Layla Nash - A Valentine's Chase (City Shifters: the Pride) by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

and Rafe fought harder, trying to keep them away from Meadow even as his paws slid on the bloody floor. Ruby howled and threw a table across the bar before launching into her wolf form. One of the pack members who remained human scrambled to the door and slammed it shut, barricading it so no one else could get in. And no one could get out.
    Rafe concentrated only on the next wolf to fight, blood filling his mouth, and put down a third or fourth wolf. There seemed to be dozens of them, snapping and snarling and foaming at the mouth, and he had a split second to wonder if they were diseased or high. There was no other reason for a pack of shifters to change and run into a bar in a heavily-populated part of the city on a Friday night. At least there weren't any humans left in the bar. Except for Meadow and Smith.
    A roar shook the bar as Carter finally got pissed off enough to change to his lion form, and a gold streak distracted Rafe just as one of the wolves drove into his side and knocked him off his feet. He snarled and fought back, panic restricting his chest as he caught sight of Meadow fending off a beast with one of her crutches. Rafe charged the bastard, hating that Meadow screamed and tried to jump onto the bar despite the weight of her cast, and wrenched the wolf away. Blood dripped into his eyes and Rafe shook his head, looking around at the disaster being made of his bar.
    The intruders kept fighting, regardless of how many wounds and broken bones they sustained. They just wouldn't stop. He crouched in front of Meadow and braced himself to kill as many wolves as it took to protect her. Carter the lion slid and crashed through half a dozen tables, turning them into kindling, and something else rushed the door from the outside. Rafe snarled. He'd die before any of them touched Meadow. Before any got close enough to really look at her.
    Just as Rafe prepared to go down fighting two mad-eyed wolves, an eerie whistle started on the other side of the bar. He didn't dare look away from the intruders, but a pearlescent glow filled the room until it blinded him. A voice that shook like thunder rolled through the bar and almost knocked him off his feet, and every one of the enemy wolves dropped to the ground. Dead.
    Rafe blinked to clear his vision as the glow faded, and saw Smith standing among the broken tables, his hands raised. The man had never looked so terrifying. Rafe's hackles rose and a growl vibrated through his chest, and he retreated closer to Meadow. Just in case.
    Smith shook himself and the glow disappeared, the wind died down, and everything in the bar turned to silence. Except for Meadow, practically hyperventilating where she sat half-on the bar. Rafe braced himself and forced himself back to human form. Being alpha came first, at least for now. Once he could talk, he started issuing orders to the rest of the pack to clean up, check the perimeter, and figure out a defense in case any more of the intruders showed up.
    Sirens rose in the distance and he cursed, turning to survey the damage. If the cops showed up, there was no way to explain the dead wolves, the blood, and the broken furniture. But mostly the wolves. He snapped and everyone changed, working silently to drag the wolf bodies into the storeroom. Ruby and Carter limped upstairs and threw down clothes so everyone could at least put on sweatpants, old jeans, or coveralls. He dragged on sweatpants and finally approached Meadow, even though he could feel the strength draining out of him as his wounds bled.
    "Meadow," he said, and his voice rasped into nothingness. The rest of the room grew dark as he focused on her, concentrating all of his remaining strength on staying on his feet and close to her. She still looked panicked, on the verge of falling apart, and he hated it. He wanted to hold her, to reassure her, but when he shuffled a step closer, she sucked in a frightened breath and nearly fell off the back of the bar.
    "Let me." Smith brushed past