CHAPTER THREE
The creature certainly didn’t waste time once it got to town.
Erik had a light sleep of about two hours before he heard it—someone stalking outside, but not on his yard. It hadn’t taken him long to remove his sweatpants, which was the only thing he was wearing before quietly opening the bedroom window and slipping out in the dead of night.
There was no full moon, but that was no problem for Erik. He could see his own yard pretty clearly, filled with enough bushes for him to hide in. So he snuck over to one until he was relatively covered and let his eyes sweep the area slowly.
His gaze stopped as a shadow moved in Charlotte’s yard. He crawled even closer, as close as he dared without disturbing any of the loose stones or branches. The shadow stepped closer, a black blur that seemed small from this distance as it moved towards Charlotte’s front porch. It paused there, perfectly still, and Erik was finally able to view it fully.
It wasn’t as small as he thought.
The creature was unlike any he’d ever seen before. It had the body of a hyena, only bigger, with spots at differing spaces and a tail that was filled with dull yellow spikes. Its paws were huge, not necessarily paws but more a scatter of sharp claws that were too pointed and sharp—almost like a predator bird’s, he realized. The size alone could tear anything that got in its way, but it barely left any evidence of footsteps in the yard, an indication that it was light on its feet.
The face was filled with pockmarks, sharp, serrated teeth in a huge jaw, and dull yellow eyes.
What the hell was he looking at?
Erik tensed as the creature began pounding on the door, even when it only lasted a few seconds. Pounding turned to scratching, and he waited in his spot and readied himself to shift as images of Charlotte turning on her lights filled his mind—as well as that of her opening the door.
She’d be dead on the spot.
More seconds passed, and the scratching continued. But no light was turned on, and no sounds came from inside. Unless she was a heavy sleeper, he doubted she’d have missed all that commotion.
Which meant she was one smart girl.
The creature gave up scratching, lurking at the corners with its eyes fixed on the house. Then it started scratching at the back again, softer this time, almost as if testing.
What was it up to?
Erik made a move forward—and almost wished he didn’t, because even if he didn’t make any noise, the creature’s head came up, staring straight in his direction. He saw cold, merciless eyes, that of a cold-blooded predator.
Then the creature ran away in a blur.
He inwardly cursed. Then Erik went sprinting after it into the forest where it went, feeling his body vibrate with an energy for a few seconds as he leapt in the air. When he landed, his hands and feet were gone, replaced by paws. His body was different, too.
He was now a predator.
The forest usually made a lot of noise at night, but this time Erik couldn’t hear the shuffle of tiny animals or the hoot of an owl. He ran as fast as his body could carry him, but it seemed the creature was fast—faster than he’d given it credit for, already disappearing from his sight. He came across a clearing by a creek, and pointedly stopped just before the trees gave way, his ears waiting for any sudden movement or sound.
None came.
He’d completely lost it.
Still not wanting to give up, Erik kept running, circling the area twice, trying to catch movement or any unusual scent in the air. But there really was nothing. Usually, most creatures left at least something behind—a trace or an essence, a whiff for him to keep tracking.
But there was nothing.
Frustration hit the back of his throat as he circled the area for the third time. He waited some more—but two hours later proved no trace of it still, and he couldn’t very well stay here for long. Dawn was coming.
Erik snuck back towards his house, careful to cover his trails. He glanced towards Charlotte’s and found that her lights were still turned off, so he swerved in that direction, careful not to pass by the windows. He studied the front door, then the back. No scratches.
Quietly, he went back to his house and called a number.
“O’Riley?” a gruff, sleepy voice on the other line asked. “Why the hell are you calling so early?”
Erik proceeded to launch into a description of the creature he saw, not leaving any detail out as the other line stayed silent. He wasn’t quiet for long, not when it came to Killian Malarkey, who always wanted to stay on top of information.
“Is it confirmed that there’s only one?”
“No,” Erik said. “My gut instincts are telling me we’re dealing with more. I need backup, Killian.”
“And we both know your gut instincts are always on par,” Killian muttered. “I’ll send you assistance tomorrow. Update the sheriff and update me.”
They talked some more before finally hanging up, after which Erik called the sheriff next. But John Malone already knew, apparently a certain someone had already called him.
“Keep an eye on Charlotte, Erik,” John said. “That girl likes solving things on her own.”
“It’s my job,” was Erik’s simple response before he hung up—and it was, because the bear clan was being paid to do this job. Usually they reserved their forces for city problems within the shifter community, but Killian had decided to make an exception when it came to John, who was an old friend of his.
Erik sighed. He’d get some much needed sleep. Then he was going to keep searching for that monster that was up to no good.
*****
The loud pounding on his door woke him abruptly out of a light sleep, and Erik groaned. It felt like the start of a headache was forming, courtesy of the bottle of whiskey he’d drunk to get himself sleepy. Usually liquor had no effect on him, but he did finish the whole bottle to get rid of the adrenaline that coursed through his body and kept him awake.
He opened the door and glared, expecting the sheriff.
“Damn early to disturb me.”
Except it wasn’t the sheriff.
Charlotte stood on his porch, looking too appealing for her own good in short shorts and a cotton shirt that hugged her tiny curves. His mind stood at attention—and it wasn’t the only thing that did. His mind also reminded him of images of her last night, when she’d been all riled up and donning a thin robe that showed off too much leg.
Inwardly cursing himself at his inappropriate thoughts, he peered at her.
“What the hell do you want?”
Her initial surprise at his greeting disappeared, and Charlotte frowned at him. “Did you hear any weird sounds last night?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“There were some scratching and pounding noises at my doors last night.”
He raised a brow, undecided whether to keep her in the dark or not. In the end, he decided it was in her best interests that she didn’t know.
“Maybe your hot date came back for some more?” he suggested, adding just a bit of leer in his tone.
Her mouth dropped open, drawing his gaze to her lips. Damn. He’d give anything to taste them right now—to taste her. Their attraction was off the charts, and it was so damned inconvenient.
Your job, O’Riley.
Right.
He wanted a hot fuck. She was a relationship type of girl—that much was obvious.
Not going to work.
“You’re incorrigible,” she declared. “For all I know, you did the scratching to make fun of me.”
He hadn’t expected that. Erik would have let it slide—would have even played along if it wasn’t for the real nerves he saw in her eyes. He opened the door wider and stepped forward, ignoring—for his own sake—the way her gaze raked over his sweatpants-clad body before remembering herself and looking him straight in the eye.
“I would never hurt a woman or give her any reason to feel unsafe,” he murmured, voice serious, watching her expression until she reluctantly nodded. Then he lightened his tone, turning it playful. “But I wouldn’t protest if a gorgeous woman offered another free strip tease...”
Her eyes widened. Then she glared at him, practically spitting fire.
“Good afternoon, Mr. O’Riley,” she said stiffly. “Maybe you should stop drinking so much so you’d actually wake up early and know what’s going on in this neighborhood.”
Charlotte was already stomping away before he could even get a word in, and he was torn between laughing his ass off and pulling her back in his arms.
He wanted her. He couldn’t have her, not without complications.
It looked like he was just going to have to protect her.
*****
The neighborhood was quiet, with the sheriff dispatching his men to stand guard before midnight to the other areas of town—those that were too crowded for the creature to focus on, but still held potential threat. Erik kept to the woods and to his neighborhood, realizing that with the family next door gone, Charlotte was basically alone if not for him.
He circled her yard, seeing no sign of danger so far. She was inside, baking something delicious again from the smell of it, with only some of her lights turned on.
Erik moved fast. He gathered the stones and placed it in a circle around her yard. When the last stone was there, he muttered a little chant, watching a spark on the last stone before things returned to normal.
Her place was safe.
He gathered more stones, then started spreading it around his own yard.
A blur moved on his right. Then another.
Erik had only enough time to stand up before two of the creatures were leaping towards him.