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Son of a bitch

Salvatore shook his head in self-disgust

Of all the reasons he’d iined for the theft of the babies over the past thirty years, he’d never even considered the possibility it had been a plot personally directed at him

"You deliberately led me here"

"Of course"

"Why?"

"As I said, it is not yet ti down to better enjoy Salvatore’s frustration "But be assured…" He bit off his words as his eyes widened in an unexpected horror He leaned even closer, sniffing Salvatore’s skin "What is that?"

A savage s bond"

Briggs straightened, his pale face becoht pasty

"No It cannot be"

"Obviously, it can"

Caught in their battle of wills, neither er alone Not until there was the distinct sound of a gun being cocked

"Checkht of Harley standing directly behind Briggs, her handgun pointed to the back of the Were’s head

"Harley, no!"

Chapter Nine

Harley was already squeezing the trigger when Salvatore cried out With deadly accuracy the bullet smashed into the back of the Were’s head, the force of the blow sending hiun pointed at the stranger, her gut clenching as she watched the gaping hole in his skull swiftly knitting back together

Where was the blood? The gore?

Not even the most powerful Were could be shot point-blank and not take a few minutes to recover

Well, that was the common assumption

A pity no one had told the scary Were as already shi with power as he shifted

Harley’s breath disappeared as the lethal aniard her with fierce crimson eyes

Holy shit

Harley never realized that blood could actually curdle

Accustomed to curs, she was unprepared for the sheer size and terrifying power of a pureblood The air thickened, choking her with the heavy sense of danger Her skin prickled And her ut i predator, but Harley possessed enough sense to freeze

The fastest way to death was to give the big sceevy Were so to chase

Instead, she steadied her arm and prepared to shoot the beast It hadn’t doneIt’d pissed him off But unable to shift herself, she didn’t haveto attack, but before Harley could get off a shot, a furious howl split the air

Stunned, Harley sturound, his body thickening and his face elongating as a thick raven-black fur rippled over his skin In the blink of an eye, he was transfore olf

God, he was beautiful, she acknowledged, her heart squeezing with an odd fear as he crashed into the unknown Were with a violent force

Rolling across the clearing, the two purebloods ripped at one another with long claws, their jaws snapping Harley lowered her gun, unable to risk taking a shot as the vicious battle continued

The scent of blood filled the air,Harley’s storessive Were, but the stranger appeared freakishly is, she told herself Nothing but black ic could allow the lesser Were to survive Salvatore’s brutal fury

The realization, however, did nothing to reassure Harley

Hoas Salvatore supposed to defeat a zoh the trees as Salvatore at last rolled on top of the squir his teeth deep into his opponent’s throat The fight should have been at an end, but proving his unnatural powers, Briggs continued to claw at Salvatore’s back, leaving deep scratches that oozed an alar amount of blood

Salvatore couldn’t bleed to death, but he would quickly weaken if he wasn’t allowed to heal