Page 46 of Captured By the Werewolf Highwaymen

A long pause followed, punctuated by Des’s panting and the unnatural stillness of the room in the wake of the battle that had, moments ago, torn the study apart.

“It’s over, sparrow,” Des finally said.

“You’re safe,” Gideon rumbled.

She pulled Gideon’s hand away and took in the scene. Cyrus’s corpse lay atop the desk, his arms hanging limply, his neck a mess of ripped flesh.

Liam had vanished from the doorway.

Des stood over the body, then looked at her. His eyes were hot with bloodlust. Her gaze raked over his huge form, muscles covered in scarlet-stained fur, claws also coated with red.

He was a predator from the depths of her folk tales. The kind that hunted princesses.

Her body heated, her breath came quickly.

She slipped from Gideon’s loosening grasp and bolted for the front door.

14

Clara burst from the house to run into the night. The full moon hung heavy in the sky. Its energy sizzled along her skin and quickened her heart, while its light cast bright mercury over the landscape. The illumination revealed the drive and beyond that, the thick forest.

Her heart seized at the choice she had to make. The known path that would leave her exposed, or the wood with its shelter—and mysteries.

She hesitated for a moment. Then she veered into the forest, plunging headlong into its depths.

Low-hanging branches plucked at her clothes and brushed over her face, while bracken grasped at her skirts like elven fingers seeking to drag her down into their underground kingdom. The dense woods permitted only scraps of light to pierce its canopy, illuminating her way in patches.

Where she was going, she’d no notion. Only that she had to get away. From the violence she’d just witnessed. From the transformations that should have been impossible, and yet were real. She had to flee Des, and Gideon, and, most of all, the hot, wild part of herself that saw them in their new forms, and desired.

She ran with her arms stretched out to hold back boughs. Yet, even with the moonlight, she couldn’t make sense of what was ahead. She yelped as her foot caught in a twisting root, and she stumbled, dropping to the ground in a flurry of petticoats. The heels of her hands broke her fall. Stones and twigs bit into her palms, and she brushed them off as she struggled back to her feet, not bothering to clean her dusty skirts.

The vast forest was endless around her. Nocturnal birds cried out and took flight as she crashed gracelessly through the wood, and animals scurried away. She knew nothing of how to survive in such a place, and she stopped long enough to turn in a circle, seeking some direction, some way toward safety.

Sounds rose behind her. Twigs snapping, and footfalls, light but purposeful.

Des.

The fine hairs covering her body rose, and her skin went tight and sensitive. The moonlight was sultry on her flesh, her breasts grew heavy, while a slick, hot wetness gathered between her legs.

He deliberately made noise, alerting her to his presence. Letting her know that he pursued her, chased her farther into the darkness.

Heart pounding, breath coming in excited pants, she sped deeper into the forest. He kept distance between them, always letting her stay ahead of him, yet his presence remained large and hot behind her.

She chanced a look over her shoulder. Des was a blur in the shadows, his eyes glowing brightly, his movements sleek. It was beautiful to see him run, both human and animal, intent on hunting her. The look in his eyes was predatory—and something else, something carnal and erotic.

He would catch her. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.

Beneath her bodice, her nipples tightened.

Ahead, she caught the glint of moonlight on water. She rushed forward and slid down the embankment of a creek before plunging into the water. A gasp left her lips at the coldness of the stream, yet she forged onward, the water surging around her waist, until she reached the other bank. She grabbed handfuls of grass and reeds to pull herself up. Once her feet touched dry land, she was off again, running.

She stumbled into the center of a clearing, and stopped. Turning, she faced the direction she’d just come from and waited. Her dress clung to her, yet she barely felt the chill. All she sensed now was a powerful heat radiating from deep within her, roused by the chase, attuned to Des.

A moment later, he appeared at the edge of the glade. Water dripped from his fur, now cleansed of blood. He moved into the moonlight, revealing that the wound on his shoulder had already begun to heal.

Here, in the forest, away from the tight confines of her home, he stood tall, powerful. His physique was sharply defined, broad pectorals and the ridges of his abdomen visible even beneath his dark fur, and his limbs were hewn and thickly muscled. His wolfish head was proud and handsome, eyes aglow, mouth stretched to reveal long teeth. All his attention centered on her.

He took a step toward her, and that’s when she saw it.