Charming the Beast (Purgatory #3)(2)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Werewolves had very little control when the moon was full.

Chloe peeked over Connor’s shoulder. The moonlight fell on the hunter’s blond hair. He was blond and fair, while Connor was dark, his thick hair a little too long as it brushed against his shoulders. Opposites in appearance, but both of these men were alike on the inside—they carried beasts, beasts that were ready to break loose.

“I don’t want to kill you,” the blond hunter told Connor. “But if you don’t give me the woman, I will.”

Connor just shrugged. Shrugged. “You can try to kill me,” he said, almost sounding bored, “but it’s not going to happen. This is the way things will go down. You’ll come at me. I’ll kick your ass without even having to go full shift. Then I’ll walk away…with her.” He took a step toward the blond. “Because I’m an alpha, ass**le. And you just screwed with the wrong wolf.”

Chloe retreated a bit more. It was wrong, yes, she knew it, but as soon as those two attacked each other, she was going to race out of there. She actually had no doubt that Connor could kick the other werewolf’s ass, just as he’d said. After all, Connor was an alpha werewolf. They weren’t exactly thick on the ground. He’d win the battle, then he’d come looking for her.

By that time, Chloe hoped to be long gone.

“You should save yourself some pain,” Connor told the other guy. “Walk away now.”

“Her scent…”

He was really freaking her out with all that scent talk. Her foot slipped over a discarded bottle. Chloe almost landed on her ass, but she righted herself at the last moment and—

The snap and pop of bones filled the air. The blond was transforming, going full-on wolf right then and there. She wanted to put her hands over her ears because Chloe hated the terrible sounds that came from a shift. Bones weren’t meant to break and reshape that way. Nausea rolled in her belly even as the man hit the ground, landing not on his hands, but on his paws. Fur burst out from his skin and when he tilted back his head, a howl broke the night.

Good thing there aren’t a ton of humans running around here.

The shifted wolf was lunging toward Connor. And, sure enough, Connor hadn’t fully shifted. She’d already known that he didn’t shift a lot. Probably because of the crazy control issue she’d noticed about him. Connor always had to be in control. But she could see that his nails had turned into razor-sharp claws. He kept those claws at his side, his body loose, too relaxed.

The charging werewolf came closer and closer—

I should run now. Connor is focused fully on the other wolf. I should run. But she didn’t move because…

What if I’m wrong? What if Connor can’t take this guy down? A trickle of fear shot through her blood. She bent, grabbed the bottle she’d tripped on and when the shifted werewolf—a big, white beast—collided with Connor, she slammed that bottle into the nearest wall, breaking off the bottom and making a pretty damn good weapon.

Only…Connor didn’t need her and her make-shift weapon. As Chloe watched, he caught the werewolf—caught the guy mid-leap in the air. Connor’s fingers—his claws—wrapped around the wolf’s neck and Connor just held the beast as if he weighed nothing.

Alpha.

Then Connor threw the werewolf toward the nearest brick wall.

Right…he doesn’t need me. Chloe started backing up. She kept her weapon though because, well, when a woman was being hunted by werewolves, she needed any arsenal she could get.

Connor was advancing on the fallen beast.

So Chloe turned and fled.

***

He heard the frantic thud of Chloe’s retreating footsteps. Connor froze. Not again. His head turned, and he saw Chloe running fast, her black hair flying behind her. “Chloe,” he gritted out as he started to give chase.

Then the jerk who just couldn’t learn slammed into him. Connor’s body crashed to the ground, the dirty, stinking ground of the alley. The werewolf jumped on top of Connor, and the beast’s mouthful of sharp, dripping fangs went for Connor’s throat.

Connor’s hands flew up. His fingers locked around the wolf’s snout. He clamped that mouth shut and glared at the beast. “You don’t learn easily, do you?”

But then, the werewolf hadn’t realized that he wasn’t just dealing with another werewolf. He didn’t know about Connor’s enhancements. Mostly because few did.

“Listen to me, and listen well,” Connor ordered. “She’s not for you. If you come near her again, I’ll do more than just break your jaw, got it?”

The wolf heaved in his hold.

Connor’s hands twisted. The wolf howled, but this time, that cry was filled with pain because Connor had just broken the fool’s jaw. While the wolf kept howling, Connor tossed the beast aside.

“Shift so you can start healing,” Connor advised the wolf. A now cowering wolf. “And stay the hell away from what’s mine. I don’t care if she smells like strawberries and sex…don’t ever stalk her again. Don’t ever get close, got it? Because I’ve already claimed her.”

When dealing with wolves, sometimes, you had to use a language they understood.

Connor rose to his feet. He lifted his claws. The wolf was slowly shifting in front of him.

“I said…got it?” Connor snapped out the words.

The man—a man now, not a beast—glared at Connor. But he nodded. He rubbed his jaw, then he turned and ran away. His na**d ass flashed in the night because the fellow had shredded his clothes during the shift.

“Damn straight you need to run,” Connor muttered after the guy because he was so not in the mood to be dealing with this shit.

He rolled back his shoulders and then stared at his claws. His beast was close to the surface, raised by the battle. It wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge. To let that beast out. Because his werewolf…yeah, he’d caught the delectable scent that Chloe carried, too. A scent that was close to making him insane with need.

I’m just as bad as the rest of them. I warned her, but did she listen? Hell, no.

Guarding Chloe Quick was a thankless job. And if Eric Pate—the man in charge of the Para Unit—didn’t control Connor’s freedom, well, hell, he sure never would have agreed to take the job.

He turned, his head tilting as he gazed out at the night. He could still hear the faint pad of her footsteps. It was a good thing his senses were so strong. Good for him, but not so much for Chloe. He exhaled. She hadn’t even stuck around to thank him.