Chapter 8: A Brawl

When you are as stubborn as I am, you end up in your fair share of bar fights. Unfortunately, those were mostly in human bars and not bars full of wolves whose sole mission was to rip me to shreds. Still, I guessed there must be a first time for everything.

I looked at Markham as he walked purposely into the bar. The wolf who was slowly coming toward me stopped and lowered his head a little. I raised an eyebrow. What the hell was that about? Being the nephew of the clan leader shouldn’t be that important.

Markham didn’t look at me as he came further into the bar. I watched him as he walked in front of me towards the wolf who still had his head down on the floor looking down and not in the eye.

“I thought we were going to fight?” Markham said as he rolled his shoulders back. He was dressed in t shirt and sweatpants I looked down and saw that he was not wearing any shoes. I looked around at all the people and just stood my ground. It seemed like he had a plan.

The wolf on the ground did not move, but from one of the back booths a man stepped forward. His skin was tan, like he was always out in the sun, his eyes were like ice and his hair was blond but spiked up in different directions. Markham turned toward him and lifted his head high. The tension in the room was thick and the other people took a step back as this man stepped forward.

“I can’t believe you would come here with this human.” The man’s voice was nowhere near as deep as Markham’s was, yet he managed to sound intimidating all the same.

“Well actually she was supposed to wait for me, and we would walk in together, so technically she came here by herself.” He shrugged and grinned and I took a deep breath to keep myself steady.

“It is true, isn’t it?” the man said

Markham walked to the left and the man walked to the right, making everyone else move back. The wolf from before whimpered and then ran off to one of the booths to watch what would unfold.

“What is true?” Markham said plainly as if he was bored.

“You killed Devon! Just for your own gain.” The man spit on the floor. “You will never be the man your father was.”

Markham stilled and I looked at him, moving slowly to get a better look at his face. He looked up and the emerald of his eyes was glowing. The Lycan’s around him eyes all started glowing. Some were looking at him with awe, others with curiosity. Hell, I was curious myself.

Markham leapt forward and his skin shredded in midair and a giant black wolf took his place. He landed in front of the man his growl could probably be heard all the way downtown. The man growled in his human form and took a step back. His shift was slower, but Markham didn’t move to attack him while he changed. As soon as he shifted, Markham launched at him, and a tumble of fur and claws began.

The patrons around him were snarling and watching the fight, perfect. I tried to move towards the bar as the wolves tried to kill each other. As I moved the wolf from before with his red fur and yellow eyes saw me and growled. Sh*t.

Lonnie looked over at me from where he was still behind the bar, and back to where the wolf was. He looked at me and motioned me closer “Come on! Hurry!” he screamed.

I started to run towards the bar, and the wolf launched from where he was. I got up one on of the bar stools, planting one foot on the bar as well, when the wolf came towards me, I spun kicking my boot against the bar, revealing a small knife. It wasn’t silver, but it might still slow him down. As I turned back, I round house kicked the snarling wolf in the throat, the kick landed but not directly as I felt his claws digging into my leg and I screamed.

Markham picked his head up from where he was, his muzzle was covered in blood, and he had one paw on the other wolfs throat. The wolf thrashed but he could not get out of the grip he was in.

The wolf trying to kill me looked towards where Markham was and I took that opportunity to take my other boot and kick him right in the head, he whimpered removing his claws from leg and I fell back from shock.

“Woah.” Lonnie said as he caught me, and I dropped down to the ground. I didn’t want any of the other wolves noticing where I was, I needed to hide, since I was already injured. I leaned back against the bar, ignoring how sticky the floor was and pulling a stake out of my jacket. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I could feel it as Lonnie kneeled, I opened my eyes and looked in his, seeing the bright yellow as he looked down at my bleeding leg. Double Sh*t.

“Lonnie?” I said softly, Lycan’s were still animals. They were still wolves. The smell of blood could send them into a frenzy. Especially the blood of a human.

He closed his eyes and leaned back against the bar. He was fighting it. I knew I liked him. He opened his eyes, and they were still bright, but he looked much more in control.

“We have to get you and Wade out of here, before it gets really bad.”

I scoffed “Oh, is this regular bad?”

If he found my joke amusing, he didn’t let on. He started to stand slowly, but he peaked over the bar first. I could hear growling, it sounded like Markham but how was I to know? I looked down at my bleeding leg and cursed under my breath. It was going to be hard to stand on with how it screamed every time I tried to move it.

Lonnie kneeled again and said “Okay, we are going to make a run for the kitchen, I know your leg is messed up, but you can put an arm around me and then I will go back for Wade.”

I simply nodded, it seemed to me like Markham didn’t need us at all. Lonnie started to help me up and I bit my lip to keep from whimpering as I stood, he pulled one of my arms around his broad shoulders and I tried to carry my weight best I could.

I looked over now that we were staring to move and saw that the man who challenged Markham was still a wolf but either dead or knocked out. Markham was in a circle of now five other wolves, and I frowned. He couldn’t take all of them by himself, could he?

We moved out from behind the bar finally, I knew Lonnie was going slow for me, and not to bring attention to us but the more. Still, I felt like something was up.

We started to move quickly now that we were close to the kitchen, a snarl that wasn’t Markham’s sounded behind us.

Triple Sh*t.

Lonnie looked at me and nodded, I didn’t know what to do or what he was saying, but before I could even respond, he shoved me towards the kitchen and turned to face the wolf. I didn’t wait or look back; I limped towards the kitchen and pushed the double doors before limping to the fridge and hiding on the side of it. I was out of breath and my ankle was on fire. It was also dripping blood. I looked across the tiled floors and saw my blood in drips leading back to the door.

I needed a plan. I still had my stake in one hand, and I looked at it, hoping I wouldn’t need it and Markham would come bursting through the door.

Unfortunately, someone did come bursting through the door and it wasn’t Markham. A grey wolf launched itself into the kitchen and I closed my eyes and leaned back holding the stake close. I knew he could smell me but that didn’t mean I needed to come out and give him easy access to my vocal cords.

I heard the growl as he came closer, and I came face to face with this grey wolf with piercing blue eyes. He lifted his clawed paw and tried to swipe at me, and I rolled standing and holding the stake in position.

The wolf came closer, licking its lips, I could have sworn that he was also grinning, but I didn’t have the time to think about it as he launched himself at me, and I thrust the stake into his side, he whimpered and raked his claws across my chest before we both hit the ground.

I laid there trying not to feel the pain that was currently ripping through me, and I tried to sit up. I groaned and rolled because it was easier, using my blood-soaked arm to push myself up. As I stood and leaned against the wall Lonnie and Markham came bursting through the kitchen, both looked worse for wear.

Markham stepped forward his emerald eyes full of concern. I didn’t like how that made me feel warm. Or maybe it was the blood loss? I almost chuckled, wasn’t I supposed to be cold?

“Are you okay?” he said the concern also dripping from his voice

I pulled a hand from my chest and waved him off “I’m fine” I said, at least I thought I said it, I couldn’t remember, all I could see was the pretty colors as I dropped to the ground.