Her chest rose and fell to the same rapid tempo as her heart, which hammered away against the confines of her ribs like a caged animal. The thick, pungent scent of blood — belonging to both her and her attackers — assaulted her senses with each ragged breath, the acrid taste coating her tongue and sticking to the back of her throat.
With her back to the wall, frame half-crouched like a loaded spring, and teeth bared in warning at the remaining three males that had managed to corner her, the dark-haired woman resembled something more feral than the human she was supposed to look like.
But then again, she wasn't exactly human, was she?
In hindsight, Blue still couldn't pinpoint the precise moment where she had lost the upper hand in the situation.
Taking this particular sidestreet as a shortcut had become something of a routine as of late. Running into the four dumbshit thugs that clogged the narrow space between buildings, however, was not.
In this form she appeared softer, more vulnerable, and she could only assume that the dismissive manner in which she had shrugged off their jeers and repulsive comments was what had initially set them off, having offended their manly, testosterone-fueled pride. Or whatever.
Perhaps the turning of tables had occurred when she attempted to shove past them rather than just turn on a heel and take another route, as anyone sensible might do.
Or maybe it happened when she had begun running her mouth, insults and threats spewing from her lips with such animosity that one of them had actually flinched.
...In all likelihood though, it had probably been when she had abruptly high-kicked one fucker in the face for even d a r i n g to invade her personal space and make a bold grab for her wrist.
Immediately following such a bold move that had left one of their own on the ground, clutching at what she hoped to be a broken nose (if the blood streaming from between his fingers was any indication), there was the shortest of silent pauses, as if none of the scuzzbags' brains were properly developed enough to handle such a shock and thus momentarily shorted themselves out.
...And then chaos broke out.
Shouts, profanities, and the occasional grunt of pain rent the air as the remaining trio attacked, slashing at the air where she had once stood with nasty-looking switchblades that had been produced seemingly out of nowhere.
Blue was a seasoned fighter and held her ground at first, but somewhere between point A and point B had left the disguised wolf hybrid panting heavily and backed against a wall, sizable gashes and several smaller ones marring both her legs and arms, the worst injury being a stab wound in left shoulder — the deep laceration still sporting the blade that had caused the damage, the weapon having been buried in almost to the hilt before she'd wrenched it from one of the antagonist's hands.
She really needed to stop making friends.