Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

and see what they could get in exchange for Kat’s safe return. But now they would have to wait until she healed a little—if she recovered at all. She must look pretty bad if they thought she might not recover. Her most animal side knew this was it. She wanted to scream out in anger—if her mouth weren’t taped and if she had the energy—at how short her life had been. There was so much she still wanted to do.
    As she stared at the three men, Kat watched in horror and fascination as the blond woman smoothly pushed to her feet and started to glow incandescently. Instead of being fearful, the woman looked angry. Her entire body lit up and her blue eyes flashed darkly, almost evilly. Kat couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sight. By their expressions, it was obvious the males could see her glowing too. She wasn’t visible just to Kat’s seer senses.
    “You arrogant bastard,” the woman breathed out, her voice eerily dark and unnatural. All her focus was on the scarred man. “For months I’ve put up with all of you, but
you
are the worst. Controlling your sick, twisted mind has drained my powers on a daily basis, but no more. Finding out who your boss is isn’t worth
this
.” Her voice deepened even more, sending a chill snaking through Kat’s entire body.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Kat watched Greg inch toward the door. She wanted to cry out, to alert the woman that he was trying to escape, but her mouth was taped shut. The other man, the scarred one, hadn’t moved, though. He just stood frozen, staring, as if he were a marble statue. Transfixed by the vision before him.
    A burst of light shot from the woman’s right hand. It glowed as bright blue as her eyes. The stream of energy split through the air directly at the scarred man.
    He tried to run but it was useless. The bolt of light slammed into his head, ripping it clear from his body. Kat gagged as his lifeless body fell to the floor with a thud. Blood and gore spilled out of him as his entire body began splitting apart as if he were a rag doll. It was like his skin just fell apart, losing all its elasticity.
    The woman turned to face Kat and fixed that eerie, unearthly blue gaze on her. Her eyes were haunted, full of regret. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he’d done this to you. I thought they were just holding you hostage or I’d have come sooner.” Now her voice was ragged and tired and no longer deeply unnatural. She held out her hand toward Kat and this time a soft, green burst of light flowed from her hand.
    Kat flinched but a warmth spread through her chest, and the pulsing, ripping pain she’d felt moments beforebegan to fade. As energy seeped back into her, two giant, snarling wolves and a redheaded woman carrying two blades burst through the door.
    The blonde turned at the noise and, when she did, broke contact with Kat. Immediately the blonde slumped to the hay-covered dirt ground.
    The abrupt removal of the blonde’s energy made Kat cry out against her taped mouth. Fresh pain shot through Kat’s limbs. Whatever the woman had been doing wasn’t working now. The muted sounds of her cries pushed the man who’d been frozen into action.
    He reached for his gun, but the fight was over before it started. The gray and white wolf lunged at him and tore his throat out in one clean swipe.
    Kat closed her eyes to block out the pain, their presence, and the new violence. She knew what she looked like and couldn’t bear the shame of anyone seeing her like this. If these two wolves were here, she knew Jayce wasn’t far behind. The thought of him seeing what had been done to her made bile rise in her throat.
    When she felt soft hands touch her bound, outstretched arms, her eyes flew open and she instinctively started to struggle until she realized the redheaded woman was cutting her down.
    Gently, she laid her on the ground and removed the tape from her mouth. Kat tried to cover her exposed breasts, but her arms wouldn’t work. The other woman slid off her coat and laid it over her.
    “I’m dying,” she gurgled out, blood dripping down her chin. She didn’t know why she’d said it. The words just escaped.
    The redhead glanced over her shoulder at something. There was a breaking, ripping sound, but Kat couldn’t move to see what it was. “Where’s Ryan?”
    “He went after that other human,” a male voice said. When the man appeared in Kat’s line of sight, she flinched at the sight of him. He was naked and big and scary