Isabella snarled as her claws snapped out and caught a wolf around the snout. A splash of blood erupted as the wolf reared its head back with a whimper of pain and it darted back to the tree line where it regrouped with the rest of its small pack. Isabella had yet to fully allow herself to shift. When she did, she always lost control of herself to her baser instincts and she needed full control of her faculties at the moment. That being said, she was beginning to feel the drain on her. She had been on the wrong end of the wolves claws more than a couple of times in the last several minutes, and even her rapid healing was pushing the boundaries of what it was capable of doing.

She roared as three more wolves darted froward from the trees. She smacked the first one across the snout and sent it sprawling, but the next two were on her before she was able to react. One latched onto her arm as the other grabbed her along the leg. She felt the one around her ankle sink his teeth into her ankle, and Isabella felt something in her heel pop. She lost all sense of balance as she toppled to the ground. With a bestial roar, she punched the wolf between the eyes which caused it to unlatch from her arm as he crumpled to the ground. She grabbed the wolf around her ankle by the scuff of its neck and pressed her thumb into its eye. The wolf cried out in a wail of misery as its eye ruptured, releasing Isabella from its death grip around her ankle. Rearing her other foot back, her hell slammed into the wolf's temple which crumpled under the force of the blow.

Breathing heavily, she lifted her nose in the air and sniffed. Her nose wrinkled as her head snapped in the direction of the house. Several new scents were descending on the building and her blood began to boil. They were going after her daughter. Not Isabella. Not the head of her family and the leader of her faction, but Isabella's damn daughter. She was only slightly relieved to recognize that Cas' scent was still isolated but Isabella would be damned if a single wolf got within a hundred yards of her daughter. What little control she'd had over herself snapped as she fully shifted. Her bones snapped and broke as thick tufts of dark brown hair erupted across her arms and down her legs. Her face shifted and elongated, her nose and mouth morphing into a snout.

Within a matter of seconds, Isabella Connors was gone, and in her place was a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound grizzly bear. She let loose an earth-shattering roar that reverberated around the forest like rolling thunder. Someone was after her cub. Someone wanted to harm her cub and she would destroy them. She would send a message to all others that her young were not to be touched. The earth itself seemed to shake as she bound forward, her legs pounding the earth with the frightening strength of one of the world's mightiest mammals.

But her charge stopped as a new scent appeared at the edge of the property. It was familiar. Comforting. A smell of sea water and sweat. A heady and musky scent that she knew all too well. Mate. He was here and now none would stand in their way. Her mate was strong. Powerful. He would protect her young but he needed to know she was here, that she was all right. She let loose another roar and immediately the scent began to move even faster but he was still too far. A quintet of wolves appeared from the tree line and charged at her. She met the charge head on, as the wolves encircled her. Her maw snapping out and latching onto the neck of the nearest wolf. The taste of copper and fur danced along her tongue as her razor-sharp teeth cut through the flesh of the wolf, snapping its neck and causing its body to go limp in her grasp. Huffing in agitation, she tossed the corpse to the ground as her flank seared in pain as one of the wolves sank its teeth into her hide. Her leg darted out to smack the wolf, but it was too quick and it danced away from her leg as two more wolves raced forward and took bites out of her other side.

She roared in fury, rearing back onto her hind legs and lash out at a wolf, which managed to get away from her claws. Then, all at once, all of the wolves charged at her. She keened in agony as row after row of sharp teeth tore into her flesh. Her arm and legs thrashed in a desperate and vain attempt to free herself from the tidal wave of teeth and claws. Then, something strange happened. There was a flash of gold and the pressure around her right ankle disappeared in yelp of pain and a sad whimper. Sea spray and copper wafted under her nostrils and she snarled in pride.

Mate.

Safe.

She roared as she flexed her muscles and snapped her jaw over at the wolf nearest to her. She got the wolf around the neck and tossed the smaller creature across the forest. The other two wolves disengaged from her and she finally was allowed to turn her head to see as Percy buried his blade into the belly of one of the wolves before dancing out of the reach of another. Grabbing the wolf as it overshot him, Percy ripped the wolf's head back and buried the length of his glittering golden sword through the creature's mouth. It shuddered briefly, before falling limply against the length of the blade. The final wolf made to run back to the safety of the forest, but she was faster. In a blur of motion, far faster than even the average grizzly could move, she launched herself on top of the wolf and pinned it to the ground. The pitiable creature tried to snap at her neck, but her hide was tougher and she ignored the stinging pain as she dug her teeth into the wolf's neck. With a horrible ripping, squelching sound she tore the throat of the wolf free, blood dribbling down her maw and staining her fur crimson.

As the bodies fell still, her soft huffing reverberated like rolling thunder. She turned to Percy, and she took pride in seeing the blood covering his frame. None of it his. But something was off, he did not appear comfortable. He was not happy to see her. He was defensive. Eyeing her warily. She could smell the musk of his sweat and anxiety as he took a cautious step backward and raised his sword defensively in front of him.

She growled softly. It was not an agitated sound. More pitiful, needing. She wanted-needed-him to understand that she was not his enemy.

He squinted at her, his eyes glowing oddly in the moonlight. Then, cautiously, he lowered his blade.

"Isabella?" He asked quietly. "That you?"

She huffed, shaking her head up and down in a bear's best imitation of a nod. The sword, to her confusion, disappeared from his grip as he took a few cautious steps forward. She matched his approach, making sure to keep her body small. Submissive. She wanted him to understand that she was not going to harm him. She would never harm him. She stopped a few steps short and allowed him to approach. He did so slowly, tenuously. He reached out and carefully ran his fingers through her fur. A noise that she had never made before escaped her throat as she leaned into his touch.

"Okay…" said Percy slowly. "Bear shifter then…that makes some sense." He knelt down to her level and met her eyes evenly. "We should go check in on Cass, yeah? Then we need to find and kill Packard."

She growled menacingly and Percy's stroking increased as he tried to soothe her agitation.

"Easy beautiful, easy," he soothed. "I don't suppose you could change back?"

She growled, and he chuckled. "All right, so noted." He stood back up, but did not remove his hand from her fur. She glanced up at him and saw that once more his eyes were glowing as he looked in the direction of the house. "Looks like it's still just Cass in there right now." She wasn't sure how he knew that, but given what she could smell, he was right about it. New scents began dancing around her nostrils and she raised her head up and inhaled deeply. Glancing around she turned to the north. She could smell a mass of wolves heading in their direction. This group far larger than any of the others she'd smelled thus far. She tried to count but lost track after fifteen. She whimpered and Percy glanced at her, his sword already back in his hand.

"Head back to the house," he ordered, calmly twirling the blade casually as he walked away. "Handle all of the leakers and keep Cass safe. I'll find Packard and gut him."

Well, she didn't like that. She was not about to allow her mate to fight against a small army of shifters. She growled and snapped softly at his hands, not violently but certainly strongly enough to voice her displeasure.

"Which is more important," Percy asked, "Me or Cass?" That wasn't fair, and she whimpered. "That's what I thought," Percy snorted. He knelt in the grass and ran a hand through her fur. "I'll be just fine. A couple of yorkies are nothing. They're here, and we still don't know if they're here for you or for her but either way we don't let the within a hundred yards of our girl, all right?"

She did not like it, but she could not disagree with the assessment. Her young was more important than anything. With a growl, she shook her head and stalked off towards the house. She may not have liked it, but she had faith.

That was all she could have.

BREAK

Percy rolled his shoulders, satisfied with the loud popping that accompanied. He felt out into the distance, feeling for all of the bodies running his direction. The wolves must have been camped out a couple of miles away, waiting to see what the first couple of waves did before going all in. He could feel at least a dozen headed his way, but it could be a as many as twenty. With a grunt, he impaled his blade in the ground and reached to his power. He felt the world around him. The water in the air and the water in the sky. He wrenched control of the water. Molding and shaping it to match his control. Thunder rolled overhead as lightning cracked, the natural world's reaction to his commands. The soft breeze of the forest grew stronger and stronger, whipping up into a veritable frenzy.

Grinning viciously, he brought his hand forward and released his power in one controlled, powerful burst. From nothingness, gallons and gallons of water materialized in the forest. The small ocean descended onto the ocean floor with the power of a tidal wave. He felt, rather than saw, as the water slammed into the mass of shifters. He could hear the startled yips and screams of terror from the animals as they were thrown about the forest floor. His adrenaline pumping, Percy took off into the darkness.

All but skating across the surface of the water, he scorched across the forest before running into the mass of wolves. It truly looked like a tidal wave had rolled through the forest. There was roughly three inches of standing water covering the floor. The bark of nearby trees had been stripped away from the trunks, and branches of some of the lower hanging trees had been ripped free and were floating in the water. The shifters had been thrown about the forest. Some were lying still on the forest floor; others were slowly trying raise back to their feet on unsteady legs.

The nearest wolf didn't even have the time to register Percy's presence before his blade was digging into its neck. The wolf's head hadn't even hit the ground before Percy was moving on to the next wolf. Percy tore through six of the wolves before the rest of the pack was even aware what was going on. The two nearest wolves snarled and barked as they chased after him.

Grinning, Percy slammed his foot into the water. The two wolves were violently thrown into the air as the water beneath them shot upwards like a geyser. He then stepped out of the way as a third wolf thrown himself through the air at Percy. His blade lashed outwards and cut into the neck of the wolf, separating it at the shoulders. The dismembered head splashed into the water around Percy's ankles, which was beginning to stain red.

The remaining wolves, now back on their feet, held their distance as they began to circle around him. He couldn't quite keep the excited grin from his face as he widened his stance and felt out to the water around him. Starting from the soles of his shoes and working up his legs, he began to accumulate power. The water around him began to lap at his ankles, as though being tossed around by an invisible breeze. Through his power, Percy could feel all that the water touched. Every log. Every blade of grass. Every wolf. He could feel as their legs tensed. As they shifted their weight from one foot to the other. Then, as he felt them push off the ground and towards him, Percy released the pent-up energy which exploded around him in a whirlwind of water.

Unlike some of his former brothers and sisters, Percy had never had finesse over his abilities. His divine powers always manifested violently. An uncontrolled tempest of water and wind. It was the natural trade-off; in exchange for the refinement of a sewer's needle, he had the power of a warhammer. He'd been called as such by more than one comrade over the years, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He'd never been one for subtlety or refinement, and instead preferred overwhelming power.

The water, supercharged with divine magic, began to steam and bubble. To anyone else, it would have been akin to standing in a steaming kettle, and much like before the water exploded. Like Old Faithful at midday the standing water shot straight upward right under the soft underbellies of the charging wolves. The wolves screamed out in agony, yipping and barking as their skin was literally boiled under their fur. Several were rag dolled around the forest, bouncing off of nearby trees, one another, and scattered rocks and logs.

Steam blossomed through the forest, obscuring the forest. But it didn't matter to Percy, he could feel as well as he could see. As soon as the power had been released, he was moving. Dancing along the forest floor, moving from wolf to wolf, his blade glimmering as it hacked and slashed through at least eight wolves before the remaining wolves had managed to get back to their feet. They were hobbled now. Barely able to stand as not even their magical abilities to heal were able to heal the burns quickly enough.

One tried to jump lurch forward to Percy, but it was so slow and sluggish that all Percy had to do was meander out of the way of the incoming strike. Catching the wolf by the back of the neck, he whipped it into another hobbling wolf. The pair fell to the ground over top of one another and Percy finished the pair off as he casually tossed his blade into the mass of the fur, shish-kabobbing the pair. With a deft wave of his hand, he summoned his sword back to his hand. The horrible sound of flesh being torn apart echoed around the forest as the blade returned to his hand.

With the blood of the last wolf still fresh in the clearing, he turned his attention to the south where there was still one wolf left. He could feel that this one was larger than the others, likely the leader of the pack. Which meant Packard.

His teeth ground together in a snarl, rage washing over him as thunder cracked even louder overhead. In a blur of speed, he took off into the forest. He danced over discarded logs and shrubbery, his legs churning and he felt the wolf turn and begin to run.

Percy roared in fury, "Coward!" And he doubled his pace. The winds above shifted and Percy felt a sudden burst of powerful gales at his back, giving him an extra burst of speed as he thundered through the forest. Packard was in view now, still a couple dozen yards away from him and moving as fast as he could. Snarling in fury, Percy felt his power begin to build up in his chest. Forcing the power down into his legs he let loose the power right at the moment his feet made contact with the forest floor. The moment his foot touched soil, the world began to shake in a violent explosion of divine power. Trees creaked and groaned as hunks of bark splintered free. A horrible keening groan was the only notice Percy had before a nearby tree was dislodged at the roots and toppled over nearly on top of him but he managed to scramble out of the just in time. In spite of the close call, he had accomplished his goal as the sudden earthquake had thrown off the footing of the fleeing wolf. The abruptness of the attack having caught the wolf completely off guard as he was thrown to the ground. He was back up and trying to run quickly, but that brief moment had been enough for Percy to close the distance.

Before Packard could get moving again, Percy dove. He landed on the back of Packard, driving the wolf back into ground. Packard yelped in surprise, which quickly morphed into a howl of pain as Percy drove a fist into his temple. A searing burn of pain lanced across Percy's thigh as Packard's hind claws slashed over him. Gritting his teeth in agitation, Percy repositioned himself over the wolf as he pulled Packard into a chokehold. He didn't want to kill the man, not yet. Percy wanted some answers, answers he was only going to get if the man was alive. But that decision came at a cost as Packard howled and thrashed violently against his grip. Snarling in agitation, Percy increased the pressure as he worked to lock his legs around the wolf's legs.

Slowly, Packard's thrashing began to slow before the inevitable finally happened, and the large wolf fell limp against Percy's grip. Panting, Percy released his grip on the wolf before hauling himself back to his feet. Pulling his pistol free, he let loose two quick shots into the kneecaps of Packard. The shock of the attack seemed to have jolted something in the shifter, as he began to transform back into his human form. He hesitated for a brief moment, considering just allowing the man to bleed out, but his better judgement won out. Pulling out his med kit from his belt he set about placing both of the man's legs in a set of splints. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered with it as the natural healing of beast shifters were strong enough to handle the relatively minor wounds. However imperial gold was not something that even the strongest of monsters could simply heal away.

With the man's legs taped up best Percy could manage, he hefted Packard onto his back, and began making his way back towards the house.

Now if only he could figure out how to deal with a pissed off, hyper-protective bear shifter.