Darce felt his jaw drop, but couldn’t do anything about it. She was beautiful. The epitome of feminine grace and lethality all wrapped up into one lithe yet curvy package that had his heart racing and his cock as stiff as an iron bar. Crouched in front of him, she was dressed for combat but looked nothing like any soldier he’d ever seen. Certainly none he’d ever served with heated his blood and tented his pants like this one did.

“Move out of the way.”

Her voice was a melodious snarl, its dulcet tones stroking along the back of his neck as though it had fingers of its own. He wanted nothing more than to obey her, to step aside and let her pass. If he did that, though, Lillian’s blood would be on his head. If that happened, Jack would rip his still-beating heart from his chest, and Darce really liked it where it was.

“Aww come on, doll. How about you stay and play a while?”

Watching her carefully, he took a step forward, then another. Adrenalin and wariness raced through his veins in tandem, a heady feeling. Baiting a Blood was like baiting a feral tiger. Dangerous as fuck.

It was the most fun he’d had in months.

“Forget the human. I’m much more fun, I promise.”

Her eyes didn’t leave him as he walked forward. Even if he couldn’t smell the difference in her scent, he would have known instantly from her stillness that she wasn’t human. Humans didn’t do “statue” very well, but Bloods managed it to perfection.

A hunting technique, the logical side of his brain informed him. The infection had hyper-evolved its victims into predators. Ones that preyed on humanity. The human eye was drawn to movement, so it stood to reason any creature hunting it could freeze at will. Like how she’d been hiding in the branches above them. Perfectly still, almost unseen, until her scent had given her away.

“I’ll even roll over and let you rub my tummy, if you ask nicely.”

Darce held his breath as he took another step. He was almost within range, just two more steps at the most, then it was game on. The murderous look in her eyes warned him that he couldn’t let her get past him. Not that he intended to. Her scent wrapped around him and woke the beast inside. It growled and paced, not liking to be caged with their mate so close.

“I’ll rip your fucking guts out.”

She shifted back a pace, still watching him. He took a step forward. She was nervous of him. Good. Even though she was his mate, and he wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe from harm, Darce knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. She was in blood lust, her eyes shining with a feral light as she looked past him the way Lillian had run.

He was going to have to beat the living snot out of her to break its spell.

“Why don’t you come try?”

He stepped in, his arms spread wide in invitation. Every cell in his body tensed in anticipation of her attack. He didn’t allow his gaze to drop from her eyes, but he knew the fingers coiled into the dirt beneath her weren’t human anymore. He’d caught a glimpse of razor-sharp talons as she’d dropped from the branches above.

Their gazes locked, time stretched between them as tension grew. With the threat of violence, his vision sharpened and cast everything around him into high relief. The slightest movement drew his attention, the smallest sound. Power roared through his veins and the potential of his change crawled over his skin like a thousand ants.

She attacked without warning. Fast and low. He had barely enough time to block as one set of claws slashed at his face and the other toward his abdomen. Heat and pain drew lines across his forearms as her talons opened his skin like a hot knife through butter. Setting his teeth, he ignored it and broke away.

His joking demeanor fell away. She was fast. Faster than he’d thought.

“Not so cocky now, are you, sunshine?” A hint of amusement entered her eyes as she circled him. Graceful. Lethal. Like the big cats he’d admired as a child. Would she purr when he had her in his arms?

He shrugged. Blood ran down his arms and dripped from the ends of his fingers. He hadn’t shifted. Not yet. The power coiled and writhed just under his skin. He held onto it despite the sting.

“I’m always cocky. It’s part of my charm.”

He didn’t cup his crotch as he normally would or otherwise bring to her attention that he was hard. She might think he was some sick fuck who got off on violence. How could he explain to a Blood he was hard because she was his one and only? She’d tear his throat out first.

He turned as she moved, careful not to put his back to her. She watched him, her stare as unflinching as a snake. He wondered what color her eyes had been before the change had stolen all the color from them.

She lunged again, testing his reactions. He blocked, but she was already moving. A whirling dervish of fists and feet. His heart pounded and his breath rasped. His world narrowed down to blocking her lethal strikes and trying to find a way past her defenses. Smaller and lighter, she could play chicken with a freight train if she wanted. But so could he. Just one hit, that’s all he needed.

Talking was a thing of the past as the battle raged around the small clearing. The moon hung above them, its glare unimpeded as it lit the clearing like a spotlight. He twisted and turned, using everything he had as she worked away. Bloods were closer to the dead than Lycans were, but even so, he could see she was breathing as heavily as he was, the front of her uniform soaked in sweat and outlining her breasts.

His mind took a break, high-tailing it off into the land of fantasy and wet dreams as he imagined stripping the wet fabric from those luscious mounds. His mouth watered at the thought of sucking her erect nipples. They’d be small and perky…

She opened his cheek from eye to jaw.

“Pay attention, mutt.”

Darce rocked back on his heels, his guard coming up a little bit too late as he waited for her to rain blows down on him. Damn it. He’d let his imagination get away with him. Let her scent affect him so much he took his eye off the ball. His irreverent sense of humor snickered deep inside. Wolf…Dog. Ball.

The attack never came. Instead, she wheeled away and paced around him as he recovered. He wiped a hand across his face. The line she’d drawn with her claws would scar. He could feel it already. Absurdly, he smiled, even though it hurt like a bitch, the edges of the wound puckering and burning. She’d marked him. Every day he’d look in the mirror and remember her.

“That all you got, doll?” He blew her a kiss. “I’m gonna think you’re sweet on me. Or are they diluting down the stuff they use to make you guys these days?”

That did it. Rage filled her eyes, the deep black shining with red. He dropped to a defensive crouch, ready for anything, and suppressed a shudder. Red eyes. Man, that was some scary shit.

He barely had time to collect himself before she charged. This time, the game was on in earnest. She was a tsunami of anger and sheer skill. He couldn’t keep up with the flurry of blows. No time for teasing her now. He traded witty comments for breathing, blocking for all he was worth as he tried to turn the tide of the battle. She worked him like a speed carver. Always chipping away, trying to get past his guard and reach his throat or the relative softness of his unprotected abdomen.

Change, change. Me, me, me! the wolf inside demanded. But he refused it, locking it within his human flesh. She was shit-fast and intelligent as hell. He needed all his human smarts. The wolf was fast, probably faster than she was, but he couldn’t risk a shift and have her out-think him.

The flurry of blows continued. He had to let some through, grunting as they landed with bruising intensity, so he could throw his own. Her face drew tight with pain each time one landed. His heart ached. Pounding on his own mate? He was a shit.

He saw the opening. She slid to the side and pulled her arm back to deliver a blow that would rock his head on his neck but left her side unguarded. Quick as a snake, he slid into the gap and wrapped her up. He shoved his leg around hers, a big arm twining round her neck as he used his hip as a pivot point. He yanked. Rode her falling body to the floor and pinned her.

She fought like a wildcat. All sharp edges and hard knees. It was like riding a bucking bronco, but way more fun. He panted as he got a leg over both hers, bringing his groin flush against hers. Within seconds, he had her hands pinned above her head.

Even though there was no way out, she still fought him. Spitting fury she tried to wrench her hands away, the movement so violent he felt the bones beneath the delicate skin pop.

“Hey, hey…let it go, doll,” he breathed against her ear. Her heart pounded almost as fast as a human heart, betraying her fear. If he felt a shit before, now he felt lower than shit. He was proto-shit. No, lower than that. Sub-shit. The lowest of the low.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.”

All movement beneath him stopped. He looked up and right into the dark wells of her eyes. The expression there nearly killed him. Loneliness, misery and fear warred with something else. The tiniest expression trying to break through like a plant struggling to grow in the middle of a concrete jungle. Hope…and longing.

Unable to help himself, he lowered his head and claimed her lips. Just the softest brush of his lips over hers.

She flinched at the touch, but didn’t turn away. Just held still under him. Unmoving. Slow, he cautioned himself. He needed to seduce her senses and get her to open up to him. Her lips were like silk, soft and yielding with just a hint of something indefinable. Erotic and innocent at the same time. He knew from just one touch he’d never be able to get enough. He bit back a moan, resisting the urge to dominate and take what he wanted.

He nibbled at her lower lip, careful not to nip her even with his human-blunt teeth. She was a Blood, but that didn’t mean she found biting sexy…and he couldn’t afford to fall prey to stereotype in his battle to win her heart. The firm, uncompromising line of her lips started to soften as he continued his assault, molded to his, then started to cling. His heart sang. She wasn’t indifferent to him. Behind her hesitant response, there were fires of passion. He just needed to coax them out.

Snick.

Darce froze at the small metallic sound behind him, his lips still on hers. The circle of a muzzle pressed against the back of his head, cold even through the cushion of his hair. Then it moved.

“Game over, handsome,” the woman under him whispered as a blinding pain exploded on the side of his head, just above his ear. Then Darce knew no more.

* * *

The situation was FUBAR’d to hell and back. Jack stood outside the little cabin Sanders had found earlier, hidden deep in thicker trees and undergrowth, and looked about at the destruction. The door was off its hinges, the windows shattered. A curtain waved gently in the breeze, its bottom edge charred and ripped.

Lillian was gone.

“Who was with her?” His voice was tight as he fought for control. With the rotational watch, he didn’t know which of the pack had been on duty in the cabin.

He didn’t care which of the wolves milling about the clearing answered him. He just needed to know.

Nic emerged from the ruined interior, in human form and as naked as the day she was born. Blood covered her slender figure, none of it her own. Jack didn’t blink an eye. Clothes didn’t survive the change, so nakedness was something they all had to accept quickly.

“Darce. They went out the back window.”

Relief hit him hard and fast. Despite his words to his second-in-command earlier, Darce was just as capable a fighter as him. Probably better. Younger than Jack, he had a mean streak a mile wide under that joking exterior.

Dropping the soldier he held to die at his feet in spine shattering agony, Jack stepped over the shuddering form. He didn’t care. The bastard and all his little friends could rot in hell for all he cared. They’d attacked the cabin with guns and explosives, knowing there was a defenseless woman in there.

Guns hadn’t helped them when the wolves had fought back. The soldiers hadn’t stood a chance. If they’d thought Lycans were dangerous before, the fact that a wolf-mate had been threatened, no matter whose, had brought out the beast in all of them. They’d stood even less chance afterwards.

The small amount of information the wolves had gleaned from the terrified soldiers indicated that Lillian had been collateral damage. Which meant the soldiers had thought to have a little fun with her. Now they were twisted and grotesque corpses littering the clearing around the cabin.

“Good.”

The scream echoed through the trees. High-pitched, it was the sound of fear and pain. A woman’s fear and pain. Jack’s head snapped up, a feral snarl curling his lips. Lillian’s voice. She was out there somewhere, hurt and scared. Someone was hurting his mate… He caught Nic’s pale eyes. They reflected his horror and rage.

“We’ll clean up.” She jerked her head toward the sound of the screaming. “She needs you. Go!”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He turned and ran. Taking three steps, he launched himself forward, changing in midair. His paws hit the ground, claws biting deep and driving him forward.

He ran like he’d never run before. He’d always loved the speed and agility of his wolf body, sometimes changing just for the thrill of running on four paws. For the exhilaration of pushing himself to see just how far and fast he could go.

There was no thrill and no enjoyment in his soul now. Speed was all that mattered. His heart thundered as his massive rib cage expanded to drag in more air, powering him forward ever faster. He twisted and turned, leaped over fallen logs and boulders alike, but saw none of it. Every second that passed was too much. Every second was another in which Lillian was being hurt or worse.

He lost her scent, but another scream spurred him on. Changing direction, he cut through the dense forest. He was close, so close he could hear male laughter and a woman’s sobbing.

There. Just up ahead through the trees. Lillian on the ground, a soldier on top of her, trying to force her thighs apart. Her pants were torn, the fabric ripped from waist to crotch. Already her delicate skin darkened with the beginning of bruises.

Anger slammed through him, stealing his breath and replacing the energy in his veins with a tower of rage. They were hurting his mate. He would kill them all.

A red mist bathed everything he saw as he crashed into the clearing, morphing into a hideous half-man, half-beast. On two legs, he charged, ignoring the two other men to tackle the one on top of Lillian, taking him to the ground next to her. Rearing back, he swung. His claws ripped into the man’s unprotected throat, tearing a gobbet of flesh free. His mate flinched as arterial blood sprayed her.

No time to see if she was okay. Leaving the dying man to choke his last, Jack jumped up on his misshapen feet. A rifle swung toward him. The finger attached to the trigger didn’t get time to tighten. Jack took the arm off at the shoulder. A swipe of his claws ensured the human had more things to worry about as his guts spilled to the dirt at his feet.

He kept moving, his claws alternately flashing in the moonlight and dripping blood. In less than a minute, he’d rendered the clearing into an open-air slaughterhouse. Bits of bodies, not men, littered the forest floor. An arm or a leg was distinguishable, but the rest was pretty much chum.

Chest heaving, he closed his eyes and dropped his head back as he fought to control himself. There were no more enemies, no one else to kill. There was just him and Lillian left. Just the thought of her snapped him back into focus.

Lillian. Was she okay, had that guy hurt her?

He turned, his clawed foot breaking something underfoot. He looked down, expecting to see a twig. It was a human thighbone, de-fleshed, its blood-splattered ivory surface gleaming in the moonlight.

Abruptly, he felt sick. What must Lillian think of him? She was human, he was an animal. An animal that had torn three men literally to pieces in front of her…less than pieces. Most of the remains could double as butchers mince.

The sound of her unsteady breathing, thick with tears, reproached him. She was terrified, he could smell it on the air. Hesitantly, he approached her. She’d curled into a small ball, arms and legs close to her body, like a child trying to shut out a world too cruel to cope with.

How could he even think of being near her…of touching her after this, never mind anything else? He wasn’t human. She was way too good for him and always would be. That he loved her, that his wolf howled at the mere thought of leaving her where she was on the forest floor, didn’t matter. He may be an animal now…but there was just enough of the man left in him to walk away. Maybe.

Until she sniffled and lifted her head. A pale hand pushing her hair out of her face, she looked about. The pale skin of her face went green as she caught sight of the slaughter, but she quickly looked on, searching for something.

Him. Her dark gaze latched onto him. He fought the urge to step back, hide his hideous misshapen form in shadow. Any moment now he expected the dazed expression on her face to dissolve into horror and for her to start screaming again. His heart pounded, the fight or flight syndrome firmly switched to flight. He couldn’t face her seeing him like this and turning away in disgust.

She didn’t scream. Instead she scrambled to her feet and, in a move beyond his wildest dreams, launched herself into his arms.

“Oh my God, Jack. I thought you’d never come. They were…they…” Her voice cracked as she buried her face into the fur that covered his body and wrapped her arms as far around him as she could. Her petite frame shook with the force of her trembling. So hard he was surprised she didn’t break her own teeth. He pulled her closer and buried his lupine muzzle into the softness of her hair.

She took a deep breath and looked up, right into his face. He winced, not sure how she’d take his appearance. She barely batted an eyelid, her hands soft as she wound her fingers into the thick ruff on his cheeks.

“They were…” She couldn’t complete her sentence, her full lower lip trembling as she looked around. Her face paled again as she looked around the scattered remains. Fear struck his heart as she flinched and looked away from the carnage, burying her face against his fur again. She thought he was a monster. How could she think anything else?

“I thought I was was going to die. That I’d never see you again. That I wouldn’t get a chance to tell you—” She was talking again, her words muffled until she looked up, a soft flush on her cheeks. “I know it’s probably a little early, but…I love you, Jack. Fur, claws and all.”

His heart leaped, his anger draining away, leaving just relief and something else in its wake. Hope for the future, and love. Jack sighed as the emotion burst forth from his heart and swelled throughout his mutated body. He loved her so much the sun, moon and stars wouldn’t be enough to prove it. She was his mate, the other half of his soul, the light to his darkness…he ran out of clichés and just held her.

She was his. She was safe. That was all Jack needed to know.