Samhain Publishing

She has the cure. He has the means. Together, they just might have a chance.

After a well-intentioned experiment goes horribly wrong, a new breed of wolf Shifter takes over the night.

Diana has the cure, thanks to research she carried on after her father’s death. But in her increasingly dangerous world, there’s no one she can trust. Allowing anyone close could be the death of her—and of any hope the cure will reach those who need it.

Harm has the means, but lacks the cure. For years, he’s worked for an elite government force, using his superior half-Shifter abilities in the battle to keep the streets safe. Now the Shifters are mutating and there’s real fear that mankind is on its way to extinction.

When Diana and Harm’s lives collide, they have only one chance to save the human world.

Copyright © 2008 Flesa Black
All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication

They came out of the dark, their eyes shining and their heads bent as they glared at her. A pack of them, four in all, were stalking towards her, deadly intent in every move they made. They inched forwards stealthily, their padded feet muffled against the hard asphalt. She couldn’t take them all. She would maybe get one shot off before the others were on her. She tried not to panic, instead relying on her father’s lifelong teachings. Find the alpha. Take him down. The others would still attack, but one might stay behind to protect the fallen leader. The rest wouldn’t be nearly as fast or as strong, and there might be a chance…

She took a deep breath and silently demanded her muscles to be steady. She knew what to do to give herself at least some slim chance of survival. And if she was going to die, she sure as hell was going down fighting. She searched the wolves that were only a few feet away, zeroing in on the white-haired animal as the alpha. He was slightly larger, just a fraction of an inch in front of the other creatures. He would be the first to pounce, and the others would follow. He was her target.

She took her stance again, bracing her legs slightly apart, gripping the wolfsbane in her fist. The world began moving in slow motion as the leader crouched slightly, the muscles in his legs tightening. She narrowed her eyes and waited—and nearly gasped when the wolf was thrown to the other side of the alley, his thick body smacking against the brick wall.

The others immediately turned and began barking and snarling, racing towards whatever had taken down the alpha. She stood for a few beats, blinking as she stared at the fallen creature. Blood was slowly seeping out of his side, matting the white fur with its scarlet color as the jagged corner of a cracked rib stuck through the pliant flesh. The Shifter’s head was turned at an awkward angle, his eyes open and unseeing, his tongue lolling from between his sharp teeth. Dead, she thought, and was stunned. Her logical mind told her to run, to use the distraction to get the hell away from the Shifters. But the other part of her brain was filled with blinding curiosity, a curiosity that overrode every other thought. Suddenly she, too, was running, following where the other wolves had gone. She had to see what had done this.

She stopped abruptly a few feet into the side alley, staring in amazement as another wolf was flung past her, landing like a rag doll on the hard, wet ground. There was a shadow in the mouth of the alleyway, a dark visage that looked strangely like a man. She watched, mesmerized, as he pushed another wolf away then kicked at the fourth. They weren’t down, though—she could still hear the dual growling of the furious creatures.

They bounded at the same time, launching themselves at the stranger with more strength than grace. He didn’t so much as flinch when they jumped. He simply opened his arms wide, waited a split second and crushed their skulls together. They fell to the asphalt with a muted thud, splashing into a puddle.

She didn’t know what to do, what to say, and she wasn’t sure if she had the words anyway. It wasn’t possible—at least it wasn’t supposed to be possible. A human taking on a pack of werewolves, it was too much like an urban legend. Managing to escape them, certainly, but actually taking them down… Impossible. To her knowledge it had never been done, though her father had conjectured about how it might be possible.

“You should go home.”

His voice was deep, slightly sharp, the gravel in his tone strangely soothing and electrifying all at the same time.

She couldn’t stop the snap of her words as she pocketed her spray. “That’s where I was headed. I certainly wasn’t going clubbing at this time of day.”

She could have sworn she heard a chuckle before he replied. “You should let your boyfriend walk you everywhere.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She stared at him a moment, trying to decide if he’d just given her a horribly cheesy pick-up line, or if he was making assumptions. From his expression, she decided he wasn’t trying to scope her out. “Besides, I’ve seen most grown men scream and run when they’re confronted with Shifters. I could do without the hysterics.”

“True, but two are less likely to be attacked than one.”

“And one shouldn’t even be attacked at five in the afternoon. They shouldn’t be shifting until moonrise.”

There was a soft whoosh of air as the shadow shifted his weight. “You have a good point. They shouldn’t be able to… Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

He turned and took a step into the watery light of day, pausing as he waited for her. She stared at his wide shoulders and decided his offer had to be one of the most interesting proposals she’d ever had. She wondered if he ever thought of hiring himself out as a bodyguard. She knew she’d be one of the first in line to pay for his services.

“You shouldn’t walk home alone,” he repeated, his back still to her.

Sighing, she shrugged and made her way out of the alley, carefully stepping over the lifeless bodies of the wolves. She knew that in the next hour, their tissue would begin to break down and their bodies would shift back to human form, leaving them naked and mangled. There had been a time when she’d pitied them, but she had been very young then.

In the soft light, she could easily see the muscled physique and proudly held body of her rescuer. His dark brown hair was worn in a severe crew cut, a look that hadn’t been popular in the civilian sector for years. She noted his urban camouflage, from his broad shoulders all the way to his large feet, and felt suspicion crawl up her spine. There were two guns strapped to his side, and she was sure each was filled with wolfsbane bullets. If the bullet itself didn’t kill the animal, then the concentrated liquid at its core would poison the blood as well as cause excruciating agony. Only certain government-sanctioned agencies were allowed to carry such things, though she knew civilians had ways of purchasing the bullets underground.

When she finally reached the stranger, she stopped directly in front of him, determined to see the face of the man who had saved her life. Government or not, she had to concede she owed him more than she could ever repay. What she saw when she finally laid her eyes on him sent her back a quick step.

He was gorgeous. There was no way around it. This man was a fine specimen of the male species. From behind she could see that he was well muscled, but a nice body did not an interesting face make. And his face was more than interesting, it was enthralling.