Page 2 of Primal

He lifted his arms in the air like you’re supposed to do to make yourself appear taller. “Whoa,” he shouted. Like he was addressing an errant bull on the ranch where he worked, not a supersized feral cat.

I scrambled to my feet, but he threw out an arm to keep me behind him.

“Easy, cat.”

The mountain lion did not take it easy, though. Ittook a silent step closer, crouching lower like it was getting ready to pounce.

“Tyler, um, mountain lion. That’s amountain lion!”

Like he didn’t know, but my panic was making me act like an idiot. An alive one. I didn’t want to be adeadone.

“Fuck. Stay behind me. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He raised his arms and waved them up and down again as if he were flagging down a semi-truck.

I’d be swooning if it weren’t for the brotherly kiss. What was wrong with me? This magnificent man should totally turn me on.

Yes, still an idiot. I was thinking about beingwithTyler at a time like this. Maybe my life was flashing before my eyes.

I stayed behind him, inanely clutching the back of his shirt in my fist as if he might get away from me if I didn’t hang on for dear life.

The big-ass cat charged.

Tyler braced, bending his knees like a defensive lineman.

I screamed. There was no way Tyler could survive a fight with a mountain lion!

Tyler launched into the air, kicking the cat in thechest at the same time it slashed him with its great claws.

“Tyler!”

The force of his attack drove the cat back, but it was even madder now, and it had badly injured Tyler. He grabbed his bleeding shoulder as he rushed to put his body between mine and the mountain lion once more.

Dropping to my knees, I yanked open his backpack, searching for a weapon of any kind. “Please have bear spray,” I muttered as I tossed our lunch out of the pack onto the ground. Did that stop mountain lions too?

The cat attacked again. Tyler fought, punching it in the throat and head as it toppled him to the ground.

Its mouth opened, yellow canines poised to end Tyler’s life.

With shaking hands–hell, my entire body was shaking–I grabbed the picnic blanket from the ground–the only weapon I could find–and ran toward them.

Tyler wrestled with the wildcat, struggling to keep those enormous jaws away from his throat with all his strength as he bucked beneath it, trying to throw it off his body.

I threw the picnic blanket over the animal’s head,hoping to disorient it enough for Tyler to escape from underneath.

What happened next didn’t make sense.

A ferocious snarl sounded–not from the cat, but…from Tyler?

Jesus, fuck!I screamed and jumped back, tripping over a root and falling on my butt.

I didn’t know where Tyler had gone, but an enormous wolf had taken his place and had its ferocious jaws around the cat’s throat. A horrible snap and crunch of bone finished its life. The animal collapsed to the ground, blood spurting from the neck, its head hanging awkwardly.

I let out a warbled exhale–more like a moan–and crab-walked backward.

The giant wolf wheeled its enormous head to look at me. Awolf.First, a mountain lion, and now a wolf?

Blood dripped from its jaws and–what the hell?It was wearing the tattered remains of Tyler’s clothing!

Despite the heat of the summer day, ice washed over me. My teeth chattered. I threw my hands out to ward off an attack, scrambling away.

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