Laura was glad she was wearing her seatbelt when a black sedan crossed over into the wrong lane and hit her van head on. For one sickening moment the only thing she could hear was shattering glass and bending metal. Pain exploded through her body as she slammed into the airbag.
That was another thing about werewolves; they could take a lot more risks than humans could with their bodies. She knew the other vehicles were stopping even though she couldn't hear anything through the ringing in her ears. She wasn't going to make it to the meeting point. She was going to have to face all the werewolves herself. She dropped her phone onto the floor of the van.
Laura disengaged the seatbelt and crawled over the seat to the passenger side door. Likely her assailants were planning on yanking her from the driver's side. She wasn't going to make it that easy. She pulled out her two pistols, spit blood onto the floor of the van and kicked the door open.
A roar filled her ears over the ringing in her head. She turned and unloaded three shots from each pistol into the creature's chest as it came around the vehicle at her. The Glock 22s she had each had fifteen rounds. Six shots down, twenty-four before she'd have to reload. She barely had time to enjoy the stupid beast's look of pain before it collapsed.
"Come on!" she yelled. "I've got a lot more ammo than I have time."
The crunch of metal on top of the van was enough warning for her to roll forward towards the shoulder of the road. Howls filled the air. She counted them off even as she came up and unloaded one shot from each pistol into the female werewolf that was on top of the van. It went down in a spray of blood almost as vibrant as the satisfaction she felt knowing that the aconite shells would end the monster even if she hadn't hit a vital organ. Twenty-two shots left and the howls made it seem like there were four more wolves.
Six. Six werewolves all for her. Derek was going to be so jealous. She took off and headed into the woods that lined the road. She'd been on her way out of town when the sedan crashed into her. She leapt down into a small creek and started running again. Not enough water to clear her scent but more than enough to warn her more animals were coming right behind.
She holstered one of her pistols and grabbed one of her aerosol bombs. She wouldn't use it unless she could hit at least two. It would be fun to watch one gasp and choke, but she liked to get her money's worth.
Laura risked a glance over her shoulder. A chill ran down her spine when she saw three werewolves close behind. Did that mean there was one circling? Perhaps there were more and the howling was meant to mask their numbers instead of announcing them. Wouldn't it be just her luck to encounter the whole damn pack?
She darted up over the edge of the creek. If they were herding her towards something she wasn't going to make it easy for them. She spun in place and tossed the smoke bomb. It detonated right in the middle of the three wolves, white gas billowing out.
She drew her second Glock again, turned in place ready to unleash more pain. She wasn't going to run anymore. Not until she killed the three that she could hear choking in the smoke. Whines of pain filled her ears and it was almost enough to drown out the nightmares she had of her family screaming as they were burned alive.
One werewolf stumbled forward out of the smoke, its skin a ruinous patchwork of blisters. It rushed forward, blind and weeping tears of blood. She regretted having to drop to twenty-one rounds of ammunition. The bullet went right through the thing's forehead. It should have suffered more. It got off easy.
Laura's instinct told her to roll to the side and it was the only thing that saved her as a dark shape rushed from the underbrush nearby trying to hamstring her. She came up and fired one round from each gun into the wolf's back. Nineteen shots left before she'd have to reload. Four wolves down. If the one had not tried to hamstring her she might be dead. That meant they were trying to take her alive. That gave her an advantage.
A second werewolf crawled out of the smoke, it whined pathetically. A bullet ended its cry. Eighteen shots left and five down. It was just too easy. She hadn't seen or heard the pack's Alpha yet though. Was it because the Alpha wasn't there or because it was biding its time? The smoke from her bomb cleared. The third werewolf that had been on the inside of the cloud never made it out. It died choking, lungs full of poisonous fumes. She grinned. That was the most satisfying kill she'd ever gotten. If she could choke the life out of every single one of the monsters who murdered her family with smoke and flame she'd almost be even.
Howls filled the air. So many that Laura's confidence faltered for a moment. How could there be so many? How many werewolves were in the Argent's pack? It was ridiculous. She laughed to herself hoping that it was the thrill of the combat and not the sickening onset of panic.
Twelve shots had been fired and one smoke bomb used. That bought her the lives of six werewolves. She had eighteen left and one more bomb. She couldn't wait to see if there was a discount today on savage beasts.
Creatures moved in the shadows where the trees were thickest. Games, she hated it when they played their little games. They thought they could confuse her, make her feel fear. She laughed and this time there was no hysteria, it was all glee. They wanted to take her alive? Fine, she'd take down as many of them as she could to make it easier for Derek to finish the damn things off. She'd soak the whole forest in their blood.
Two came out of the trees trying to circle her. Petty tactics by creatures that thought she wasn't used to being outnumbered and hunted by pack animals. She feinted her right pistol towards the faster moving one, the slower on the left fell for it, ate it up like the dumb beast it was. Two rounds dropped it to the ground, sixteen shots left and seven werewolves down. No one had told her it was Christmas.
The faster moving werewolf leapt towards her, hand stretching for her throat. She stepped sideways and brought her pistol down on its ear. The cracking sound was wonderful. If they'd been trying to kill her they wouldn't be taking so many stupid risks. She wondered what they were trying to gain. She crushed the werewolf's windpipe with her heel when it tumbled onto its back.
The creature let out a hideous gurgling noise, rolled over onto its stomach and tried to crawl away. She holstered her left pistol and drew a knife out of her boot. She dropped her knee onto its back. Laura holstered her right pistol and gripped the thing's shaggy hair in her hands.
"Smile little puppy," she whispered, her voice full of venom. "It's just a game, right?"
It tried to whine in protest, but she slit its throat without a shred of guilt. It deserved so much worse. All of them did. She stood up and waited for more. Sixteen shells just begging to spill their poison into werewolf bodies, she sheathed her knife and drew both pistols again.
Eight wolves down. The Alpha had to be the only one left. The part of her mind that should have been wondering when she'd be married and having children mourned for the loss of so many lives. She ignored it, that part of who she was had died in the house with her family. The protests were just echoes of its dying gasps.
The sound of someone clapping drew her attention. Laura was sickened that one of the creatures was getting some sort of amusement in its comrades' deaths. She couldn't wait to fill it full of poison too.
"I have to admit," a voice called out. "I didn't think you'd take out so many of us, even if those were just trash."
Laura spit in disgust. The voice belonged to a young man. What a sick and twisted world it was for there to be such a creature.
"Why don't you come out and say that to my face?" she called back.
"While you still have sixteen shots left? That'd be rather stupid wouldn't it?"
Laura couldn't see the speaker but started circling to try to get a clear shot. The thing knew how many bullets she had left. That meant that it was smart. It also meant that it had waited and watched as its allies died. She sometimes thought of hunting as a game but that was just not right.
"What's your name?" she called out.
"Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine," the voice responded. It came from a different location. It was moving too. Laura hated it when they were smart.
"Laura," she said. It didn't matter if it knew what her name was. It was going to be dead soon.
She kept moving trying to avoid stepping on anything that would give her exact location away. She gasped in shock when strong hands wrapped around her neck from behind. Laura sucked air into her lungs desperately when the creature's hands pulled back as if burned. She was glad she'd put the oil on her neck, it saved her life. She spun and leveled the pistols at the creature's chest. Adrenaline flooded her at having one of them so close; she unloaded six shots into it before stumbling away.
"Only ten shots left now, Laura." The voice was further away.
"You said you were going to tell me what your name was." Laura was stalling for time. If she was lucky Derek might be on his way, might have come across the wreck on his way to the location. She left her phone in the van. He'd be able to track her location with it. He was good at all that computer crap. She was getting tired. She needed backup.
"I know that you're stalling," the voice called out. "The funny thing is I'm stalling too. The only difference is that I already took care of any backup that might be coming for you. You should have kept the phone on you if you wanted someone to track it."
Laura ground her teeth. She wasn't expecting there to be a werewolf that smart. Perhaps he was the Alpha.
"Your backup isn't coming but the Argents should be here soon. The Alpha really wants to meet you. We're going to turn you Laura. We're going to turn you and keep you locked up. When the full moon comes we're going to feed your partner to you." The voice was getting further away.
Rage overcame Laura. She unloaded five shots into the surrounding forest hoping to get lucky. No scream of pain followed the staccato of the gunshots, only laughter.
"Five to go, when they're all gone I'm going to come out and play with you. You'll be whispering my name begging me for mercy when I'm done."
Laura hated the monster. "Why don't you come out now? I'll throw the guns down and you can take a swipe at me with your claws. Are you scared of a woman?"
Laughter filled the forest. "Oh yes, I am. You haven't met Victoria or Allison. Anyone who met either of them would be afraid of women."
Laura holstered her pistols. She raised her arms up in challenge. "Come on then you little coward. Come and play with me."
There was a blur of movement. Before she could draw one of her guns she heard the loud crack of a discharging bullet. Pain blossomed in her leg. She went down hard on her hands and knees. The thing had shot her. She'd never seen one of them use a gun before.
A young man with dark skin and short black hair came out from behind a tree. He holstered his own pistol as he walked towards her. "The thing I find the most infuriating about humans, Laura, is that they think they're the only ones who know how to use tools."
Laura waited until he was within a few feet of her. "So, what's your name kid?"
"It's Danny, not that it matters anymore," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her phone. The back panel had been torn open and she could see he'd gutted the electronics in it. "No one is coming to help you."
Laura grinned. While he was looking in his pocket she'd grabbed the trigger on the last bomb she had. "That's okay, seeing that stupid grin wiped off your face was worth getting shot."
"What?" he said, eyes widening in fear. Laura didn't have a chance to enjoy it for very long though. She detonated the bomb. It wasn't dangerous to her, but it stung like a bitch discharging against her body.