Maybe even too strong for the backup coming.
Two bullets hadn’t slowed him. She hadn’t slowed him.
Saliva dripped onto her face. That breath wasn’t so minty fresh anymore.
Erin looked up and found his open mouth poised right over her.
This was it.
No dreams this time. No visions. Her death.
Hadn’t seen this one coming.
Sorry, Jude.
She’d found him too late. A man who accepted her, wanted her, maybe even could love her—too late.
So sorry.
She wouldn’t be healing from this.
With a snarl, those fangs went for her throat.
The roar came as she felt the first puncture. A roar that filled her ears and seemed to shake the street.
Then the wolf was knocked right off her. His teeth scraped over her neck, slicing the skin.
She rolled away, lifting a hand to her throat and touching the wet warmth of her blood.
Jude.
The tiger was there, quivering with fury. Fighting with claws and teeth. Driving his fangs into the wolf’s body. Picking up the smaller beast and tossing him into the air.
A match for a wolf.
Wolves were strong, no doubt about it, but a tiger shifter was no one’s bitch.
She managed to rise to her feet. The blood flow was already starting to ease up. The slice hadn’t gone too deep, thanks to Jude. All of her wounds throbbed, but they were healing fast.
Growls and snarls filled the air. The tiger and the wolf attacked, rolled, roared, and howled.
Blood soaked their fur. Bones crunched.
The wolf sank his teeth into the tiger’s back. Jude jerked away, swiping with his front paws.
Have to help. Can’t just stand here and watch!
“Erin…” Dee’s voice.
The gun.
Erin ran to her side and grabbed the gun. It slipped in her blood-soaked fingers.
“No, wait, you need—”
No more waiting. The wolf had just cut open Jude’s side.
The tiger seemed to move in a fast blur, launching at the wolf, his giant mouth open.
She lifted the gun, aimed. Move, Jude, move—just a bit. Give me a shot. A chance to end the nightmare.
His mouth locked on the wolf’s throat. Jude jerked the wolf up with his hold, and Erin had a perfect view of the beast’s back.
Her finger squeezed the trigger.
The bullet thudded into the wolf.
The tiger’s teeth clamped down harder.
One beat of time. Two. She fought to hold the gun steady. If she just didn’t have so much blood on her hands…
The tiger dropped his prey. The wolf didn’t move.
Jude threw back his head and roared his rage at the night.
Over? Please, be—
Jude jumped over the fallen body of the wolf. As he ran to her, the fur began to melt from his body. He fell before her as the bones snapped and shaped with sickening crunches. His fangs disappeared and a man’s face formed from the tiger’s.
Naked, strong, he knelt before her.
Then he looked up at her. Jude didn’t speak. He just gazed at her.
Her hands fell on to his shoulders. Over. She stared into his eyes. Finally, the bastard was dead.
And Jude was alive and strong and right in front of her.
“Erin…are you all right?” Gruff, thick. Somewhere between the man’s rumbles and the beast’s growls.
She managed a nod. Too much blood on her, but…“I’m a fast healer.”
His gaze tracked over her bloody form, then rose back to her face. “Just so we’re clear,” he told her, his voice growing stronger. “You aren’t his mate. Never were.”
She shook her head. “No, you—”
“You’re mine, sweetheart. Have been from the beginning, just like I’m yours.” His hands wrapped around her waist and he pulled her close.
Hers.
A tear slid down her cheek and splashed onto his shoulder. She wanted that to be true because she wanted him so much, but—
His head tipped back a bit more. “Mine,” he said again, simply, softly.
And she echoed the word as she gazed down at him. “Mine.”
Then he was rising up, holding her too tight and so right and his mouth was on hers and he kissed her the way he’d always kissed her—
With hunger and need and lust.
And love?
She wanted to sink into him, to push the world away, but there was too much pain around her. Too much blood.
She twisted back, pulling her mouth from his. “Jude, my mother…”
His nostrils flared. He glanced behind her and swore. Then they were moving together, rushing to Theresa’s side.
Her mother’s eyes were open, and she didn’t look as pale as death anymore. No, no, a hint of color lined her cheeks. “Did you…do it?” she asked, her gaze on Jude’s face.
Shifters—always so strong. Theresa’s legs were still a twisted mess, but the gushing blood had stopped. Her mother just might pull through.
Relief had Erin’s breath catching. She was crouched in front of Jude, shielding his naked form as best she could. Her mother could see his face, but, hopefully, not much else.
Not that shifters were really known for any sort of modesty.
Jude gave a nod and said, “I ripped the bastard’s throat wide open.”
Somehow, her mother managed a weak smile at that. “Good…what the b-bastard…d-deserved.” Blood stained the corner of her mouth.
“Take it easy.” Erin put a light hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Help’s coming.”
That smile stayed on her bloody lips. “Don’t worry…baby. Hard…to kill.”
Yeah, she was, and Erin had never been happier to have a wolf for a mother. Actually, it might have been the first time she was happy about that fact.
Theresa’s right hand lifted and clamped down on her shirt. “S-sorry…”
Erin looked into her eyes and understood. “How did you know he was coming after me?”
Her hand fell away. “S-saw him…in L-Lillian… knew…wolf h-hybrid…f-followed h-him…”
“You could have died.” Anger there, the fear that wouldn’t leave because her mother was still too close to death.
“Had…to s-save…you.”
Erin choked back the damn sob that rose in her throat.
“Who the hell…is he?” Dee’s strained voice. Erin glanced at her. She was up now, on her feet, wavering a bit as she inched toward the naked body.
The fur was gone. The beast always vanished in death.
Erin’s hands fisted. “His name’s Lance Harper. Judge Lance Harper.”