The Black Wolf. Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

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СКАЧАТЬ he couldn’t imagine who might stop her. The memory of Cara Kirk-Killion in action tonight wasn’t going to fade any time soon.

      Ebony lashes fluttered over her eyes. Strands of midnight-hued hair, still damp from her swim, looked like streaks of ink against her ivory neck and the shoulders of the borrowed shirt, which was too large and made her look waifish. In his jeans, Cara seemed even more like a kid playing dress-up.

      “What is it?” His voice was low and steady.

      “No one is watching us now?” she asked, her gaze intent on the wall.

      “I wouldn’t say that—” He didn’t get to finish. Cara was already heading for the barrier at a sprint. She was more like a streak of lightning than anyone moving on two legs.

      Rafe swore out loud. Then he gave chase, hoping to God that he could catch up with Cara before anything else did.

      He didn’t see her top the wall and didn’t stop to analyze his actions in following her. There were eyes on them from the windows in the house and also from somewhere else nearby. He and Cara hadn’t truly been on their own, and she must have known this.

      He breathed a sigh of relief with the knowledge that backup would be right behind him if it was needed. Uttering oaths beneath his breath and pushing the limits his patience, he followed her into the park.

      She was fast. Cara ran like she was on all fours, much like their ancient wolf ancestors. He had never seen anyone go from zero to thirty in just a few seconds on foot. But he was also no slouch when it came to running. Pack training readied all Weres for speed a few nights each month after the sun went down. Plus, he spent a lot of time sprinting after bad guys in the day job.

      In his favor there was the fact that he knew every corner of the park that lay beyond his family’s property. Most of the officers in law enforcement did, because the western section had a notorious reputation as a gathering place for gangs and criminals. There would be a cop or two on duty out here tonight, keeping watch for illegal activity. There would also be a party of Weres scouting around. It was unfortunate that a place so haunted by an unsavory past was connected to the estates beyond its borders, but that was part of city life.

      He ran without breathing hard or breaking a sweat. Cara, just ahead of him, had slowed to a jog. She darted from tree to tree like a bloodhound on the scent, and he still had no idea what she was after.

      Damn it...why didn’t he know what she was doing? He was supposed to be a good detective.

      After nearly tripping over something on the ground, Rafe slowed. Cara had removed the jeans, possibly in order to get around more freely...which meant that she was again half-naked. He was an idiot for allowing her the freedom to get away like this.

      He was also an idiot for harboring thoughts of what he’d like to do with all that ivory bareness of hers if the situation were different. And, well...even if it wasn’t.

      * * *

      The disturbing scent Cara had noticed was strongest near the trees. The humid air had filled with whispers.

      Night had a strange feel to it here, too. The darkness was thicker, denser, as if unseen things took up space in the shadows. The pressure in her ears was a warning. Strange odors left a tang on her tongue. Her pulse thundered, though she saw nothing.

      She slammed to a stop beneath an old tree, where her search turned up no one. Ready to shout a warning to some unseen foe, Cara waited a few more seconds to gather what information she could find.

      The bark of the tree she stood beside shimmered like gold in the moonlight. Leaves shuddered and fell at her feet, as if the season were changing. There was movement. Rustling.

      Cara glanced up.

      Her equilibrium wavered. She gave a soft roar of protest. Clinging to the tree’s branches was a kind of darkness she hadn’t seen before. The treetop had become like a black hole in the atmosphere that was filled with chatter.

      She swayed, unsteady on her feet, finally realizing what this was. What it had to be. Vampires were here. Lots of them. The damn bloodsuckers had called to her in a way only they could.

      That realization caused the night to blur. Bloodsuckers unlike any she had seen before began to drop to the ground, one after the other. Five. Ten. More kept coming. Too many to count. The sheer number of them took the air from Cara’s lungs. For the first time in her life, she felt afraid.

      They moved like a monstrous incoming tide of malevolence—a wave of dark disjointed bodies with shockingly gaunt white features and skeletal frames. Things out of nightmares. Throwbacks to ancient times when vampires were nothing more than the walking dead. Their black eyes sank into dark sockets. Mouths were open and hissing, exposing lethally sharp yellow fangs.

      An odd sensation of déjà vu hit Cara and rooted her to the spot. Sickness roiled in her stomach as nasty odors churned up unpleasant things inside her. She was going to be surrounded and vastly outnumbered. She’d be dead if she didn’t act fast.

      Fear of what she was seeing caused her wolf’s energy to blaze. She didn’t want to become like these monsters and had to do something to stave off a transformation she refused to accept. But could she manage to trick the traits built into her system by avoiding the rules?

       Yes...

      Like a caged animal finally freed, Cara let a rush of energy take her over. That energy flowed through her like a river of fire, burning everything in its wake. A new, crazed kind of power fueled her fury. Fangs filled her mouth before disappearing again.

      “Not like you...” she whispered.

      As she raised her hands to fight, Cara felt the sharp pop of claws springing through her fingertips. She called her wolf to the surface and made it obey. The wolf barreled upward and through her with the force of a runaway train.

      Her spine cracked. Muscles seized and began to lengthen as she took her first swipe at the darkness gathered around her with preternaturally curved claws that would be a match for any oncoming pair of fangs. The shift was painful because it went against her nature—she had chosen her wolf, instead of becoming like the fanged parasites breathing down her neck. Cara had never attempted this before, and she had to bravely hold on.

      Breathing became difficult. Her discomfort turned white-hot. Cara rode out the pain until her body finally accepted the shape that ruled most of her genetics. Werewolf. She-wolf. Not just any Were, either, but one with the ancient European designation of wulf that denoted the early masters of the breed who were powerful shamans.

       This is who I am. What I am.

      The urge to fight roared through her. The need to kill the creatures that had nearly killed her father here a long time ago became too difficult to ignore. She was strong, fast and fierce. Her wolf shared its soul with the spirit of a Banshee, just like her mother, and that spirit told her she was not going to die tonight.

      All she had to do was kill every last bloodsucking fiend surrounding her.

      Her blood sang with that goal until her head felt light. But her plan encountered a hitch. The vampires dropping from the trees didn’t come after her. Every one of them suddenly moved en masse in the opposite direction, as though they had been drawn elsewhere by something more appetizing. As though they hadn’t seen her at all.

      There СКАЧАТЬ