d taken a massive beating along with Jordan a few weeks back. Karla had felt bad seeing Ellie angry. It hurt all of them when one of them was injured. And Jordan had suffered enough in her life. She didn’t deserve any more pain.
“You know,” Kel turned to Karla, “you should take a couple of these self-defense classes too. I mean falling on your ass would be normal for you anyway.” He grinned.
“Are you PMSing, Kel?” She struck her tongue out at him.
Ellie and Jordan shook their heads at his suggestion. Jordan glanced down at Karla’s belly. “Our Karla is a lover, not a fighter.”
Karla growled. “Is everyone out to tick me off today?”
Ellie grabbed her school bag, and they all headed outside. “Never you, darling. You’re just too quiet sometimes. We like to see a reaction.”
Karla smacked Ellie on her ass, making her friend gasp. “There’s your reaction.”
“I don’t know if I should be watching this,” Kel mumbled. “But what the hell? Don’t mind me.”
“Men,” they all said at the same time. Jordan’s car was closest. She unlocked the doors as they closed the distance toward Jordan’s car.
A forest green van passed in front of them. Three men, growling and half-shifted jumped out of the van and then the van sped off. Kel, Jordan, and Ellie were ahead of Karla when everything went crazy.
“Kar, stay back!” Ellie shouted and met one of the men head on. She shifted to her black and white wolf, pushing the man with her paws on his chest. He landed on his back with a loud, hair-raising growl.
Jordan was grabbed by one of the men around her waist from behind. That lasted all of a second. She stomped on his foot and yanked back one of his fingers until it broke. The sound of cracking bone filled the air along with the man’s angry cry. Jordan turned the moment he released her. She swung hard and drew her claws deep into the man’s face. His long blond hair swung in a halo around him as he tried to pull his face away. He released a loud, angry growl and fully changed into a large gray wolf. Jordan shifted too.
Karla couldn’t believe how fast everything was moving. Her breaths tripped over each other in her chest. Nerves turned her fingers ice cold. She tried to keep it together, but fear wormed its way into her chest so fast it left her panting. Her brother fought the third man, but Kel wasn’t a shifter.
The big half-wolf shoved her brother hard, slamming him against Ellie’s car with a loud thump and the angry sound of shattering glass. She dug her hand into her cross-body bag, searching for a weapon. There. Mace. She glanced up, and the shifter ran for her. She wasn’t a fighter, but she was ready. Well, as ready as she could be. She squeezed the mace Emma and Jordan harassed her into carrying around and sprayed the guy in the eyes. He jumped back, but it was too late. The liquid hit the mark. He growled and rubbed his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. His nose ran, and his face was twisted in pain. His reaction gave Kel enough time to rush the shifter and tackled him to the ground.
Ellie and Jordan, along with the gray wolves they fought, were biting and scratching each other. All the wolves sported bites and claw marks. There was blood on all their coats, and Karla started to panic. From what she saw, both Ellie and Jordan had deep gashes over their torsos and on their muzzles. She had to do something to help, but what? She’d have to get in the thick of the fighting to spray the other animals and risk injury in the process. Not ideal, considering she’d be putting her child in harm’s way. Plus, she really didn’t know how to fight. She’d probably do more damage rushing in.
The gray wolf fighting Jordan bit down on one of Jordan’s hind legs, and she howled in pain. That did it. She couldn’t let her friend suffer.
“Get out of here and stay safe!” Kel ordered.
Like hell. She might not be a violent person, but she wasn’t a punk either. She couldn’t leave her friends out there, fighting alone. She yanked out her cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.
“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”
“Some teachers are being attacked at the back of our school by shifters. We need help. Now!”
“Calm down, ma’am. Please give me the address to your school.”
Karla gave the school address on her run to Jordan’s car.
“I need you to repeat the address, ma’am.” The operator’s voice cut in and out.