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"You’ve got the blood thirst, just like aze flew to the left Not herto push herself up
"Why do you care about them?" His stare followed hers "They aren’t even worth your notice"
No, he wasn’t worth her notice
He held out his hand to her once more, claws stained red "Come with me, Erin, and I’ll let your human live, for now"
For now Code for later, he’d be back to slice her to ribbons
"Why do you do it?" she whispered "Why all the killings? Bobby Burrows--"
His hand waited in the air, but he answered her Harper had always loved to hear himself talk That was one of the many reasons why his court had always been torture for her "Burrows made you look like a fool He escaped on your watch"
Well, the cops’ watch
"And he orthless trash, eating away at the world He needed to be put down"
"That’s not your call to make! You can’t decide who lives or dies! You can’t--"
His hand fell "I’ve spent fifteen years ofwho lives and dies I da his own brand of justice and clai to kill for her "You’re crazy," she whispered Probably not the s to say to a killer, but what the hell?
"Wolves in packs don’t become psychotic" His voice had chilled
He hadn’t been in a pack for almost thirty years
"Mated wolves out of the pack retain their sanity"
He wasn’t uy even see where this was headed?
"You’rein my life has become crystal clear" His lips firmed and he took a step forward--
And he stu hi, kept him focused--yes!
Harper slipped in his own blood and went down, hard
"Erin…"
She shook her head "I’m not your mate, asshole, and even if I was, I wouldn’t spend a day of er…" His head fell down His body shuddered "Should have…killed hi…"
No "Jude isn’t exactly easy to kill" One of his best traits
His claws scraped over the pavement "Saw the way…you…l-looked at hi to hurt Jude"
He threw his head back then, and she saw his face A wild combination of man and beast "You’re mine!" A barely huh his body and he jerked, alround
Not a shift No He should have been too weak to transform Should have been…
Bones snapped Fur burst fro to stop the shift before it was too late Before he was too strong Because if he shifted, he could heal--and he could kill her
But his shift was fast Faster than Jude’s Faster than any shifter she’d ever seen in her life When her body fell against his, she sank her claws as deeply as she could into his side--not the side of a man, but the body of a wolf She thrust her claws past the thick fur and right into the , thick ood Erin stu her body
The wolf rose to his feet HisThe beast showed no signs of weakness
Hybrid The rules didn’t apply to him Or maybe they did He could obviously heal as fast as she could When he shifted anyway She could heal almost that fast without a shift
The next evolution? Had he been right?
The wolf snarled, and she stopped thinking about old Darwin--and focused on the killing machine before her
Backup! Where was Antonio?
She took a deep breath and attacked with all of herher in the stomach The wolf kicked her into the air
Erin landed on her ass but ju ever closer to her gun A fighter She could be a fighter, too "Coet me" She had to keep him away from Dee and her mother
Erin held up her claws and bared her teeth
And knew that he was about to kick her ass
Can’t take hih
But she could give hiun and blast the jerk withenough to--
The wolf lunged at her His teeth sank into her forear all the way to the bone
"Sonofabitch!"
His claws raked across her stoo!
Fire ate at her belly, but she took that pain and used it to feed the beast inside who could never get out
"Not a good way to treat yourloose with hands that shook
His eyes rolled She caught the faintest sight of white in that darkness, and he twisted suddenly, shoving Erin and kicking into her legs
What? Why was he--
The hum of a motor rumbled in the distance The wolf must have heard it before she had
Backup Antonio
The wolf’s ears shot straight into the air His head snapped in the direction of the approaching car, then he looked back at her
His muscles bunched
And damn if it didn’t look like the beast s With Dee bleeding out
When the wolf leapt forward, Erin launched herself at him They hit, hard, and the wolf knocked her into the dirt near the side of the road, and then he locked his teeth on her shoulder, in her shoulder
Bad idea So fucking bad Her claws flew up and gouged at his eyes
The wolf leapt away
Yeah, asshole My dad taught me that move, before he realized I could break the hands of any touchy-feely punks who crossed the line
"Go for the eyes, girl Don’t be afraid to hurt him"
She sure wasn’t afraid to hurt the wolf
"Erin…" Dee’s weak voice
She glanced to the left Dee was on her knees, weaving a bit Her white T-shirt was soaked red
The wolf snarled, and she knew he’d seen Dee His teeth snapped together