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LUKE
Luke, please. I need you…
Bella’s call set my blood on fire and I raced out the door, not bothering to close it behind me.
I slammed through the trees, crashing in the underbrush, but even my fastest wasn’t fast enough.
I paused, closed my eyes and invited my other self to the foreground.
I step forward forcefullyand am running before my man side fades. The first few leaps are on tender flesh before my paw pads fully form.
But I do not mind an instant of stinging pain. My mate is in danger. I would walk on fire to save her.
The awful scent of the hellhound permeates my senses even though I can tell that I have a long run before I will reach them.
I envision my teeth tearing into lifeless flesh, flinging the hateful parts of the animated corpse-dog to the four winds and then turning on whatever commands it.
The man side of me whispers my mate’s name in the back of my mind, focusing me on what is most important.
I run so hard and fast my muscles burn. The creatures of the forest, large and small, scatter before me. They know I am death, but I do not come for them today. At last, I can sense a group just up ahead.
Where before it was a man, a hellhound and my mate, I can scent that now there are two other human girls in the clearing. They will be frightened of me, but I don’t care how they feel.
I burst into the clearing, snarling. I launch myself into an attack against the beast, taking in the scene as it blurs past my flying form.
My mate is on the ground. Something is wrong with her. She is twisted around herself. One of the other girls is lying near her, unconscious. The other is crawling over to protect her.
A disgusting, smelly man looms over her, clutching a piece of paper. Beside the man, the horrible hellhound growls and coils up as if it is about to attack my mate. It will not get that chance.
The unfortunates look up at me. I know I am like an angry god to them - too large, too powerful. I land on the beast, my claws and teeth tearing its rotten flesh asunder. It melts into a stinking pile of meat beneath me.
I throw my head back and howl and the meat sizzles into a foul mist that floats away on the breeze.
Next it is the man’s turn.
But he is nowhere to be seen. He must have run away. I scent the air and can see his putrid trail leading through the trees. He will be easy to follow.
I will hunt him. I will find him. I will kill him.
But before I can do any of those needful things, I hear the soft voice of my mate whisper my name.
My man side begs me to go to her and help her.
Every instinct tells me to chase down the man who attacked her.
But my mate is hurt. Something is not right with her. My man side is trying to force the shift to stop me from leaving her. He has never done that before.
Reluctantly, I allow him control. I remind him that I am allowing this. He has not taken it.
As he pushes to the foreground, he lets me feel his sorrow for trying to force the change. He respects me. It is only that our mate needs our human side now.
“Bella,”I cried, falling to the ground beside her.
“Luke,” she whispered. “You came.”
“I will always come for you,” I told her, wrapping my arms around her. Hot tears of relief prickled at my eyes. “What happened?”
“I… I…” she trailed off, as if she had forgotten herself.
