150 Helping hand

Frank retreated a little to the side, moving away from the aisle, so as not to run into a sudden attack from behind. Although his face looked as if he was just watching the fight in a carefree way, the former soldier was alert and tried to find the best position so that he could see all those present. The rest immediately surrounded Brandon and Ryan, looking forward to the start of the fight.

Out of the corner of his eye, Frank caught the movement. That pair of shifters-losers, who ran into the hall with their wounded friend, now tried to move as inconspicuously as possible to the wall. Noticing his gaze, the younger guy immediately turned around, covering his comrades.

"You're a human, aren't you?" - He asked in a half whisper, looking in amazement at Frank.

"Yeap." - Calmly answered a man in a furry suit. And added with a little disappointment. - "Apparently, my trick with this beautiful disguise failed. And I tried so hard ... "

The guy barely managed to suppress a chuckle. Franky peered at the boy's face, remembering the words of Ryan, and frowned.

"Why are you here? You three is not very similar to those who are ready to kill their comrades for the warmer position on the top."

The face of the young Shifter immediately darkened, and his lips stretched out into a line.

"We are from Carson's squad." - He nodded in the direction of a tall, broad-shouldered fellow with a shaved head who was in Brandon's group. - "This bastard didn't even recognize us in the face. Of course,he uses us only as cannon fodder. Just this month in our group 6 Shifters was killed. My friends and I are not going to stand still and look at young shifters, full of the desire to protect their species, are sent to serve as dead meat like cattle."

Frank peered at the boy's face, full of determination and then turned his gaze to his friend, whose piercing eyes were watching him as if this guy was ready to rush to help his friend at any second. Their wounded companion groaned, opening his eyes. Frank sighed heavily and headed to him, ignoring the worried eyes of his two friends.

"We need to set his bone as quickly as possible. I already saw this once. And I have some experience with broken bones. Hold it." - He handed over his shotgun to the frozen in surprise young guy. The shifter hesitated, but still took the weapon.

"But we do not use it." - He mumbled uncertainly, looking at the weapon with disgust.

"If my friend will be chewed while I'm helping yours, then you should know that I have another shotgun in my pants, and I will use it on your ass."

The boy looked skeptically at the man's hairy legs, but having caught Franky's mocking glance, immediately turned to the center of the hall.

Before that, two opponents just circled around each other, assessing each other. Apparently, Brandon decided not to hurry and wait until the reptile attacks first. Ryan sank down on all four legs, forcing the enemy to slump on his front paws too, and now he stood calmly, wagging his tail as if teasing a bear.

The bear didn't have much patience. Making a sharp growl, he rushed forward trying to jump on the strange shifter from above, and crush him under. But Ryan was faster. The bear did not even expect that instead of trying to slip away his opponent would rush forward. Ryan jumped up and twisting in the air, slashed Brendon with a tail across the muzzle. The bear roared and pulled away. The tip of the tail got him right in the eye, for a second blinding him. Meanwhile, Ryan landed on his feet and quickly turned around, leaping on the bear from above, clutching at his neck and back with his claws.

Those onlookers shuddered, watching Ryan open his huge mouth, that literally split his whole head into two parts, and sinking his sharp teeth into Brandon's head.

The bear roared, stood on his hind legs and fell backward, trying to crush the enemy with his weight. He floundered and squirmed, but the reptile under him was not affected at all. He continued to hold on and slowly began to clench his jaws. The bear's blood sputtered around, flowing down, cowering the whole muzzle. Brandon froze for a second and then issuing an ear-shattering cry sprang up on all four paws and rushed to the wall on the way knocking away his comrades.

Reaching the stone arch, he began to slam at it like a madman, trying to knock down the enemy who had clung to him. But Ryan just curled his tail around the neck of the enemy with and tensed his jaw more. There was not a trace on his scaly skin after all of Brandon's attempts to get rid of him. The fight was over in just five minutes.

The bearish roar quickly turned into a wheezing, and then completely waned, interrupted by the crackling of the skull. Brandon crumbled on the floor, and soon his body began to transform into a human form. Ryan only managed to retreat in time, releasing the enemy's bloody head from his mouth before the lifeless body of the former leader of the Watchers stretched out on the floor.

Silence hung in the hall. Brandon's minions froze, unable to believe their eyes. They saw thousands of fights, in which their boss participated and no one expected such an end. Their leader could not even strike a single blow. And judging by the dents on the floor and the stone wall, the skin of this reptiloid was almost impenetrable.

"Who is next?" - They heard the cold hoarse voice of Ryan, who at that moment quietly stood at the corpse of Brandon and calmly rubbed his claws from the sticky, bloody fur.

" Who on Earth can love this fur? Just an abomination." - He grumbled disgustedly to no one in particular.

"Perhaps because no one wants to rub on your body armor, that is as hard as a stone." - Mocked the inconspicuous man stepping forward.

"What are you doing here, old man?" - Ryan frowned, immediately recognizing the man.

"You know how much I love my girls." - he answered calmly, shrugging. - "I can't send one of them to the dungeon with these dogs. So I had to go myself. Brandon promised that our squad won't be touched. But now all deals are off, right?"

"Shut up, you old fart!" - Shouted one of the guys of the former leader. The one whom the leader called Clark.

"What are you standing here for, attack him!" -He growled, turning to the rest. His companions began to look uncertainly at each other. The first to attack was decided by the four who came to the cave last. Actually, only two, as their comrades shot down by Frank joined the number of corpses on the floor. But it seems like life never teaches some people.

The audience did not even have time to realize what happened next. Coyotes have already partially transformed and were a step away from the reptile. Then there was a sharp snap, like the sound of a whip, and both froze like two statues. Blood splattered almost simultaneously, filling the chest of both of them. Only when the two attackers began to sink to the floor with a wheezing, and Ryan began to scrub the tip of his tail with disgust, those present guessed that he had just cut the throat of both of them with his tail. It was just one completely imperceptible movement of the tail. So fat that nobody could even see it.

"Can you hurry up somehow?" - Ryan snapped with irritation, looking at opponents. - "I still have plans for today."

There were only five minions of Brandon left. Judging by the face, the old man did not intend to attack at all, and the trio next to Frank after all his help even surrounded a strange man, ready to stand on his side.

"Listen," - began a man with long hair, worriedly looking at his companions. -"There are eleven of us here. And most probably, no one else will come here. We have no reason to fight. We can just go out and take our places among the commanders of our troops. I do not mind if this reptiloid takes the position of the leader. He deserved it by right."

"Shut your trap! No way in hell I will not allow this!" -Clarke barked, and instead of throwing himself at Ryan, he darted to Frank. He apparently considered him the weakest, especially noticing that the shotgun was still in the hands of another shifter. Ryan tried to stop him, but other saw the opportunity and jumped him all at once.

The young shifter next to Frank attempted to block this attack, but the former commando himself did not let him do it. Frank threw the guy away, saving the boy from the much bigger shifter and swung his metal claws, driving it into the attacker's shoulder. Only this time the enemy was not so simple.

The shifter didn't even flinch, receiving a blow, as if he had deliberately put the shoulder under attack. In the next second the shifter transformed his muzzle, twisted and sank his bear fangs into Frank's hand, clenching his jaw. The crack of bones breaking sounded, and a fake fur became almost black, soaked in blood.

Frank gritted his teeth. A sharp pain nearly knocked him out. As if red cover fell before my eyes. He growled like a beast and began to thrust claws on his second hand into the shifter's skin. Again and again. The bear roared through his teeth and jerked his head away. Frank swayed and fell backward.

As if through a fog, he watched a huge werebear hover over him. The beast maw was covered in blood and Frank in wonder saw his own hand falling from it to the ground right before him.

It seems to him that someone was shouting something, but everything was happening as if in slow motion. The boy tried to stop the bear again, but this monster just threw him away with one blow of a massive paw. His partner grabbed a shotgun in the last attempt to help. But apparently, the shifter never had a weapon in his hands before. The shot passed, hitting Clark only slightly. The bear instantly jerked toward the shooter.

"Wait right there, you dick!" - Frank growled, getting up from his knees and throwing a bloody pom-pom in the face of a bear. - "I'm not finished with you yet!"

Clark turned around and snarled in the direction of Frank. But the guy did not even try to back off, on the contrary stepping forward. Bear issued a roar of victory, preparing for the last attack.

"If you like my damn hand so much, how about tasting this too?" - Frank asked with a grin and swung tossing something in the direction of the bear. The object shot with such a speed, that the bear didn't even have the time to close his maw. It hit him precisely in the mouth. Clark gasped in surprise and swallowed it involuntarily.

"I wasn't called the best pitcher in college for nothing." - Frank said with a satisfied smile. The bear bared his fangs and rushed at the man again.

Boom!

From the side, it might seem that a bag of red paint exploded. Frank and another shifter with a shotgun were thrown against the wall, completely covered with blood and pieces of flesh.

Ryan, who by that time finally was able to deal with the last henchman of the former leader, ran up to his partner, frozen in a daze.

"Frank. " - He called uncertainly, squatting down beside the man. There was no bear mask on the guy laying quietly on the floor. His face was completely covered with red liquid. It was hard even to see if he was breathing. Ryan stretched out his hand, that started to shack a little.

"He is alive." - He heard the hoarse voice of an old Shifter from behind. - "But you need to get out of here as soon as possible. Even for a werewolf, losing a hand is a serious matter. It is a matter of minutes for a mere human."

Ryan clenched his fist and quickly but carefully picked up his comrade in his arms, carried him to the exit to the surface, not paying attention anymore to what was happening around. He ran up the stairs, jumping a few steps at a time and kicked open the door. The harsh light blinded for a moment. And then the world exploded with cheering and applause. But they too quickly subsided, leaving behind only a surprised whisper.

When his eyes got used to it, Ryan looked around, finding himself in the middle of a vast crowd. The Night Watchers gathered in the old chapel to meet the new leader.

"Who is it? Where is Brandon? What does this mean?"

"What the hell happened? Why does he drag this body along?"

Hearing these words, Ryan instantly snarled, forcing the nearest shifters to back down.

"This is Ryan Brand. Mr. Winterbourne's nephew. And the new leader of the Night Watchers. And in his hands is his partner. He suffered in a fight with Clark Romano. This guy lost his hand, but Clark in a much worse state, someonewill need to scrape him off the wall." - Sounded a hoarse but loud voice of an old shifter from behind Ryan. Everyone immediately fell silent, looking at the strange couple already with bigger respect. Many hated Clark, and it would be hard to find at least anyone who would mourn him.

"Yes, this guy is great!" - confirmed the young shifter, leaving the dungeon after the old man. - "He saved us when a four of Slade's squad tried to attack us from behind. Those two actually took a victory on all Brandon's followers."

The crowd roared with approval. Of course, no one here could guess that Frank was just a human, and with a bunch of weapons. He was now smeared in Clark's blood to the extent that no one could feel or see anything.

" Make way!" - Ryan roared, and the crowd immediately obeyed, giving him the opportunity to pass to the exit of the chapel. Congratulations and cheers flew after them.

"What a fool you are." -Ryan grumbled ignoring the crowd and at a quick pace exiting the chapel. -"Even the guts of this freak have become a better disguise than this stupid costume. And don't even think about dying on me, pal. You promised to be my best fan after all."