“Right, we can’t wait any longer.” I spoke the thoughts aloud. “We have to move,” I told my jerk of a twin. “If you still can’t walk properly, point me and Bryce in the right direction and get in the ambulance.”
Dagger’s feet hit the ground. “While she’s out there, in those fuckers’ clutches? No way.” He tilted the painkiller bottle and guzzled a mouthful more as another detective brought over his recovered Colt 45. Sliding his pistol into its holster and clamping its velcro strap down tight, Dagger limped to my side, refusing assistance from anyone.
My jaguar grumbled in my head,That’s nice he’s finally getting off his ass, with his medicine and his gun. What else might help him? Herbal tea? Warm cookies? A brain larger than a grape? He put my mate in danger!
Our mate, remember?I snapped back at him.
Dagger nodded toward the deserted and shadowy boulevard beside the Missouri’s banks. “Come on, they went in that direction. Quick, follow me.” He did a fast hobble toward the river, sucking air through clenched teeth with each step.
Quick? If he moved any slower, he’d be going backward, my big cat huffed.
I need to focus. Stop distracting me.
You need to shift into a superior form, book sniffer. He’s barely got his two legs left, but I’ve got four fast ones.
You’ve got a fast temper too. So, no.
Temper?His roar filled my head.Keep me in here, and I’ll show you temper.
As we moved clear of the flashing sirens and camera lights held at bay by a police cordon, I peered into the path’s murky distance while trying to keep a hold of the faint vamp scent in my nostrils.
I can smell that wounded vamp’s trail strong as day-old meat. Shift! Or I’ll fucking force it…
The roaring demands of my jaguar were coming close to deafening. “Bryce, I have to shift. He’s coming out one way or another. Please, hang on to my clothes,” I began to strip.
Bryce’s worried frown loosened in surprise, but he didn’t raise any questions. Nodding rapidly, he stammered, “Of—of course. Yes, you should shift then. Whatever finds her fastest. That’s all that matters.”
My jaguar chuffed his approval.You’re all right, stallion.
Stallion?
Like you didn’t see that thing practically dragging in the grass.
Hunter’s Jaguar
Back arched and hackles raised, I puffed myself up until I filled every space of Hunter’s body.
My human retreated to the back of our mind, his disapproval an annoying itch on my neck. My fur, claws, and fangs exploded from our skin, and at last, I dropped down onto four legs. Flexing my paws and shimmying my stiff shoulders, I wrinkled my muzzle against the stench of that vampire scum.
My roar startled the other humans, their nervous sweat adding to the mix. Even the man who wielded fire stepped back with wide eyes, like he’d never seen me before.
I shot off at top speed, ready to rip, slash, and slaughter for my mate. For every tear she shed, I’d spill rivers of blood.
I felt… good. Powerful. Like I could leap twice as high. Or maybe I’d just missed my freedom, forgotten how strong I could be when the bastard let me loose.
Mate. Mate. Mate. I was going to bite her captors’ heads clean off.
I needed her safe. I hadn’t even gotten to touch her for myself, to hear her voice in my ear, before she was taken away. I wanted to lick her face, to feel her hand trace my back as I curled around her and felt her heart beating steady and strong and alive.
I’d kill to make it come true.
The scent stopped about fifteen miles down the boulevard, at the bottom of some concrete steps which branched down from the street to the river. Among the slimy algae caked on the last two, I smelled a drop of my mate’s blood. I bared my fangs, a low growl building in my chest, promising agony. I’d maul them slowly for that.
I looked beyond the water and waited for the opposite bank to spring into focus. Nothing but tangled bushes and discarded car shells. I snarled.
There was also no boat on the water. I dipped a paw into the chilly water, feeling the fierce current sway my fur, tugging hard. They couldn’t have swum it. Not with one wounded and one carrying our mate as their captive.
I yowled at the stars.
