Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

“Is her husband smacking her around?”
    Natasha’s mouth pulled into a thin line. “Sounds like it. And she seemed really scared this time.”
    “I’m on my way.” He palmed the keys to his cruiser and shook his head as he left the building. He’d been to their house so many times over the past year, but Edith kept refusing to press charges. Maybe she’d finally come around this time, though he doubted it. Parker wasn’t sure where they’d moved from, but he hated dealing with Stephen Hopper. Wife beaters were the absolute worst. Fucking cowards. He’d arrested him a few times for resisting arrest and for battery against a law enforcement officer, but the state kept letting him out. And he kept using his wife as a punching bag.
    When he pulled into the driveway, he assessed the house and the ones surrounding it. A few neighbors stood on their porches watching, which likely meant the Hoppers had been fighting out in the front yard earlier.
    The neighborhood was typical middle-class and their two-story brick house was immaculate outside. In the winter, Edith covered all her rosebushes and other plants and kept everything neat and trimmed.
    The blinds were shut on all the windows and the house was dark. As he got out of his car, he unsnapped the strap over his gun. Stephen Hopper had gotten violent too many times for him not to be careful.
    As he strode up the sidewalk, he braced himself for a heated confrontation. He knocked once and when he didn’t get a response, he banged on the heavy wood door again. “Police. Open up.”
    He heard shuffling sounds inside, so he stood off to the side and knocked again. “I can hear you. Open the door, Stephen. We need to talk.”
    “We ain’t got nothing to talk about. Get the hell off my property.”
    “I can’t do that and you know it.”
    “Why’re you here? I didn’t call. Did that bitch wife of mine call?” he shouted.
    A pained, female cry sounded but was quickly silenced.
    Parker’s muscles tensed. What he wouldn’t give to clock this guy across the face. “I got a call from one of the neighbors. You know I’ve got to check up on it. Why don’t you come out here so we can talk face-to-face?”
    “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”
    Parker keyed his radio, intending to call for backup. This definitely wasn’t going to be easy. Stephen was likely drunk and Edith’s face probably already sported multiple bruises as evidence.
    As he spoke into the radio, a huge hole exploded through the door. Wood fragments flew everywhere, dusting the front porch in splinters. The loud blast was definitely gunfire.
    “Shit.” Parker dove over the pristine white porch railing into a cluster of bushes. Another explosion sounded and a sudden, gripping pain fractured through Parker’s shoulder.
    Looking down, he stared at his body as if it weren’t his own. As if he were somehow detached from it. A crimson stain spread across his tan shirt as quickly as the pain lapped across his arm and spread down his chest. Holy shit, he hurt. Even though he wore a vest, the bullet had slammed into the nonprotected part of his upper shoulder and the blood was gushing. Clutchinghis wound, he crouched lower and crawled to the edge of the house.
    He drew his gun and held it tight as he crawled away. Sirens blared in the background. Either a neighbor had called or the dispatch had heard the blasts through the radio. He didn’t care which. He just wanted to take this son of a bitch down.
    As he finally reached the edge of the house, two strong hands grabbed him. He started to struggle when he realized it was Ed Dean, the Hoppers’ neighbor.
    “The bastard went back inside. Help’s on the way. Come on,” he whispered. Pulling him to his feet, Ed looped his arm under Parker’s shoulder and assisted him across the yard. Once they crossed the thick line of bushes separating their properties, Parker couldn’t fight the dizziness anymore.
    As he swayed, Ed helped him to his knees. Parker knew he was saying something because his mouth was moving, but he couldn’t make out the words. Everything was getting dark. He couldn’t tell if it was because the sun was setting or if he was losing consciousness. Before he could dwell on it, blackness engulfed him.
    Edward’s heart rate increased as he listened to the scanner he’d bought a year ago to eavesdrop on the local police. So far he hadn’t been able to use any of the information he’d gleaned, but today Christmas had come