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My hands ith blood The shirt had soaked up what blood it could, butmy forear desperately to keep breathing Long-clawed handswarmth spread under my hands His skin moved under my hands like warm, furry water

Shapes appeared out of the darkness They looked like people, but I kneas a lie Werewolves -¨C I was eyeball deep in olves

"He needs a doctor," I said

A dark-haired lasses knelt on the other side of Jae brown satchel and pulled out a stethoscope I didn&039;t question it Most packs had a doctor Never knehen you&039;d need some confidential medical care

He pushedIt wasn&039;t silver shot" He shone a penlight into the wound "What the hell is in there?"

"My shirt"

"Get it out before the skin heals around it"

The wound was healing My hand barely squeezed into the opening I got a handful of blood-soaked shirt and pulled It ca wet sloppy mess Blood poured in a steady stream from one corner of the shirt I let the shirt fall to the leaves I would not be wearing it tonight I had a thought that I earing nothing above the waist except a black bra I didn&039;t care

"Is he going to live?" I asked

"He&039;ll live"

"Promise," I said

He stared at lasses look like blank silver mirrors "I promise"

I looked down into Jamil&039;s wolfish face I stroked the fur across his forehead The fur was both rough and thick and soft "I&039;ll be right back"

There were other people with Jason and Zane Cherry with Zane, cradling hi by the over the rifle a belt off on the stump of his arm Good I wanted him alive I had questions for him but not yet

I knelt by Jason He lay in the leaves on his side A wo his wounds She was dressed in short shorts and a halter top, dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail It wasn&039;t until she turned her head that I realized it was Lucy She held a penlight between her teeth and was searching Jason&039;s wounds with sure hands, as if she knehat she was doing

She answered oing to take a couple of days" Whichwould have been fatal

She looked at me then Our eyes met from inches away The makeup was a little less severe, but the face was still pretty by ht

I turned away from her first I didn&039;t want to see as in her eyes I just didn&039;t want to know I knelt over Jason, started to touch his face, then stopped because the blood was still wet onvery soft I had to lean over him to hear it "Let me lick the blood," he said

I stared down at hi, Jason," I said "Don&039;t get cute"

Verne said, "It&039;s fresh blood, Anita It&039;s pack blood It will help him heal"

I stared at hiht and slender, letting his medical personnel do their jobs I started to ask hiot cut up, but Zanejust fine from a rifle blast that would have cost a human his arm But it hurt, and he made small pain sounds while the doctor worked on him

"The blood will help them heal," Verne said "Especially blood from someone as powerful as you are Marianne feeds the pack sometimes"

Lucy said, "It really will help him" Her face was neutral as she said it

I looked down at Jason His face was a mask of blood One eye ollen completely shut He tried to smile at me, but his lips were so badly swollen that the smile didn&039;t work It was like part of his face just didn&039;t work right now

I touched those wounded lips with ertips, brushed the fresh blood across his lower lip He rolled his lip under, tasting the blood But the ers against his lips and slid theently into his mouth He tried to suck theht He licked the blood, sing alers out, and his hand caers into histo his knees in the leaves Shang-Da was at his back like a good bodyguard Richard&039;s gaze lance opened me up to him a little more Without Jean-Claude to act as a buffer, the er He knelt there, his breathing co and falling, al for him I felt him look at the woman beside me I saw Lucy for a second as he saw her I saw the rise of her breasts swelling under the halter top

The line of her cheek half in shadow, half in ht She raised her face to

"He still wants you," I said

She gave a very small smile "But not as much as he wants you"

The marks between Richard and I quieted I couldn&039;t feel hi He had cut me off Afraid of what I&039;d see, maybe "What happened, Verne? They were supposed to be safe in your lands," Richard said

Cherry answered, "Jamil sent the three of us for help He" -¨C she pointed to a shadowy figure on the other side of the clearing -¨C "wouldn&039;t let us pass into the lupanar He wouldn&039;t take our request for aid to Verne"

The ht showed him: tall, muscular, dark-haired, pale "They are not pack They have no right to dee"

Verne was just suddenly there, and the tall as on the ground I hadn&039;t seen him move It was a speed that was dreamlike, impossible But I&039;d almost seen it

"I am Ulfric I decide who is worthy and who is not, Eric You are only Freki, third in the pack You have one e me"

Eric touched his hand to his face and ca you"

There wastowards me, the wounded ar "I caued with their olf" I could feel an intensity to his gaze, even in the dark "The blood&039;s going to dry before he gets to it all" He stayed there in the leaves, just out of touching distance His shirt had been ripped off one side of his slender chest It hung in rags to one shoulder He stared at ht, I could see the need, not in his face but in his body, the way he held hi of his body If he hadn&039;t been there, Jason would be dead now Even a lycanthrope has a lie he can take

Jason held the pal movements

"You need the other hand?" I asked

"It will be dried before he can use it," Lucy said

I stared at her and hated her just a little Hated her for having been in Richard&039;s bed Hated her for doing things with him that I&039;d never allowed myself to do

"The wereleopard doesn&039;t need the blood," Richard said "He&039;ll heal without it"

I just stared at him and held ood arers into histhe last bit of cake from a spoon

"He&039;s mine, Richard, mine as much as Jason is I am Nimir-ra and lupa"

Richard stood "I knohat you are, Anita"

I shook my head "You have no idea what I a presence Munin rising inside ofupward Richard&039;sit on sometier or both I didn&039;t fight the , that it would lose soht it off completely The best I could do was control it I let it flow over me, down my arms into the two ueover the sood eye stared up at me, wide, a little scared

I smiled down at him, and I knew that it wasn&039;t just my smile I was still here, but I wasn&039;t exactly alone Raina&039;s thoughts lay overI saw Her body, our body, wanted things, craved things thatBut if I were careful, I could use her as she used ht of steep, narrow stairs with a cup of scalding coffee filled to the brie and you get burned

The alternative to letting the munin have a little fun hat happened in the woods earlier I did not want another full-blown ht, not ever Jason couldn&039;t handle it, and neither could I

I looked down at Jason "It&039;s all right, Jason Enjoy the blood while it lasts I don&039;t think you&039;re going to get this offer twice"

He ran his tongue upits own fur Zane had sucked ers clean and had raised ood hand He was licking very slowly, very thoroughly up my palm

There was a sound behind us I turned to see the rifleman He was conscious and in soive hi him to me"

The doctor and the ith hi to Verne and Richard Richard hadhow everything had gone wrong They could discuss things all night I wanted answers

"Don&039;t look at the him to me!" Raina&039;s munin swelled outward and burst over ht a gasp froot a taste, a preview if you like It was getting harder to hold together Harder to think

They dragged the rifle a black underwire bra that hidsuits, but it was still a bra I was still covered in blood Jason and Zane were licking blood froe and macabre and would work as a threat very nicely

The doctor and the other olf threw the riflenored hie of ently on the skin His eyes slid to the rifleman, and I kneould put on a show for hilow She, it, whatever, wanted to cover Zane&039;s mouth with ours and taste Jae off his shoulder and lick the wound With the thought ca the wound would make it heal faster Surely not

The rifle mostly white I could feel his breath, smell his fear I could smell his fear like a miasma of sweat I could taste in his scent how injured he was I knew his skin would be cool to the touch from blood loss All this from a smell Shit

"What&039;s your name?"

The question seemed too hard for him

"We can check your wallet What&039;s your name?"

He made an involuntary move to his back pocket with a hand he didn&039;t have anyet hiht be able to reattach the arm"

"If he answers my questions truthfully, you can take him to the hospital"

"What&039;s your name?" I asked

"Terry, Terry Fletcher"

"Okay, Terry Who sent you to kill us?"

"I wanted to pay you back forus look bad That&039;s all Nobody was supposed to die"

Jason had cleaned ue like a cool line running over and over my skin Hot where he still touched me, cool where he&039;d just been

"Lies won&039;t get you to a hospital, Terry Lies won&039;t save your arm Who paid you to hurt us?" I asked

"He&039;ll kill h was rich and thick enough to hold It rolled out of h The sound raised the hairs on the back of my neck and made Jason hesitate, mouth pressed to my arm

"Do you really think I won&039;t kill you?"

A breeze had finally come up, hot and stale Jason&039;s h to suck atto the side of his mouth I wanted to kiss the wound, lick it, see if what I was being told was right Could I really heal him?

I looked at Terry "Tell me who paid you to hurt us TellI want to know, and the good doctor will take you to a hospital where they may save your arm Lie to me, and your arht, here, in this clearing You think it over, Terry I&039;ve got all night"

I leaned over Jason, drawing his mouth away from my arm We kissed, and I could taste Jamil&039;s blood, my skin, the faint remnant of the perfume on my wrist, and Jason&039;s blood His mouth had bled, and I could taste that, too But it wasn&039;t bleeding now It was healing, and I couldI had not to press ainst his and force that war I had not to press Jason&039;s wounded body into the leaves and ride him

I dreay from him, eyes closed I opened my eyes and looked at thethe top of my jeans They were soaked in blood, and wouldn&039;t really dry while I was still wearing the my spine There was no blood there, and he had to stop at the spine sheath, but it looked good for our captive audience

"Talk toone of them, I really don&039;t want to be interrupted" I leaned towards him just a little, and he flinched I dreay from Jason and Zane and crawled towards Terry Iit was supposed to be: fluid, dangerous, sexual Even now, his eyes kept flicking to erie Even now, he was still a man I felt Raina&039;s utter disdain of men All that sex, and it wasterrorizing theof his heart I could hear it Hell, I could alue Food, he smelled like food

"Who sent you, Terry?" I made it a whisper, intimate, for his ears only I reached out to hier down his cheek, he whith of his face "You taste like food, Terry"

I could feel the others at our back Verne&039;s pack responding to Raina&039;s call To h Richard, I was ht, it had possibilities They ca closer, nearer, drawn by my desire and the man&039;s terror

He stared at the closer ide eyes He turned his head to watch the, and he screamed

"Oh, God, please don&039;t"

Raina&039;s laugh fell from my lips "Names, Terry, names"

"Niley, Franklin Niley He paid us to run you off, said the cops wouldn&039;t be a problem Then he said kill you You especially He said kill that bitch before she queers my deal"

"What deal?" I whispered Frank Niley was the employer of the muscleman Milo Hart I hadn&039;t seen him since He was here for land speculation Was he the buyer for Greene&039;s land?

Terry&039;s eyes flicked around to the waiting olves "I don&039;t know, honest to God I don&039;t know He paid us five hundred apiece to hurt you He made it five thousand for Chuck and me to kill you"

"Five thousand apiece?" I asked

He nodded

"It wasn&039;t enough," I said

"We didn&039;t know you was a olf We didn&039;t knohat you were" One of the shadowy throng was sniffing his leg Terry&039;s voice rose a little higher with every word His next "I didn&039;t knoas almost a scream

Raina&039;s munin was like a warm pulse behind my eyes I leaned into the man, as if I&039;d kiss hiood doctor My mouth hovered over the man&039;s, but it wasn&039;t a kiss I wanted I stayed there, hovering over his hting not to sink teeth into his throat and tear Fighting not to draw first blood and let the pack feed

I started crawling back from him, as if I were the one that was afraid "Take him to the hospital"