Carnal Secrets (The Phoenix Pack #3)(93)
Author: Suzanne Wright

As the humans followed the trail Trey had left, Shaya thought they would undoubtedly believe they were getting closer and closer to the entrance of the caves. In reality, they were being led farther and farther into the woods. Shaya watched as, without the humans’ knowledge, their hunters began to move into place until the large group was loosely circled as they walked, giving them no avenues of escape when the attack finally began.

It wasn’t until the humans reached one of the many shallow lakes that the shifters made any moves. The three humans at the rear of the group were targeted first. There was no loud attack. Ryan, Dante, and Jaime—all in their human form—each stepped out from behind a tree and swiftly snatched a human and yanked them aside. Shaya knew exactly what they had done in the shadows: snapped the humans’ necks instantly, taking them out of the equation.

Totally oblivious, the rest of the group continued onward. A few seconds later, Dante, Jaime, and Ryan repeated the move. They did it again and again, picking off the humans. They might have done it again, but then one of the group stepped onto a bear trap; his pain-filled cry echoed throughout the forest as the two jaws clamped around his foot and he dropped to the ground. Several humans gathered around him.

Panicked, one human crouched beside him. “Shit, what happened?”

“A bear trap.” Logan.

“I can’t get it off!”

Logan again: “Of course you can’t. You’re not supposed to be able to. Be careful, there’ll be more around.”

“Do you think they have the place rigged?” one asked him.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the closer we get, the more traps there are. And not just bear traps.”

“We better get moving,” said the co-leader. His voice didn’t sound at all familiar. “The wolves will have heard him screaming. They’ll come out here to look around.”

Logan nodded his agreement. “Two of you help him up and support him as he walks. Filcher, any movement back there? Filcher? Filcher?”

“He’s not there,” another human said. “Shit, neither is Gavin or—”

“We’re being picked off,” drawled the co-leader.

“We’re being hunted,” corrected Logan. His voice held a telling tremor. “That means they know exactly where we are. Stay close together.” Two of the group helped support the injured human as they all slowly continued ahead through the trees, constantly turning as they walked to cover every angle.

Twenty seconds or so later, another human triggered a thin trip wire that sent a spiked boulder swinging at his head. Grunting, he fell to the ground, crying out and cursing and bleeding like crazy. Shit, that had to have hurt. When the spiked boulder continued swinging and looked about to hit another human, the male dove out of the way…and stepped into another bear trap. While a few of the large group went to tend to the injured, everyone else seemed to freeze, wary of moving.

Whereas the group had before seemed nervous but confident, they were now cautious and fearful—just like the wolves wanted. It wasn’t until right then, when the group was confused and disoriented, that the ambush began. There was gunfire, there was growling, there was screaming, there was yelling as the wolves came at the group from all directions. It was also the go-ahead for Shaya to act. Aiming for those who she judged the biggest threats and of whom she had a clear view, Shaya fired one bullet after another, gratified down to her gut as she disabled the bastards.

One of those bullets hit her target’s arm rather than his heart, and he dropped his gun as he flinched with the pain. When Nick’s wolf turned his attention to him, the human turned and ran in what could only be described as a blind panic. He suddenly screeched in pain and fell to the ground, having stepped on one of the barbed-spike plates that were planted around. Nick dived on him, closing his jaw around the ass**le’s throat.

The wolves were all merciless in their assault. Trey’s wolf had gone feral by this point and was tearing into whatever human was near him. Although he’d taken a bullet to the leg, it wasn’t stopping him—not in that state. Most likely disturbed about his injury, Taryn’s wolf was staying near her mate as she pounced on the humans with equal vigor.

Now in their wolf form, Jaime and Ryan were fighting alongside Dante’s injured yet relentless wolf, who kept bumping Jaime out of harm’s way—all instinct at that moment. Jesse, Bracken, and Zander weren’t far away, attacking with a rage that spoke of the pain of losing loved ones to these corrupted humans.

When Tao and Trick’s wolves lunged at two now weaponless humans, they instantly turned and sprinted away…and fell right into a deep pit in the ground onto a cushion of spikes. Ouch. Similarly, Eli’s and Amber’s wolves chased another duo of humans into a second deep pit that was also cushioned by spikes.

One human was running backward and simultaneously firing in every direction. Had he been looking ahead of him, he might have seen the heavy rock that was supported by several branches, tilted on an angle. The second the human’s foot hit the branch that served as a trigger, the rock collided into him, crushing him. Dominic’s wolf then delivered a killing bite to his throat.

Meanwhile, Shaya continued trying to pick off or, at the very least, severely injure the remaining humans. Unfortunately, two of those remaining were Logan and the co-leader, who were being protected by the others. Clearly determined to reach the two sick bastards, Nick’s wolf was targeting their protectors. Roni’s, Derren’s, and Marcus’s wolves were helping him, but the circle of protection was still strong.

Shaya didn’t have a good angle on the remaining humans and it was pissing her the hell off. She thought about climbing down from the tree and moving to a spot that would provide her with a better shot, but she had promised Nick that she wouldn’t step any closer into the war zone, and she’d keep that promise. If she didn’t, it would distract him, and that would risk him being seriously hurt.

Watching as he suddenly stopped still, she frowned. His head turned her way, and she felt his confusion and anxiety. Then there was some kind of explosion. She could only guess that one of the humans had some kind of grenade—at that moment, the who, what, why, when, and how wasn’t important; what was important was that the force had sent Nick, Roni, and Derren zooming through the air. Roni crashed into a tree, Derren flew out of her view, and Nick hit the ground hard—so hard that she felt as blackness overcame him. Fuck, he’d passed out.