Chapter 26
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.
It was as if those vamp bastards had walked on water.