Page 43 of Lake of Sorrow

She should have realized that would motivate him more than the need to save himself. And it would be more likely to prompt him to change than this. She shouldn’t have disrespected his wishes and touched him when he didn’t want it.

She bit her lip with regret, afraid she’d made a mistake, one he would resent her for. Wary, she looked up and met his eyes.

That dangerous glint was there, a full gleam, the promise of change imminent. It sent a fresh shiver of fear through her, not fear of the Kar’ruk this time. Fear of him. Of what he could become, what she was trying to cause him to become.

His gaze dipped to her bared abdomen and the swell of her breasts above her bra. She saw the spark that flared in his eyes, the instant when the change was initiated.

He threw his head back and roared, an inhuman beast of a roar.

Kaylina sprang back as he changed, the same as he had in the dungeon under the royal castle. His muscles grew larger, tearing his clothing, as sleek auburn fur sprouted from his flesh.

When he roared again, his human teeth had changed into fangs. Claws extended from hands that transformed into something closer to paws. His feet bulged in his boots, and he kicked them off.

Kaylina wanted to stay and make sure Vlerion could break away, but when his head lowered, the savage animalistic rage in the fiery depths of his eyes terrified her. There was no sign of Vlerion in that gaze, not anymore, and when it swept over her body, the fear of what he might do to her scared her every bit as much as the Kar’ruk.

She turned, grabbed her pack, and sprinted away. She wouldn’t go far, but she wanted to make sure she was out of the beast’s view so he would focus on the approaching threat, not on her.

Snaps came from behind her, and she paused, not certain what that was. Had the Kar’ruk reached him and started firing a weapon?

Ahead, a jumble of fallen stone slabs caught her eye. She dropped her pack at the base and scrambled up the mound as a Kar’ruk call of surprise echoed through the camp.

From the top, careful to keep her head low, she peered back. The height gave her a view over the ruins, and she was in time to see the beast snap the last of the vines in half. He dropped to the ground, free and able to defend himself.

That was a relief, but would it be enough?

The beast spun toward four Kar’ruk who were approaching him with their axes raised. They didn’t appear alarmed.

The beast roared, the thunderous noise echoing from the ruins. Vlerion’s sword lay at his feet, but he ignored it. He ran toward the Kar’ruk like an animal—a predator—and sprang to the top of a six-foot-tall slab overlooking his prey.

This was what Kaylina had hoped for, but she couldn’t help but fear for his life. Especially when she saw the Kar’ruk calmly ready themselves to face him as a team.

Afraid their powerful axes would outmatch the beast, Kaylina readied her sling. Her fingers shook, and she worried she was too far away to hit the Kar’ruk, but she had to try.

Fearless, the beast sprang from the slab toward the warriors. Axes swung toward him. He twisted in the air, defying gravity to dodge the attacks as he slashed with his claws. The blades glowed blue from their powder coating, but even magic wasn’t enough to allow the Kar’ruk to strike the equally magical beast.

By the time he landed in their midst, he’d drawn blood from two enemies. Before they could recover and surround him, he sprang at one, landing on him and sinking fangs into the warrior’s neck.

As he tore his enemy’s throat out, the beast spun the Kar’ruk about so that his back was to another warrior—another warrior swinging an axe. Instead of hitting the beast, the Kar’ruk struck his own comrade in the shoulder, burying the blade deep. The doubly wounded warrior crumpled to the ground.

One of the Kar’ruk carried a bow. He swung it off his shoulder and stepped back, making room to aim at the beast.

On the slab pile, Kaylina rose, standing straight, and aimed her sling. While the Kar’ruk waited to get a good shot at the beast, not wanting to hit his own comrades, Kaylina hurled a round over the ruins and toward the fray. The archer was about to loose his arrow when it struck.

Distance affected her aim, and the round hit his bowstring instead of him. She was lucky she hadn’t missed completely. He fumbled his arrow in surprise and whirled to see where the round had come from.

Kaylina squatted down but was too late to avoid notice. When the archer nocked his arrow again, he aimed it at her.

Before he could fire, the beast escaped the skirmish and sprang, landing on the archer’s chest and knocking him to the ground.

In that form, Vlerion had as much muscle and mass as the eight-foot Kar’ruk. Maybe he had more, because his foe couldn’t shove him aside to rise, couldn’t escape. The beast clawed into the Kar’ruk’s abdomen as his fanged maw bit down into the warrior’s neck.

Horrified by the blood that spattered everywhere, Kaylina looked to the other warriors, afraid they would take advantage of the beast’s distraction. She loaded another round, ready to shoot.

But they were already down—dead—with their throats torn out, the same as the one the beast was finishing off. A snap sounded, the breaking of a neck, and silence fell upon the preserve.

The beast whirled, blood matting his fur and dripping from his fangs. When those wild blue eyes met Kaylina’s, a jolt of utter fear shook her.

She backed away to escape his view, but he sprang onto one of the slabs, powerful muscles rippling under sleek fur, and looked right at her. She couldn’t tell if his savage eyes were full of lust or the desire to kill, but she knew without a doubt that she didn’t want him to catch her.

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