Snippet Saturday – Kung Fu Fighting!
Gotta love a hero who’s ready to put his life on the line. And a heroine who stands right beside him. 
Her lungs burned with each choppy breath. Her legs screamed in pain and the stitch in her side threatened to double her over but she kept running. Every second counted. The house was in sight now, so close, just across the clearing. Pounding feet and paws echoed behind her and she fought the urge to turn around. She couldn’t waste the time. Getting to the house and Brogan could be their only hope.
Flesh and bone collided behind her. Rowan glanced over her shoulder and stumbled at the vision of human and animals rolling in the snow. The blows, grunts and snarls a strange musical note on the air. A yowl of pain and her insides went cold.
“Quinn!”
Forced to turn away and continue went against everything her coyote wanted to do. Her mate was in trouble and she needed to help him. But her human side knew the best way to do that was get to the house. Get Brogan and a gun. Her legs pumped harder, her chest ached and her eyes filled with tears she refused to let free.
Brogan came through the door, rifle in hand, he raced to meet her. He grabbed her arm, shoved her behind his back and braced the gun on his shoulder. The loud boom ricocheted around them. Aimed into the air, the shot was meant as a warning but it did no good. Three bodies, one human, two coyote, continued to wrestle. Brogan fired again.
Nothing happened. Among the rustling and tearing of cloth Rowan could hear the groans and yelps of pain as teeth and fists found their mark. Firing over their heads wouldn’t do it, these animals were in a frenzy and they wouldn’t stop unless someone or something stopped them. She yanked the weapon from Brogan’s hands. Before he could turn around and stop her, she lined up the sight and fired. No thought. No breath.
One shot.
Her aim was true and the bullet went dead center between the eyes of one coyote. He fell to the ground, pushed aside by the still fighting bodies. The second shot was harder. With only the two of them, the risk of hitting Quinn grew higher. Brogan stood beside her, his steady calm presence gave her the composed nerves to pull the trigger. This time her line was accurate but a twist of torsos as she squeezed her finger sent the slug into the coyote’s shoulder and not the back of his head.
Yelping, he backed away from Quinn. The animal’s head thrashed from side to side and he limped toward the tree line. Brogan stripped off his clothes, but the coyote sensed danger and bolted into the forest. Rowan sped across the distance to Quinn. He’d rolled to the side but didn’t move to get up and she feared they’d been too late. She dropped to her knees and put the rifle within easy reach. The blur of fur and legs sailed past them. Brogan was on the hunt.
Quinn moaned and Rowan breathed a sigh of relief. His clothes were torn, the legs and arms suffering the worst damage. Blood from numerous scratches soaked the fabric but the amount wasn’t life threatening. Gently she examined him for broken bones. Nothing stood out but he’d need an x-ray to determine if his ribs were cracked. His groan when she pressed on his side indicated they were at least bruised.
“I’m okay.”
Rowan’s heart skipped and a sigh of relief slipped from her throat. “Dammit, Quinn, you scared the life out of me.” She stopped herself from hugging him for fear of hurting him.
“Just need to catch my breath.”
Gasps of pain accompanied every shift of position. His injuries made his progress to sit slow and awkward. Rowan grabbed his shoulder to steady him when he swayed. As soon as he seemed stable she let go but didn’t move away to check the coyote. She didn’t need to, death would have been instantaneous.
“Nice shooting.” Quinn tipped his head in the direction of the carcass.
“Not good enough to get two.”
“You got him and I sliced through his neck before you fired. I doubt he’ll get far.”
“Even if he gets far, Brogan will catch him.”
“Help me up.”
“Do you think you should move yet?”
“Rowan, if I don’t get my ass off this snow the damn thing will be frozen solid and any scratches I have will be the least of my worries.”
“Oh.”
She wrapped an arm around his waist and together they stumbled to their feet. Steady, Quinn pulled away and began to walk to the house. Rowan stayed close but his steps were measured and sure. When they got to Brogan’s clothing she realized she’d left the rifle with the dead coyote.
“Damn. Wait here.” She jogged back but before she picked up the gun Rowan checked to make sure the coyote was dead. There were no familiar markings on the animal and she didn’t recognize his scent, but then, she’d been away so long he could be a newcomer to the pack.
“He’s not one of ours.”
Find all the info on Coyote Home HERE!
This list of this weeks participating authors:
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shiloh Walker
Shelli Stevens
Zoë Archer
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane
