Blood Wolf Dawning. Rhyannon Byrd

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      Irritated that the animal had just called him out for taking part in an embarrassing private pity party, he started to make his way toward the cabin, ready to face the wrath of Sayre and her gun, when he and his beast both instantly realized something was wrong. While the wolf chuffed in his head, Cian lifted his nose and sniffed the mountain air, searching for what had snagged his attention, and promptly finding it. Two...no, three human males were closing in on Sayre’s cabin from the north, and Cian stealthily headed in their direction, until he could pick up their muted conversation.

      “Oh, man, he didn’t tell us she was such a hot little piece. I’m thinking we need to try this one out before we deliver her,” one of them said, obviously eyeing Sayre through the trees.

      “I get her first,” argued a second male.

      “Like hell you do,” a new voice cackled. “You always break them and then they aren’t any fun for the rest of us.”

      “But I’ve got a thing for redheads,” the second one whined.

      “We don’t give a shit. You can wait your fuckin’ turn.”

      Cian moved silently through the trees, drawing nearer, every part of him completely focused on his prey. Did these idiots actually think he was going to let them get close to her? Did they have any idea what they were walking into? Either way, it didn’t matter. Their fates had been sealed the instant they voiced their intentions.

      “Let’s spread out, blocking her exits. That asshole who hired us said it might be a few days before he showed up to collect her, and I’d rather spend the time we’ve got with her having fun than running her down.”

      One of his friends snickered. “That’s just because your bum knees don’t hold up anymore. But I kinda like the thought of chasing her down like a bitch.”

      In that moment, Cian almost regretted the necessity of killing them quickly. It no doubt made him a brutal bastard, but he would have enjoyed making these assholes suffer long and hard before he finally finished them off.

      He quickly texted Sayre, ordering her to lock herself inside the cabin. Then he shoved the phone in his pocket, and released his long, lethal fangs and claws, the sharp tips piercing through gum and skin with a brief but familiar bite of pain. Without the light of the moon, this was as much as his body could shift form, but it was more than enough. Whatever weapons the humans possessed, they weren’t going to be any match for his speed and skill.

      In normal circumstances, he would have never revealed the deadly, animalistic side of his nature in front of humans, since the Lycan race’s existence was a carefully protected secret from the vast majority of the population. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and these assholes weren’t ever going to leave this mountain.

      Relaxing his tether on his beast, Cian allowed the wolf to prowl closer to his surface, the animal’s possessive, visceral need to protect its mate punching deeper into his system, ramping his adrenaline at the same time he shifted into a state of total focus. His objective was extremely simple: destroy the threat by any means necessary. With a deep breath and a flex of his claws, he launched his attack.

      It took only seconds to find the first male in the line of trees behind her cabin, the vile stench of body odor impossible to miss for someone with Cian’s acute sense of smell. He slashed his claws across the human’s throat and swiftly retreated to avoid as much of the thick, crimson spray as he could. Its rich scent had his pulse ramping up, the blackened part of his soul that he hated with such ferocity awakening with the rush for more. For that wet, slick spill to slide down his throat and feed the darkness. Forcing himself to abandon the kill and move on, he quickly closed in on the second human from behind, the bastard never even knowing he was there until he felt the sharp press of Cian’s blood-covered claws tearing across his throat as his body crumpled to the forest floor.

       Two down, one to go.

      The third male had made his way around the eastern edge of her property, intending to cut off Sayre from the south. Following the scent of cheap beer and stale sweat, Cian easily found the human standing between two towering trees as the last vestiges of sunlight held on, not yet ready to release its claim to the day. There was a nauseating leer on the bastard’s face as he stared at her cabin, his tongue slicking across his lips while he tapped the blade of a hunting knife against his thigh. Cian was giving private thanks that Sayre had actually listened to him and gone inside, when she suddenly stepped out from behind the small shed not ten yards away from where the man stood, holding a rifle in her arms. He heard the click of the gun a fraction of a second before she fired a bullet into the male’s thigh. The force of Sayre’s shot sent the human crashing to the ground, and Cian quickly finished him off with a fatal swipe of his claws before turning toward the headstrong woman who apparently didn’t know how to follow orders to save her life.

      It took him six strides to reach her, and while she lowered the gun, she didn’t even try to run. Retracting his blood-drenched claws, he ripped the gun out of her hold and tossed it aside. Then he quickly gripped her upper arms, yanked her up onto her toes and roared, “What the hell, Sayre? I told you to stay inside the cabin!”

      “Like I give a rat’s ass what you told me to do!” she shouted back at him.

      “You got a death wish, little girl?” He got right in her face, his voice dropping to a sibilant hiss. “Because that was the dumbest move I’ve ever seen anyone make.”

      Shaking with fury, she began using her power to try and make him release her, but he refused to budge. If he’d been human, the palms of his hands would have no doubt been blistered within a few seconds, unable to endure the searing burst of heat she was generating without letting go. He growled at her, but she didn’t so much as bat an eyelash, and he realized this female—his female—was a woman who would never cower before a man. Raging, intense pride and lust fired through his system, his blood thickening low in his body, while his heart thundered like something trying to break its way free.

      With another rough, guttural growl, Cian forced himself to slowly set her back on her feet as he loosened his grip on her arms. He knew that if he didn’t put some distance between them right then, there was a strong chance he was going to take her to the moss-covered ground beneath their feet and drive himself so deep inside her he wouldn’t ever find his way back out.

      “Who were those men?” she demanded, ripping out of his hold.

      “My brother,” he grunted, only to realize that his words didn’t make any sense. “I mean, none of those men were Aedan. But I’m guessing they were working for him.”

      She blinked up at him with dark, gold-tipped lashes. “What are you talking about? You don’t have a brother.”

      “It’s a long story, but I’ll explain on the road.” Well, he’d explain some of it. No way in hell was he telling her everything.

      “Cian.”

      “Listen. Next time, he won’t send a bunch of human thugs. Those guys were just a game to him, Sayre. A message meant to let us know that he’s found you and has you in his sights. But he won’t play the game for long. Eventually, it will be him, in the flesh, and I know you don’t trust me, but you can believe me when I tell you that going head-to-head with Aedan isn’t something we could walk away from without paying for it first. Not here. Not alone.”

      She cut her gaze to the side and frowned. “I—”

      “Damn it, Sayre, СКАЧАТЬ