One of the shooters turned to Logan, but Logan was quick and had him down on the ground, wrestling for control of the weapon. One of the other armed men turned toward them, his weapon raised as if waiting to get a clear shot at Logan.
Tah took it all in as he ran through, weaving and darting, his eyes searching for Abby. Another roar as he saw the man holding her.
“Jesus! What is that? What the fuck is that?” the man holding Abby screamed.
“You knew we were hunting a lion,” Harlan yelled out, and Tah almost stopped and charged him as hatred poured through his body. This was the man who had kidnapped them, beaten him, cut him, and shot him with a dosage of pure adrenaline that could have killed him.
“That’s my mate,” Abby said with a smile. There was so much pride and love on her face. Any doubt he might have still harbored of her fearing the lion disappeared. It was obvious she loved him no matter if he stood on two legs or ran on four. “He’s going to rip your fucking throat out.”
She almost had him pausing again with her bloodthirsty words. The guy let go of Abby and shoved her away from him before turning and taking off. Tah just caught the blur of a tail then a scream as the man went down.
The gunman watching Logan went down next in a tangle of fur. Tah turned quickly and charged at the one giving chase to him. It was quick enough to catch him off guard, and the man didn’t get his rifle up in time to get a shot off before Tah was on him.
He sunk his teeth into the soft flesh of the man’s neck and bit into flesh and blood. A scream pierced the air before Tah ripped free, cutting the sound off as blood sprayed around him.
He felt a dart lodge in his left front leg as he turned toward the last hunter. Then Reno was on the gunman. Flying out of the woods with a kamikaze yell, he tackled the man from behind and took him to the ground.
Tah turned toward Harlan and Abby. She was moving toward him when Harlan caught her by the hair and jerked her back. Abby fought like a wildcat. A haze was wrapping around Tah, a fog trying to claim him and drag him down. He turned his big head to see the dart piercing his skin and knew it had to be a tranquilizer of some sort. Still he fought to get to his mate.#p#分页标题#e#
Logan came to his feet, but before he could lift the rifle, Harlan turned and shot him with the pistol in his hand. Logan fell, and Tah roared as he watched his friend hit the ground hard.
Stay back! he yelled as he sensed the wolves getting ready to move in. He didn’t want anyone else hurt because of him, especially Abby who now had that pistol tucked against her temple.
“Well, well, well,” Harlan exclaimed. “Abby was right. My boss will be pleased. They’ve been searching everywhere for you. You’re going to make a nice rug.”
Abby screamed, as Harlan jerked her head back against his shoulder. Tah let loose another roar, but it was weakened by the drug working through his system. He was fading fast, wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on before he collapsed and left Abby unprotected again. He seemed to be making a habit of it, and he wasn’t happy about it at all.
He watched her hands slide back, gripping Harlan’s waist as she was thrown of balance.
“You’ve got me at a bit of a disadvantage this time,” Harlan said, as he began pulling Abby toward the tree line where Logan’s body lay. “But that’s okay. I think I’ve got something you want. So I’ll just take her along with me. I’ll get in touch. And you’re going to do whatever I want to make sure your girl stays alive.” He dug the gun against her head, and Abby yelled out again.
She tripped over Logan’s feet and went down on top of him, Harlan released her at the last minute to keep from being thrown off balance with her. He quickly reached down and grabbed her hair again, giving it a hard yank. “Get back on your feet, bitch.”
Tah roared as his front legs went out from under him. Harlan laughed as Tah fell, and Abby shifted a hand toward Logan’s and took something from him. Tah struggled to regain his footing and get to his mate, but found himself helpless for a moment to do anything but watch as Abby turned and slammed her hand up into Harlan’s stomach, burying a knife to the hilt.
Harlan’s laugh become a scream as he released Abby’s hair to reach for the blade. The other hand slowly lowered, moving the gun toward Abby. With a final roar, Tah called on everything he had and lunged, taking Harlan to the ground. He felt the burn of a bullet just before everything went black. The last thing he heard was Abby calling his name.
This time neither man nor beast could respond, but both were in agreement.