Scarlett: (GxG)

Chapter 22

Scarlett POV

The wolf came to me quickly, bursting through my skin to claim the night for its own. Anger was the first emotion it felt and the animal devoured it as if starved.

When the violence eventually subsided, I was still desperately hungry for revenge. I wanted to rip. I wanted to tear. To make them bleed for what they did to us... The only thing that stood in my way was the woman beside me whose fingers gripped at my fur.

Occasionally I could feel the line of her body against me and hear the quick thrum of her heart. The wolf wasn't calmed, but with her there it was a reminder that this wasn't just a fight, but politics.

Entering the hotel was an assault on the senses. The smell of countless hyenas layered on top of one another met my nose. I sniffed, breathed in deep, and tasted Jake's scent. Fucking bastards. But that was all the information I had. I couldn't tell if he was hurt or bleeding, just that he'd been walked through the doors, much like how I was now except I had someone desperately clinging to the fur at my side.

Zoey's heart was a small bird fluttering in a cage. I knew part of it was from the anticipation of what was going to happen, as well as the fight on the street. Still. I also knew that a small fraction of it was her newfound fear of what she'd seen me become. Those warm, coffee colored eyes didn't dare look over at mine. But her small fingers digging into my fur, at least I had that.

Or so I thought.

The man she called Percy tugged at her which in turn began to pull her away from me. My body was rife with possessiveness that was only accentuated by the animal I'd become. The growl that came from me was quick and sudden.

I moved to press my head into her side in protest.

"She'll be fine," he told Zoey when she resisted him for a moment.

She leaned back into my body and I welcomed it.

Mine...

My jaws snapped which caused a crescendo of cackling all around us. The fur along my back, down to my tail stood on end. I fucking hated that sound.

"We're taking you to the showers. You don't get to see our Ibisi while looking like shit."

It was Tish, the hyena with the long braids who spoke next. Somehow her words quieted the small crowd even though there was little force behind them. It was easy to see that she held a high rank among them somehow.

I looked back to Zoey, her small body still tucked into my jacket. It was then that she actually looked at me, no longer fearing my yellow gaze. Even if it was a fleeting glance, it was something.

"I'll get you some clothes," she said.

Her voice now sounded so small amidst the rising tension.

When her hand eventually fell away from me my paws took me a step closer, desperate to have the woman's touch return. The wide body of a spotted hyena at my back shoved me hard, directing me in the opposite direction. I was tempted to push back but a fight would get both of us nowhere.

I watched her disappear along the hallway, just before the man slipped his hand against the small of her back. A sting of fiery jealousy shot through me, one I could barely control as I was corralled down a corridor.

Tish was the one that led the way, braids swaying. At first she said nothing but eventually I caught her taking notice of me stalking cautiously behind her. There wasn't any true fear in her, just wariness with having a wolf at her back.

"Women are typically high ranking here, if you're wondering why anyone gives a shit about what I have to say."

My healing ear flicking was all she'd get as a response.