The realization, however, did nothing to reassure Harley.
How was Salvatore supposed to defeat a zombie Were with evil powers?
A pained yelp echoed through the trees as Salvatore at last rolled on top of the squirming Were, latching his teeth deep into his opponent’s throat. The fight should have been at an end, but proving his unnatural powers, Briggs continued to claw at Salvatore’s back, leaving deep scratches that oozed an alarming amount of blood.
Salvatore couldn’t bleed to death, but he would quickly weaken if he wasn’t allowed to heal.
Dammit.
Harley found herself moving forward, tired of watching from the sidelines.
She didn’t have a clue what would hurt the Were, but she was willing to try anything. Starting with unloading a bunch of bullets straight into his head.
Circling wide enough to avoid distracting Salvatore, Harley waited until she had a clear shot at the Were’s head before lifting her arm and aiming the gun.
Almost as if sensing her presence, Briggs shifted his crimson gaze to regard her with a malevolent warning.
God. Her throat tightened with an icy dread, but her arm never wavered. The thing was an abomination. The thought of it creeping around the world would give any sane demon nightmares.
Perhaps reading the determination etched on her face, the Were snarled with fury and Harley was hit with a blast of frigid air. Reeling backwards, she could only watch in horror as the thing disappeared with a loud pop.
Harley ended up flat on her back, more stunned by the Were’s vanishing act than by the magical blow. She sucked a breath into her aching lungs, staring at the dappled sun that peeked through the heavy canopy of leaves overhead. Then without warning, her view was blocked by Salvatore’s lean, darkly beautiful face.
“Harley?” He’d changed back to human form, but the golden eyes continued to glow with power.
Sitting up, Harley pushed the hair out of her face and studied the hard naked body crouched beside her. It was worth studying at any time, but for the moment Harley’s only interest was in the deep wounds that marred his bronzed flesh.
“You’re injured,” she breathed.
“Nothing that won’t heal,” he assured her, his expression concerned. “What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
To prove her point, Harley forced herself to her feet, knocking the dirt off her khaki shorts as Salvatore moved to pull on his jeans and T-shirt. His movements were stiff, but it was obvious he would recover, and Harley found her rush of adrenaline fading, leaving behind a vague unease.
When she had awoken earlier in the day to discover herself wrapped tightly in Salvatore’s arms, she couldn’t deny she’d panicked.
It wasn’t shock at having so thoroughly enjoyed their night of passion. The man was a flat-out no-holds-barred expert in bed. Even now her body tingled in all the right places at the memory of his skillful touch.
No, it had been the realization that she had so easily forgotten that Salvatore was still little more than a stranger. A stranger that until a day ago she’d believed was her mortal enemy.
For all she knew, he was playing an elaborate game that was going to end with her dead. She’d be a fool to trust him because he happened to be good in the sack.
Besides, for the first time in her life she was…free.
There was no Caine with his dire warnings of what would happen to her if she dared to leave his protection. No curs to constantly monitor her every movement.
And with the amulet, not even Salvatore would be able to track her.
So she’d taken off.
Or at least, she’d tried to take off.
Stupidly, she hadn’t been able to shake the persistent uncertainty that plagued her as she had headed off to discover her long overdue destiny.
Salvatore claimed that her sisters, and even her mother, were alive. It could be a lie, of course. In fact, it probably was. Still, could she just walk away if there was the smallest chance of being reunited with the family she’d thought she’d lost forever?
Walking alone through the trees, she’d at last accepted that she would never be satisfied until she discovered the truth of her sisters. Her destiny had waited for thirty years. It could hold off a few more days.
So she’d turned around.
Watching the annoyingly beautiful man tie his shoes and collect his gun and dagger, Harley ignored the treacherous leap of her heart.
She was here to find her sisters.
That was the reason she’d returned.
The only reason.
It had absolutely, positively nothing to do with Salvatore Giuliani, King of Weres.
Busy reminding herself of that very pertinent fact, Harley was caught off guard when Salvatore whirled toward the trees behind him.
“Curs,” he hissed.
Belatedly catching the unmistakable smell, Harley tightened her grip on the gun. Dammit. The pack was already circling them.
They’d been so occupied with the near-death fight with the zombie Were that they hadn’t even noticed the approaching trouble.
“Just frigging perfect,” she muttered.
Salvatore cupped her chin in his hand, his expression fierce.
“Run.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
He growled in frustration. “Very soon we’re going to have a long conversation about the proper way of following orders.”
“Any conversation about following orders is going to be very short and will probably involve bloodshed.”
The golden light of his eyes flared, but before he could argue, two curs crashed into the clearing. Turning, Salvatore moved to stand directly before them, arrogantly confident despite the fact the two had already shifted into werewolves that were as large as ponies, and powerful enough to fill the air with a prickling heat.
Sensing another cur approaching behind them, Harley silently slid behind a tree, her gaze still trained on Salvatore as he held out a hand toward the curs. Even from a distance she could feel a painful pressure filling the clearing.
She didn’t have a clue what he was doing, but she suspected the curs weren’t going to be happy.
She was right.
With agonized whines the animals fell to the ground, their fur-covered bodies writhing. Still Salvatore continued to hold out his hand, his powerful compulsion hammering into the hapless curs.
Harley winced at the sound of bones popping. Somehow Salvatore was forcing the curs back to human form.
A painful process, if their howls were anything to go by.
Fascinated by the macabre spectacle, Harley nearly missed when the cur behind her began to move forward. Pressing herself to the tree, she shook her head in disgust as she recognized the man who was trying to sneak up behind Salvatore.