Eternal Hunter (Night Watch #1)(80)
Author: Cynthia Eden

His hand waited in the air, but he answered her. Harper had always loved to hear himself talk. That was one of the many reasons why his court had always been torture for her. “Burrows made you look like a fool. He escaped on your watch.”

Well, the cops’ watch.

“And he was worthless trash, eating away at the world. He needed to be put down.”

“That’s not your call to make! You can’t decide who lives or dies! You can’t—”

His hand fell. “I’ve spent fifteen years of my life deciding who lives and dies. I damn well know what I’m doing.”

Executing his own brand of justice and claiming to kill for her. “You’re crazy,” she whispered. Probably not the smartest thing to say to a killer, but what the hell?

“Wolves in packs don’t become psychotic.” His voice had chilled.

He hadn’t been in a pack for almost thirty years.

“Mated wolves out of the pack retain their sanity.”

He wasn’t mated. Did the guy even see where this was headed?

“You’re my mate. Since finding you, everything in my life has become crystal clear.” His lips firmed and he took a step forward—

And he stumbled.

The blood loss. It was finally hitting him.

She’d hoped if she kept him talking, kept him focused—yes!

Harper slipped in his own blood and went down, hard.

“Erin…”

She shook her head. “I’m not your mate, ass**le, and even if I was, I wouldn’t spend a day of my life with you.”

“The tiger…” His head fell down. His body shuddered. “Should have…killed him…beginning…”

No. “Jude isn’t exactly easy to kill.” One of his best traits.

His claws scraped over the pavement. “Saw the way…you…l-looked at him…Has to…die…”

“No, he doesn’t. You’re not going to hurt Jude.”

He threw his head back then, and she saw his face. A wild combination of man and beast. “You’re mine!” A barely human howl of fury.

The transformation ripped through his body and he jerked, almost convulsing on the ground.

Not a shift. No. He should have been too weak to transform. Should have been…

Bones snapped. Fur burst from his skin.

“No! ” Erin flew at him, attacking, hoping to stop the shift before it was too late. Before he was too strong. Because if he shifted, he could heal—and he could kill her.

But his shift was fast. Faster than Jude’s. Faster than any shifter she’d ever seen in her life. When her body fell against his, she sank her claws as deeply as she could into his side—not the side of a man, but the body of a wolf. She thrust her claws past the thick fur and right into the muscle.

The wolf howled, and his head— long, thick muzzle, too-dark eyes—turned toward her.

This was so not good. Erin stumbled back, sweat coating her body.

The wolf rose to his feet. His muscles vibrated and his fangs dripped saliva.

Too strong. The beast showed no signs of weakness.

Hybrid. The rules didn’t apply to him. Or maybe they did. He could obviously heal as fast as she could. When he shifted anyway. She could heal almost that fast without a shift.

The next evolution? Had he been right?

The wolf snarled, and she stopped thinking about old Darwin—and focused on the killing machine before her.

Backup! Where was Antonio?

She took a deep breath and attacked with all of her might, ripping, shredding muscle as—

He rolled and his hind legs came up, catching her in the stomach. The wolf kicked her into the air.

Erin landed on her ass but jumped back up as fast as she could. Dee was inching ever closer to her gun. A fighter. She could be a fighter, too. “Come on, judge. You want me so bad, huh? Then come and get me.” She had to keep him away from Dee and her mother.

Erin held up her claws and bared her teeth.

And knew that he was about to kick her ass.

Can’t take him while he’s in wolf form. She just wasn’t strong enough.

But she could give him one hell of a fight. And maybe, maybe Dee could get her gun and blast the jerk with more bullets.

Maybe.

She just had to hold him off long enough to—

The wolf lunged at her. His teeth sank into her forearm, gouging deep holes into her flesh and biting all the way to the bone.

“Sonofabitch!”

His claws raked across her stomach and his teeth—they wouldn’t let go!

Fire ate at her belly, but she took that pain and used it to feed the beast inside who could never get out.

“Not a good way to treat your mate.” She grabbed his jaw and had to pry the thing loose with hands that shook.

His eyes rolled. She caught the faintest sight of white in that darkness, and he twisted suddenly, shoving Erin and kicking into her legs.

What? Why was he—

The hum of a motor rumbled in the distance. The wolf must have heard it before she had.

Backup. Antonio.

The wolf’s ears shot straight into the air. His head snapped in the direction of the approaching car, then he looked back at her.

His muscles bunched.

And damn if it didn’t look like the beast smiled.

Smiled—with her mother lying there, dying. With Dee bleeding out.

When the wolf leapt forward, Erin launched herself at him. They hit, hard, and the wolf knocked her into the dirt near the side of the road, and then he locked his teeth on her shoulder, in her shoulder.

Bad idea. So f**king bad. Her claws flew up and gouged at his eyes.

The wolf leapt away.

Yeah, ass**le. My dad taught me that move, before he realized I could break the hands of any touchy-feely punks who crossed the line.

“Go for the eyes, girl. Don’t be afraid to hurt him.”

She sure wasn’t afraid to hurt the wolf.

“Erin…” Dee’s weak voice.

She glanced to the left. Dee was on her knees, weaving a bit. Her white T-shirt was soaked red.

The wolf snarled, and she knew he’d seen Dee. His teeth snapped together.

Prey. Weak and ready.

The thought was hers, a sick instinct she’d always ignored, but it was Harper’s, too. She knew it.

So when he ran for Dee, she lunged after him. Her claws sank into his hind legs, and he twisted back. His paws hit her, taking her down with one hard blow, and she fell with the heavy weight of his body smothering her.

“Run!” Her cry this time, not her mother’s. “Run, Dee!”

Because the wolf was too strong for her. Too strong for Dee.