Eternal Hunter (Night Watch #1)(77)
Author: Cynthia Eden

But whatever the hell that was out there wasn’t aiming for them.

“Is that a f**king dog?” Dee’s breath jerked out with a hard rush.

Erin’s breath was gone. Not a dog. The beast was heading right for the other vehicle. Running fast and hard. The beast never halted, never faltered, just ran straight for the other driver.

Animal and car hit. Brakes squealed. Metal shrieked. Glass shattered. And the vehicle, a big, black SUV—pretty damned similar to Dee’s, just a different color—swerved off the road and plowed into a line of trees.

“Shit!” Dee jerked off her belt and sprang from the vehicle.

The air from Dee’s open door wafted into the SUV, and Erin’s eyes widened as she caught a distinct scent. No. “Dee!

Dee, stop!” She clawed through her own seat belt and jumped out, her heart racing. “Don’t get close, it’s—”

“Holy Christ!”

She hadn’t even known the woman was religious.

“You know, if he were awake, the guy would be a hell of a lot more useful.” Zane eyed the demon on the floor, his face grim. “Maybe you should have waited to bash his head until after we got some more information.”

There was no more information to get. “The wolf isn’t here.” He’d been played. Played.

And he’d left Erin alone.

He grabbed his cell phone. Punched in her number.

One ring.

Two.

Then… damn CALLER NOT AVAILABLE message.

His fingers crushed the phone. Shit. “Try to get Dee on the line,” he growled, and his gaze raked the cabin. Minimal furnishings. A chair. A bed. Too much like my place.

Except for the framed picture of Erin.

Bastard.

“Ringing,” Zane said, and Jude glanced back to see that the demon had his cell phone positioned at his ear.

“Tell her to get Erin inside my cabin and to lock the doors. We’re on our way.”

That picture…

He turned back around, slowly, and paced across the room.

Her hair was longer. She was smiling, walking in what looked like some kind of park.

“No answer.”

Jude reached for the frame. He traced the busted glass. It looked like someone had shoved a fist into the picture.

“We’ve got a big problem.” He looked up at Zane. No answer. Their eyes met. The broken glass bit into his hand, sending droplets of blood onto the picture.

Onto Erin.

Blood was in the air. Thick and strong and so sickeningly fresh.

“I think the bastard is dead!” Dee scrambled to a stop near the middle of the road, right before the prone body of the giant black wolf.

“Get back!” Erin screamed, running as fast as she could. An injured wolf was dangerous. Any wolf was dangerous, but an injured beast would rip and tear anything in its path.

With a burst of speed, she reached the human and jerked her back.

“Erin, stop! The wolf is barely breathing. It’s over, you’re—”

Erin shoved Dee away. A safe distance behind her. Then she fell to her knees beside the wolf. So much blood. A growl rumbled in the beast’s throat and the creature bared its teeth.

“Easy,” she whispered.

“Are you insane?” Dee blasted. “Get away from him! Let him die! Your life will be one hell of a lot better!”

Erin reached out a hand to the wolf. The too-sharp teeth snapped together, barely missing her fingertips.

“Erin!”

“It’s going to be all right,” she whispered, but the words were a lie. A tear trickled down her cheek. No, no, this wasn’t the way things should have ended.

She ignored the teeth and the claws that tried to swipe at her. An injured beast would rip and tear anything in its path.

Even if she was the one in the creature’s path. Her fingers sank into the bloody fur. The wolf’s hind legs were broken, no, shattered.

Hold on.

“Call for help,” she ordered, never taking her eyes off the wolf.

“Yeah, I need to get help for whoever is in that SUV! But not for this mangy wolf and I—aw, hell, I left my cell in the car!”

A growl rose in Erin’s throat.

She heard the soft fall of Dee’s footsteps as the human stumbled back. “Erin, wh-what’s up with you? I thought you…hated this guy.” Suspicion now. Worry.

The wolf jerked its head against her and managed to let out a long, mournful howl. The beast’s eyes jerked to the left, and it whimpered.

Such bright yellow eyes.

“This isn’t the ass**le who’s after me.” The shift began then. Fast, because the wolf was weak and so was the woman.

“This is my mother.”

And she was dying.

“Where the hell are they?” Jude’s foot shoved down even harder on the gas pedal as the car lurched forward. The car was Zane’s, but he’d borrowed it while the demon secured Kyler.

The bastard likes to get up close and personal with his prey. That’s how he makes the kills. And why he’d given the order that Jude would be brought to him alive. If he’d come to the den, if he’d learned what happened…

Fuck.

Jude yanked the steering wheel to the left. Every instinct he had screamed the guy had gone running, but not out of the city.

Instead, he’d gone—

To Erin.

For a sports car, Zane’s “baby” sure wasn’t going fast enough. He shifted hard and the engine roared. Zane would have to trail as fast as he could on the motorcycle they’d found at the cabin.

Erin. Be safe, sweetheart. His claws ripped through his fingertips.

“I got Antonio on the phone. He’s sending help.” Dee eased onto her knees beside Erin. “I-I found this in my SUV.” She handed her a loose jacket.

Her mother lay on the ground, pale and unmoving. So much blood. It was the only covering she had.

Erin put the jacket over her.

“Can’t she change? Like Jude did back at the den, can’t she—”

“She’s too weak.” If Antonio didn’t get there soon with the ambulance, she’d be dead. Erin brushed back a clump of her mother’s hair. They really looked so much alike.

When she’d been a girl, her mother had combed her hair every night before bed, laughing as she stroked her—

Her mother’s lashes lifted, so slowly. Yellow eyes, hazy with pain, tried to focus on Erin. “R-run.” Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Goosebumps rose on her arms. “Mother?”

“Run…”