Pride (Shifters #3)(73)

In full cat form now, Ethan growled at me in warning, telling me to hurry.
“Kaci…” I began again, but she was halfway across the living room now, backing away from us both with eyes wide in horror, tears trailing slowly down her flushed cheeks.
“No. I’ll let them kill me before I’ll do that again.”
“You don’t mean that.” Not that it mattered. They weren’t planning to kill her. What they wanted was even worse.
Her face went suddenly calm, and she spoke with an eerie softness. “I won’t Shift, Faythe. You can’t make me.”
She was right about that.
In the backyard, Radley walked behind the three cats, halfway to the cabin now. “Fine.” I ended my call again and held the phone out to her. “Go into my bedroom and lock the door behind you.” I gestured to the room at her back. “Then get in my closet and keep trying to call my father. He’s programmed in as ‘Daddy.’”
“Really?” Her eyes brightened with hope, which nearly broke my heart in spite of the circumstances. “You’re not mad?”
“Of course I’m not mad. Here.” I tossed her the phone and she caught it. “Go!” I didn’t have to say it again.
The bedroom door slammed shut behind her, then metal scraped metal softly as she engaged the lock.
Ethan whined, pacing back and forth in front of the front door now. I had my shirt and bra off in an instant, and my pants followed quickly. I dropped to all fours on the kitchen floor, the faded linoleum cold and smooth against my hands. But I barely had time to feel the November chill coming through the broken window before a familiar, bone-cracking pain chased it away.
My spine bowed and my knees cracked. My shoulders ached, the agony especially acute in my left shoulder, which had been wrenched by a psycho stray the previous summer. My elbows creaked, my ankles lengthened, and my knuckles popped like a series of firecrackers all going off at once.
Muscles slithered into and out of place under my skin, burning beneath my flesh. My fingers curved and shortened, the pressure in my hands almost unbearable. My nails lengthened and hardened into retractable claws, digging into the linoleum before they were even fully formed.
The surface of my tongue rippled with an influx of backward-pointing barbs as my newly sharp teeth pushed up from my gums, my jaw taking on a whole new shape in the midst of the pain. And finally my skin began to itch all over—fur announcing its arrival with the pomp and circumstance appropriate for such a majestic covering of thick, glossy black. 
I sat on my haunches, stretching my front paws just in time to hear the first bang of a fist against the front door. “Little pig, little pig, let me in!” Radley shouted, then laughed hysterically. Like I’d never heard that one. Fortunately, the current shape of my jaw prevented me from responding with the line expected of me.
When he got no answer, Radley pounded again, this time with his foot, from the sound of it. Since his lungs evidently lacked the strength, he was going to kick the door in. And we were damn well going to be ready for him.
I padded into the living room next to Ethan, who was sweating adrenaline and excitement, laced with fear. All of which fed my own rage and eagerness—two of the best mental states to be in when forced to fight.
From the bedroom behind me came the faint electronic ringing from my own phone as Kaci tried in vain again to get in touch with my father. Why isn’t he answering his phone?
Radley kicked the door again, and we could do nothing but watch. And wait.
The door rattled in its frame, and his determination grew. Radley kicked over and over again, until finally the door frame splintered, cracking visibly. His next blow sent a long shard of wood flying into the living room as the dead bolt tore free of its home. On the next whack, the door swung open to bang into the wall.
Radley stood in the doorway beaming, clearly not surprised to find us in cat form and ready to fight. “Kill the tom, but try to keep the bitch intact. I’ll find the kitten.”
The moment he stepped into the living room, Ethan was in his face, growling fiercely. But his threat was cut off a millisecond later as one of the cats behind Radley launched himself at my brother. Ethan jumped and they met in midair, jaws snapping, claws flying.
The other two cats approached me slowly, growling in unison. I backed away from them, not quite sure what to do with two at once. I’d never faced a pair of foes, outside of training.
Angry and beyond pissed off, I hissed, and the cat on the left hissed back. Then a dark blur flew across the room and smashed into the cat on the right. Both forms went down in a heap of black fur. But they were up in an instant, and both turned their attention to Ethan, who’d evidently tossed the flying stray.
Now I only faced one. He pounced, and his teeth sank into the back of my neck. The pressure on my spine was tremendous, but his canines barely penetrated my thick fur. Probably because he’d been told not to kill me.
He shoved my head into the floor. One broad, heavy front paw landed on my face, a black toe pad holding my eye closed. I twisted, and my jaws closed over his ankle. I pulled, growling deep in my throat. He bit harder. Blood ran down my neck. I bit harder, and my teeth hit bone.
He howled, and when his mouth opened, I dropped my grip and backed away, facing off against him again.
A door slammed down the hall, and Radley swore, apparently having no luck in his search for Kaci. So far.
On my right, Ethan had one stray’s foot between his jaws, the other cat pinned to the ground, beneath him. He was holding his own, even with four parallel gashes across his left flank. They weren’t pouring blood, so the injury probably wasn’t grave. But it couldn’t have felt good.
My opponent charged again. I met him with a pawful of unsheathed claws, aiming for his chest. He anticipated my move and twisted away. My blow only glanced him.
Across the room, Radley had discovered the locked door. Abandoning my furred opponent, I pounced on Radley, knocking him to the floor in front of the couch. I growled, my muzzle inches from his nose. But before I could decide whether or not to kill him—it wouldn’t be self-defense since he was no real threat to me in human form—something hit me from the side, throwing me into the coffee table.I used my momentum to roll over, regaining my feet smoothly. But the stray was already there. He swiped at me, and fire ripped across my right front leg, just beneath my shoulder. My howl of pain almost covered the splinter of breaking wood. Almost, but not quite. Radley had gotten into my room.
He shoved the door open. The stray’s teeth snapped shut an inch from my muzzle. Radley raced into the bedroom. I slapped the stray away with one paw. Two lines of bright red opened across his nose. He hissed and backed away.
Behind me, Radley bellowed in frustration and rage. I turned to see him standing in the middle of my bedroom, staring out the window. The open window.
Kaci had run.
Thirty-Three

“She took off!” Radley shouted. An instant later the stray pounced on me from behind, driving me to the floor as Radley’s steps drew closer. “I’m going after her. Kill the tom, knock the bitch out, then Shift and bring her back with you. Now! We don’t have all day!”
The stray pinning me to the hardwood whined in acknowledgment. I couldn’t see Radley, but his footsteps stomped toward me, then into sight, heading for the porch. And beyond him, I saw something moving through the open front door: Kaci—speeding across the grass toward the trees.
“There she goes!” Radley ran after his prize, still shouting as he raced down the steps. “Get done here and catch up.”
Right. Like it would be that easy. Like we’d let it be that easy.
On my right, Ethan snarled, and I twisted to see him pinned by one cat. But he had the other stray’s ear in his mouth, and as I wriggled to wedge one paw between myself and the bastard on top of me, Ethan wrenched his head, ripping his opponent’s ear from its skull.
The injured cat screeched and backpedaled. Blood poured from the hole in his head, and one paw slid out from under him, smearing it across the floor.
Disgusted, I shoved with the paw I’d forced into place. My foe flew back, but his claws sank into my flesh as he went. I howled as pain sliced across my back and blood ran down my fur.
I leapt to my feet, ignoring the sting in my back and my front leg. He hissed. I pounced, anger and fear for Kaci taking over where my training left off. My front paws slammed into his right shoulder. He hit the floor on his left side, and my weight drove the breath from his body.
My back claws sank into his right flank, slicing viciously before I could get squeamish. Muscle tore. The cat screeched. Blood poured from the wound, drenching my feet, and steaming in the frigid air let in by the open door.
I sucked in a deep breath, steeling myself to rip out his throat. But Ethan’s almost-human scream of pain stopped me cold. 
I froze, and my opponent tossed me off. I hissed and swiped at him, and he backed away, snarling ferociously. Behind him, Ethan lay on the ground.
The half-earless stray stood over him. Blood pooled beneath Ethan. His eyes blinked almost as slowly as his chest rose and fell. Three long gashes were open on the left side of his rib cage.
My heart beat hard enough to bruise my sternum. I roared in fear and in fury. The earless stray hissed and stepped closer. I snarled at him, but my eyes never left Ethan. I couldn’t get to him. And even if I could, there was nothing I could do for him. Not without hands. And a medical degree.