by Eliza Gayle
She couldn't move, she couldn't speak and now she couldn't see. Finally her knees buckled underneath her and she gratefully succumbed to the darkness sucking her in. It was all she had left.
Rafe Comyn entered the clearing a second before the battered and broken woman collapsed. He tempered his instinct to run to her assistance. The three men from his pack who surrounded her were not his favorite people and rushing them would send them on the attack. This was not going to go well.
"What the hell is going on here, Tanner?" Rafe demanded.
All three men turned his way and snarled. Their faces were already elongated from a partial shift, their arms and chests covered in fur. Saliva dripped from their mouths and for a second Rafe's stomach turned. They looked more like a rabid group of dirty animals instead of the superior wolf shifters they were supposed to be. The half beast form wasn't the most attractive to begin with. On these three, it was downright nasty.
"This is none of your business, Rafe. We found her first so back off." The gruff voice of the wolf made the human hard to understand.
"Yeah, I can see that. You've cornered a woman and beat her half to death. That's really something to be proud of."
The largest of the group broke rank and moved toward Rafe. "We haven't touched her yet. We found her like this, and she ain't no woman. She's a feline bitch."
Rafe eased forward, making sure to not make any sudden movements. He could take on Tanner and his friends if he had to, but he might as well try and be diplomatic first. The Alpha wouldn't take kindly to him starting a fight and right now pack politics were tense at best. A quick glance at the woman showed her passed out on the ground, but her chest rose and fell just enough for him to see she indeed still lived.
"Then why the hell do you look like wild animals about to attack? Are you planning to eat her?" He knew exactly what they were going to do with her.
"We're about to claim her."
Great, just what he thought. They were stupid and horny, his favorite combination. Not. Rafe fought the urge to roll his eyes against the cliché of these men. Not just men though. They were pack, which offered a whole host of complications he was about to step into.
"She's in no condition to be claimed. From what I can see she's barely alive." He brushed past Tanner and knelt beside the woman, ignoring the warning growls behind him. He bent down and sniffed her from head to toe. The wolf's keen sense of smell would tell him everything he needed to know. "She needs immediate medical attention."
"Nuh huh. What do we care if she's hurt? She's one of them. All the woman has to do is shift again and she'll be fine."
Rafe seriously doubted that was the case. In this condition her body should have already reverted to the cougar he scented inside her. There was something seriously wrong here. He pressed his fingers to her neck to check for a pulse and nearly jumped out of his skin. An electric jolt fired across his flesh, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Good God.
He peered closer for a better look. The red streaks in her long blonde hair appeared to be dried blood and the swelling on her cheek and eye were already turning colors. Not to mention the vicious cut bisecting half her face. Someone or someones had certainly given her one hell of a beating. He turned and glared at the men behind him. If not Tanner and his ugly friends, then who? She was too far into their territory to simply be lost. He ground his back teeth, knowing these idiots had found her first, giving them rights to claim her.
His wolf growled inside him, a low but distinct warning. He did not like that idea one bit.
Reluctantly he turned his back to the woman and faced the three men. It wouldn't work well to appear overly interested in her. One whiff of his interest and this situation would turn violent in a heartbeat.
"Her pulse is faint, I don't think there's going to be a claiming here tonight. She can't shift if she isn't conscious. I'm taking her to doc for medical attention, although I'm not even sure she'll live. She smells like death.
"Now wait just a minute." Tanner moved forward.
Rafe held up his hand to halt the other man and growled deep and loud, making sure to thread the noise with the full strength of his dominance. All three men looked up at him in shock. "You ready to challenge me, Tanner? I know you've been dying to do something, but I doubt this is what you had in mind."
"But we found her, so we've got rights. You can't stop us. It's the law!" The three men took a tentative step in Rafe's direction.
"I'm not kidding here. One more step and I'll take it as a personal challenge. It's been a while since I've ripped out anyone's throat, so I'm due."
They froze, each looking back at the other. Finally Tanner shrugged and stepped from in front of Rafe's path. "This ain't over. We aren't just giving up our rights to her. You can have her for now, but we'll be coming for her soon."
The menace in Tanner's voice wasn't lost on Rafe. What he'd really meant was that after he gathered a few more people to his side, he'd be ready for the challenge. This was what an alpha wolf on the rise had to deal with on a regular basis. If you couldn't prove your dominance, then you had no business becoming a leader.
"Anytime, Tanner, anytime."
Rafe turned and scooped the woman from the dirt. She barely stirred. He seriously wondered if she'd live. The cuts on her skin looked like slashes from claws and they were ugly, but turning darker way too fast. Those were no ordinary wounds.
Despite her battered condition, he sensed an inner strength that appealed to his wolf. It left him with an almost uncontrollable urge to lay her out and nestle his nose against her unmarred flesh. The underlying fragrant scent of a woman managed to get in his head through the harsher smell of whatever had been done to her. To his horror, his body hardened as her scent imprinted on his brain. It was time to get them both out of here.
He brushed past the men before any of them changed their mind. He knew the woman in his arms needed more urgent care than they realized. Fortunately, he wasn't far from his cabin and his cell phone. How she made it this far in without setting off any alarms surprised the hell out of him. Not that he doubted for a second Tanner and his crew would spread the word faster than wildfire. If Rafe was lucky, he'd make it to nightfall before the Alpha came calling.
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This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Also by Eliza Gayle
Southern Shifters Series:
DIRTY SEXY FURRY
MATE NIGHT
ALPHA KNOWS BEST
BAD KITTY
BE WERE
SHIFTIN’ DIRTY
NEVER KISS A WOLF
BEAR NAKED TRUTH
ALPHA BEAST
Devils Point Wolves:
WILD
WICKED
WANTED
FERAL
FIERCE
FURY
Pentacles of Magick Series:
UNTAMED MAGICK
MAGICK IGNITED
FORCE OF MAGICK
MAGICK PROVOKED
Single titles:
VAMPIRE AWAKENING
Books Writing As E.M. Gayle
Contemporary Romance
Purgatory Masters Series:
TUCKER'S FALL (also available in paperback & audio)
LEVI'S ULTIMATUM (also available in paperback & audio)
MASON'S RULE (Also available in Paperback)
Purgatory Club:
ROPED (also available in audio)
WATCH ME (also available in audio)
TEASED
BURN
BOTTOMS UP
HOLD ME CLOSE (also available in paperback)
What Alex Wants Series:
SWEET SUBMISSION
RECLAIMING HIS SUBMISSIVE
> Pleasure Playground Series:
PLAY WITH ME (also available in paperback & audio)
POWER PLAY
Single Title:
SUBMISSIVE BEAUTY (also available in paperback & audio)
Gypsy Ink Books
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.