CHAPTER TWO

Cut that close—way too close, Tamsin admonished herself as she ran through the trees, the wet ground sucking at her feet.

What the hell kind of hunter had they sent after her this time? She’d smelled him all the way across the room. Shifter, Lupine, and highly pissed off.

Damn it. Wolves were fantastic trackers—she’d have a hard time getting away from him.

Tamsin moved as fast as she dared. Any faster and she’d make plenty of noise to alert the wolf to her presence. Shifting would be the best way to escape, but then she’d have to leave her clothes and money behind, which wolf-man would find. Asshole. What self-respecting Shifter worked for Shifter Bureau?

He might have nothing to do with Shifter Bureau, a voice inside her reasoned. He might be working for Shifters who wanted to catch her for their own purposes. It happened.

No matter what, Tamsin needed to get the hell out of here. She ran, heading for deeper darkness. The problem was, she hadn’t had time to scout this place as much as she’d have liked. She’d thought she’d have plenty of time to walk to her motorcycle and ride back to the B and B, no need for running through the bayous. She wouldn’t have come here tonight for another game at all if she hadn’t needed the money.

The road was in that direction. Right? Tamsin sniffed, but her human nose wasn’t as sensitive as her Shifter’s. She couldn’t see as well in the dark as her Shifter either.

So now she was running through unknown woods, her sense of direction screwed up, trying to get away from a wolf. The Goddess was not smiling on Tamsin Calloway tonight.

Mists gathered under the trees; this part of the bayous was liable to become treacherous swamp at every step. Tamsin preferred hills and woods that were drier, with clear, crisp air, but fugitives couldn’t be choosers.

She ran along, slipping in mud that clung to her boots and spattered its way up her jeans. She was hot in this muggy air, her jacket and jeans not made for the warmth of early September in southern Louisiana.

Hot damn, there’s the road. Tamsin spied the damp strip of asphalt in a patch of light from a streetlamp between the trees, and made for it. She would let the road guide her out of here, back to the intersection where she’d hidden her motorcycle.

Wolf-boy would find it more difficult to track her on pavement, but not impossible. Tamsin gave a look and a sniff behind her, but she saw and smelled nothing. Heard nothing either, and her human hearing was pretty good.

Maybe wolf-man hadn’t bothered to come into the woods after her. There were some nice-looking human females in the plantation house who were eager for Shifter guys—maybe the Lupine had stayed and let himself be distracted by them.

Long enough for Tamsin to get away? She hoped wolf-boy was horny.

She moved quietly from the darkness under the trees to the road, hurrying down the damp pavement.

“Now, where are you running off to?”

Damn it. Tamsin pulled up, finding herself facing not the wolf-man but one of the guys from the poker table. No—three of them. They’d parked their truck along this stretch, and now they were standing next to it, arms folded, watching Tamsin. Had they gotten lucky and found her? Or did they know where the only dry path behind the plantation house came out?

“Not running anywhere,” Tamsin said lightly. “Just heading home.”

“With our money,” the man who had lost the most consistently said.

“Which I won, fair and square. Good night, gentlemen.”

She tried to walk around them, but the loser stepped in front of her. “You’re a cheating bitch and you know it.”

He’d been singing this refrain all night. “I don’t cheat.” Tamsin glared at him, offended and wondering why she was letting herself have time to be. “I’m a good player.”

“Let it go, dude,” his friend said.

Yes, let it go. Tamsin again started past them, needing to be on her bike before wolf-toes finished getting his rocks off and came after her.

“But she’s got our money,” the loser said. “And she’s all alone out here. Poor little lady.”

Tamsin smothered a sigh. She could probably fight off one of them—all three at the same time, maybe not. Plus, if she fought, they’d figure out she was Shifter. She’d have too much physical strength for a human, a small-looking female one at that. If she shifted and scared them shitless, she’d drop her keys and her money, and maybe not have time to dress again before the Lupine caught up to her.

The man who’d told his friend to let it go brightened. He might be a reasonable guy in daylight in the middle of a town with people watching him, but at the moment, he was on a back road, in the dark, with his asshole friends, facing a young woman who was alone and carrying a wad of cash.

This was not turning out to be her night.

Decision time. Fight. Shift as a last resort. Tamsin shucked her jacket, but they didn’t wait to see what she was doing. As soon as the jacket hit the ground, they were on her.

Tamsin’s advantage was that two of her assailants were drunk. The third guy, the one who might have been reasonable in other circumstances, was more or less sober, and he attacked her the most viciously.

Loser staggered back when Tamsin’s boot landed in his middle. She spun, landing a punch on the second guy’s face, and struck out at guy number three, the sober one.

Sober Guy sidestepped her, then caught Tamsin in an armlock, lifting her from her feet against his chest. The second guy recovered quickly and grabbed Tamsin’s legs as she flailed and fought.

“I get her first!” Loser yelled. The yell was more of a choke—he was still recovering from her kick.

Tamsin twisted her leg out of the second man’s grasp and swung her foot at him. He managed to dodge, but at least Tamsin had her leg free.

She twisted again, but the man still holding her clamped down, shoving his arm across her throat to cut off her breath.

Loser unfolded himself, an angry sparkle in his watery eyes. “Hold her steady. I don’t want to bruise my dick on her.”

Tamsin had a foot free—she’d kick his dick straight off if he bared it. If only she could breathe, damn it. Stars swam before her eyes, and she worried she’d pass out before she could shift and squirm away.

A rumbling growl that vibrated the ground flowed from the trees and onto the road, and the mists swirled in a sudden waft of air.

The second man darted a scared look to the woods. “What the hell was that?”

Sober Guy tightened his grip. “Probably a stupid dog. Don’t worry about it.”

“Didn’t sound like no dog to me. You know these woods are haunted, right?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” the man holding Tamsin scoffed. “Let’s get her into the truck. We’ll take her someplace and teach her not to mess with us.”

These guys were getting annoying. Tamsin struggled and they laughed. She started to feel kind of sorry for them.

The growl came again. He was warning them—what a nice Lupine. The growl basically said, Run now, and the worst that will happen is you’ll have bad dreams.

Trouble was, humans didn’t speak Shifter. The second man gave a little scream and headed for the truck, but Loser and the guy holding Tamsin paid no attention.

Loser grabbed Tamsin by the face. “We’re going to make you real sorry you messed with us, woman.”

“Now, don’t be like that,” the man holding her said. “We’ll treat her nice. She’ll like it. All she has to do is—”

Whatever she had to do, Tamsin wasn’t to know. A black shadow streaked from the trees and bowled over Loser and then the guy running for the pickup. The shadow came up snarling, in the form of a huge black wolf.

The hold on Tamsin’s throat loosened. She gave a backward thrust with her elbow, hard into Sober Guy’s gut. He folded over, and she shook off his grip, snatched up her jacket, and ran.

The wolf jumped at the man who’d held Tamsin. Sparks flew into the night as the Lupine’s Collar went off.

Good grief, why had they sent a Collared Shifter after her? Collars inflicted pain deep into the Shifter’s nerves, which was why Tamsin had refused to put one on twenty years ago. That refusal had made her a fugitive from that day to this.

She knew Shifter Bureau occasionally got their hands on un-Collared Shifters and forced them to do their bidding, but they’d dragged this guy out of a Shiftertown, the bullies.

Great, now she was feeling sorry for him too.

Wolf-boy had his hands full with the humans, who were slowing him down. They weren’t fighting him but flailing around in panic, one yelling to grab their gun, the other two smacking into each other trying to figure out how.

Tamsin grinned as the wolf’s snarl turned into one of frustration.

She put on a burst of speed straight up the road, no more dodging through unfamiliar swampy woods. She’d stick to the pavement and find her motorcycle—then wolf-dog wouldn’t be able to catch her.

She heard the pickup start, its engine roaring. A few moments later, the truck’s lights struck her, the pickup heading straight for her.

Tamsin jumped into the ditch, swearing when she landed in muddy water up to her knees. The guys in the truck didn’t look her way, probably hadn’t even seen her in their panic.

Tamsin struggled out of the ditch and ran after them, sprinting for all she was worth. She could leap into the truck bed and get away from the wolf, then drop out again near her bike. The least these guys could do for trying to capture and rape her.

The truck sped up, its tailgate skimming out of her reach. “Assholes!” Tamsin yelled at them. “You’d leave a helpless woman out here with a big bad wolf?”

Apparently they would. The truck kept accelerating, throwing mud from its tires, screeching away until it turned and was lost in the darkness.

“Total scum-bucket gobshites!” Tamsin declared to the night. At least she’d relieved them of their money during the game. Fair and square—she didn’t cheat. They were just bad players.

Tamsin slid on her jacket as she ran, keeping to the side of the road, her breath coming fast. She heard nothing behind her but the faint creak of wind in the trees and the whisper of whatever critters inhabited these woods. No sound of the wolf.

Tamsin knew better than to turn around and check whether he was following. He would be. Lupine trackers didn’t give up. She needed to keep running, make it to her motorcycle, and put as much distance between the two of them as she could.

Her only warning was a huff of hot breath on her back. Since she’d more or less expected it, Tamsin didn’t stumble or let surprise slow her. Her Shifter senses of smell and sight might not be as good in her human form, but her cunning wasn’t blunted. There was a reason her kind hadn’t been rounded up when Shifters were outed long ago.

Tamsin dodged left, then as the wolf leapt at her, ready to take her down to the sludgy ditch, she dodged right, back to the road’s pavement. The black wolf, intent on the takedown, couldn’t stop his momentum. He plowed into the ditch with a giant splash.

His savage growl of rage would make a sane person’s blood run cold. Tamsin laughed out loud.

“That’s what you get for working for Shifter Bureau!” she yelled.

Meanwhile, she was hauling ass out of there. Extracting himself from the mud wouldn’t stop the Lupine, but it would slow him down and give Tamsin her chance.

She put her head down and pumped her arms and legs, faster, faster. She’d rest when she was safe.

She’d parked her motorcycle around the next bend, close enough to the plantation house to reach quickly in case she needed to get away, far enough for it to not be found and associated with her. Tamsin’s breath hitched in her side, but she kept going.

There was her bike, tucked into the shadows near a gas station, closed now for the night. Two vehicles sat in the parking lot, a rusting SUV that had been there when she’d arrived, and a station wagon from years gone by.

Tamsin gave both cars a passing glance, saw that no one sat in or near them, and raced past them to her motorcycle.

With a rush of wind and hot fur, the wolf landed on Tamsin and sent her sprawling.

She struggled to regain her feet, but the Lupine rolled her onto her back and pinned her with one great paw. Tamsin fought and kicked, desperation giving her strength.

The wolf was strong. His fur was completely black, a cloud of darkness under the one light by the gas station. His eyes were gray and filled with as much fury as determination. The look told her he wouldn’t give up until she was completely under his control.

Tamsin continued to struggle, though she was tired from all the running and the fight with the human men. Her advantage though was that Wolfie was Collared. The more violent he became, the more his Collar would hurt him.

There—the Collar burst into sparks, a blue arc racing around the wolf-man’s neck. He snarled and shook, but he didn’t let Tamsin go. Gritted his teeth, took the pain.

Shit, the Bureau must truly have him under their thumb. They’d known the only way to catch Tamsin was to send out someone more afraid of them than she was. Goddess, she hated those people.

The wolf was on top of her, his weight pressing her into the damp ground, rocks beneath her jabbing into her back. His claws, very large, held her shoulders, though he didn’t dig in. What a sweetie.

His face came close to hers, his eyes red-tinted with anger, his very white teeth big and too near. Sparks from his Collar rained onto Tamsin’s skin, stinging and biting.

“Nice wolfie.” She squirmed, but he held her fast. “Let’s talk about this.”

The wolf shuddered, then shivered, and with a growl and a groan, morphed into a large, hard-muscled, very naked, black-haired man.

The eyes remained the same—wolf gray, focused intently on her,

“Nothing to talk about.” His voice was guttural, the wolf still strong in him. “I’m bringing you in.”

“The hell you are!” Tamsin jabbed her knee straight at his bare groin.

Wolf-man deflected the blow with the ease of a professional and grabbed Tamsin’s wrists in a hard grip. “Quit or I’ll tranq you.”

Tamsin ceased struggling, but not because she surrendered. “Shifter Bureau scum.”

“I do not work for fucking Shifter Bureau.” Pure rage flashed in the man’s eyes, making her believe him.

“Then why are you hunting me?”

He didn’t answer. The man was strong, athletic, and would be good-looking if he wasn’t covered with mud and glaring like a fiend.

Next tactic. Tamsin let her eyes go wide and her lower lip tremble. “Please. You can’t take me to them. You can’t.”

She saw the plea reach him, saw the anger deepen. Not at her—at Shifter Bureau for making him do this.

Whatever they’d threatened him with must be worse than whatever he thought they’d do to her, because his eyes went hard again. “Sorry, sweetheart. Be nice, and I won’t have to chain you up.”

He was much bigger than she was, and seriously strong. He had himself and Tamsin up before she realized it, his grip like manacles on her wrists. He turned her around, his muscular body pressing into her back, and started to march her toward the vehicles in the gas station’s lot.

Only one thing to do. Tamsin held her breath . . . and shifted.

The process was smooth and quick. Not all Shifters changed with ease, but Tamsin always could. Must have something to do with small bones.

She dropped, feeling her clothes flow away from her. No ripping—she shrank down to her animal instead of grew, which gave her a slight advantage. While other Shifters waited for her to rise into some sort of giant beast, she was zipping off between their legs.

As she did now. Tamsin resisted reaching up to give the wolf-man’s bare thigh a chomp as she hurtled out from under him and raced for the woods. Her clothes fluttered in the breeze she left as she dashed under the trees, becoming one with the night.