Tanner didn’t give them a chance. He dropped his hands to his sides, his claws extending to their full length so fast that blood splattered on the wooden planks of the porch. Then he bared his fangs at the men and roared so loud, people five miles away probably heard it.
Zarina reached out to grab his arm, desperate to stop the fight before it started, but Tanner slipped left and caught the blond-haired Peter in midjump. Latching onto the man’s shoulders, Tanner spun him around and sent him crashing into one of the pillars supporting the porch. Peter slammed into it with an audible crunch. Something told Zarina the sound wasn’t entirely from the wood breaking.
Peter hadn’t even tumbled to the ground before Tanner was moving again. He intercepted Malcolm just as the man lashed out at Zarina’s face with his claws. Their sharp points missed her by mere inches, and she gasped as Tanner ran headlong into her attacker, shoving him away from her.
Tanner and Malcolm went down in a pile, quickly becoming a rolling ball of muscles, snarls, growls, and flashing claws. A split second later, Spencer joined the fray.
Crap. This was going to get so much worse.
Heart pounding, Zarina hurried forward to intervene, but an arm wrapped around her waist, jerking her to a stop before she’d gone more than a few feet. She glanced over her shoulder to see Burt holding onto her. A few feet away, Chad was doing the same to his daughter. All around the camp, people poked their heads out of doors and windows, a few of them venturing out of their cabins to see what the commotion was about.
“You can’t get between them, not while they’re like this,” Burt insisted. “You do, and you’re the one who’s going to get hurt.”
Zarina knew Burt was right, but that didn’t keep her from fighting against his grip anyway. Tanner was in danger. That was all she cared about.
But Burt refused to let her go, so she was forced to watch as Peter joined Spencer and Malcolm. The three hybrids looked barely human now, their eyes completely lost in a glow of red and fangs flashing.
Tanner might be bigger than all three of them and a former Army Ranger to boot, but there was no way he could fight that many out-of-control hybrids all at once. He was so focused on Spencer and Malcolm that he never saw Peter coming at his back. Malcolm gripped Tanner’s shoulder, digging his claws in deep and flipping Tanner over. Peter immediately lunged forward and sank his fangs into Tanner’s free arm, pinning it to the ground and holding him tight. That’s when Spencer leaned in close and lifted his hand, his claws aimed at Tanner’s exposed neck.
Zarina’s heart seized in her chest. Oh God. Spencer was going to kill him.
Just then, Lillie broke loose of her father’s grip and threw herself into Spencer’s arms, ignoring his claws as if they weren’t there. Her father shouted for her to get away from the hybrid, but Lillie didn’t pay any attention. Instead, she placed her small hands firmly in the middle of Spencer’s chest and pushed, resolutely facing down the snarling hybrid like she wasn’t scared of him at all.
That interruption was all Tanner needed.
He broke loose from the two hybrids holding him, blood flying as he roared so loud, Zarina swore she felt the ground tremble beneath her. He slashed Peter across the chest as he got to his feet, knocking the air out of the hybrid and putting him on his back. The wound wasn’t deep enough to kill, but it was bad enough to jerk Peter out of his shift. The red faded from the man’s eyes, and he rolled over, groaning in pain.
Tanner quickly moved over to put himself between Malcolm and Zarina, as if he still thought she might be in danger. From where she stood, she had a three-quarter view of Tanner’s face, and the rage she saw there shocked her. She’d seen his hybrid side many times, but she’d never seen him like this.
He roared again, louder than even before. That, along with the display of three-inch-long fangs, which were much larger and more terrifying than any other hybrid’s, was enough to make Malcolm take a step back, the red glow fading from his eyes.
That should have ended the fight, but Tanner was too far gone for that. He stalked toward Malcolm, his clawed hands ready to strike.
Zarina froze. He was going to kill Malcolm because the hybrid had tried to hurt her.
She yanked away from Burt before he could stop her and lunged for Tanner. This time, she wasn’t worried about protecting him from physical harm but from something much worse. If he killed the other hybrid in cold blood like this, it would crush his soul. For him, that would be more than he could take.
Zarina ran around in front of Tanner, putting herself between him and Malcolm. But the sight of her wasn’t enough to halt him in his tracks like it usually was. His eyes were as ruby red and feral as the three other hybrids’ eyes had been mere moments ago. He was so far gone, she wasn’t sure if she could get him back from the edge.
“Tanner, it’s me…Zarina,” she said in the calmest, softest voice she could manage. “It’s okay now. You can relax. The danger is past. Breathe, Tanner, just breathe.”
He hesitated, and she stepped closer to him, saying the words over and over again, first in English, then in Russian, before repeating them in English. She knew he couldn’t understand her when she spoke in her native language, but when he was this far gone, she doubted he could understand what she was saying in English, either. But the words she used never mattered. It was her tone and the soft sound of her voice calming the beast that fought to completely take control of him.
Little by little, the red glow in his eyes began to fade, and she knew she was getting through to him despite the fact that his claws and fangs were still fully extended.
“I’m safe, Tanner,” she murmured as she moved closer. “You can relax.”
Stopping in front of him, she put her hands on his chest and leaned in, letting her scent envelop him until the red glow finally disappeared from his eyes and his fangs and claws retracted.
Zarina nudged him back, wanting to put a little more distance between him and the other three hybrids.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lillie doing the same thing to Spencer. Even more shocking, the big hybrid let her do it, though the girl was literally half his size and his eyes were still blazing a deep, angry red. That answered Zarina’s earlier question about how Lillie had gotten those scars on her neck. She’d put herself in front of an angry hybrid, something Zarina had done more times than she could count.
Now that the hybrid testosterone had finally receded, Chad got his hands on Peter while Burt urged Malcolm back, putting a little more space between everyone.
“Move away from Spencer, Lillie,” Chad ordered.
She didn’t answer but simply met his gaze and stayed where she was.
Chad gave his daughter an angry look but didn’t argue. Muttering something under his breath, he checked the slash on Peter’s chest.