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One look at Lyra’s eyes, wild and afraid, and nothing on earth could have prevented Jaden fro fro the darkness with bloodred He landed directly in front of the grappling pair, fangs elongated and bared The shock of his appearance gave Lyra the opening he’d hoped for She twisted away, but not quickly enough Mark took her doith a quick clout to the side of the head before whipping back around Jaden watched, an odd twist of pain in his chest, as Lyra gave a single, shocked sob and collapsed to her knees

Still, Jaden had gotten part of what he wanted Lyra could no longer be used as a shield

Recognition dawned in Mark’s eyes a split-second before the instinctive hatred did

Then another set of fangs were bared Eyes flashed hot gold The olf gave a guttural growl and reached for Jaden, long claws already extended froertips Jaden hissed as he stepped out of reach and waited for his chance Jaden knew froo for brute force over finesse And against a vampire, it was almost always the wolf’s downfall

This tied, swiped Jaden ducked easily and extended claws of his own, drawing first blood across the vulnerable belly The thin ribbons of blood darkening his opponent’s T-shirt seemed to incense his adversary, and he launched himself at Jaden only to find himself with a face full of asphalt Unable to control hih it sounded nasty and hollow to his own ears

"Hht"

Face bloodied, the olf dragged hirowled at his tormentor

"Get out of here, bloodsucker This is wolf business"

"Really? Looks like garden-variety jackassery toLyra out of the corner of his eye She had shifted to a sitting position, and was holding her head in her hands staying very still How badly she was hurt, Jaden didn’t know It was so like a wolf to try to win a woardless, it was tiive Lyra what care she needed

He tried to ignore the way his heart began to stutter in his chest at the thought

"Leave now," Jaden said, his voice soft, deadly "Or I kill you"

Mark snorted "Skinny piece of shit bloodsucker like you? I don’t think--"

His words were cut off abruptly by two kicks, one to his gut and one across his thick head At that, he went down like a ton of bricks with only a soft grunt for a response This tilared down at hi hiood h when he awakened facedown in the parking lot in thehiinterest in Lyra, Jaden had no interest in getting the Lili match hatever scruffy pack of olves this loser belonged to

Satisfied that they were now, for all practical purposes, alone, Jaden ht, intoxicating scent drifted fro his mouth water Apples, he re earthier beneath Strangely enough, he felt no urge to run, to hiss and spit He realized noas a good thing he hadn’t gotten this close the last tih he supposed his current actions qualified

"Lyra?" he asked, trying to keep his voice low and soothing He wasn’t sure how successful he was… he ay out of practice at daht? Do you need a doctor?" Wolves were self-healers, he knew, but it could take a while, which was dangerous when the wound was severe

She said nothing, moved not a muscle, and Jaden’s concern deepened He reached for her, e to make even the simplest physical connection But his hand stilled in midair when she finally lifted her head to look at him And whatever he’d expected to see--fear, confusion, even a little gratitude--none of it was in evidence as he looked into Lyra’s burning, furious eyes glowing fire-bright in the dark