Page 8 of Marked For A Bite
Protect. Defend. Kill.
Zoe burst from the Jeep without conscious thought. Heat raced through her veins as her body began its partial transformation. Claws erupted from her fingernails with sharp pops of pain. Her canine teeth lengthened and sharpened to deadly points. Her vision shifted, colors becoming more vivid while shadows revealed their secrets.
She moved faster than humanly possible, covering the distance to the second operative in heartbeats. Her claws raked across his back, shredding tactical gear and finding flesh beneath. The metallic scent of blood filled her nostrils, and instead of revulsion, she felt savage satisfaction.
The man spun toward her with a curse, but Zoe was already moving. Her claws found his throat with instinctive precision, and warm blood splashed across her Columbia hoodie as he dropped.
Silence fell over the forest like a heavy blanket.
Logan padded toward her, his massive wolf form rippling with contained power. When their eyes met, something passed between them—recognition, approval, and something deeper that made her birthmark pulsate with heat.
Then the reality of what she'd done hit her with physical force.
"Oh God." Her voice came out as a strangled whisper. "I killed him. I actually killed someone."
Her hands shook as she stared at the blood coating her claws. The metallic scent that had driven her to savage triumph now made her stomach roil. Her knees gave out, and she collapsed as sobs tore through her chest.
Logan's transformation back to human form happened faster than his shift to wolf. Soon his warm hands cupped her face, his thumbs brushing away her tears with surprising gentleness.
"Hey." His deep voice carried comfort. "Look at me."
She met his green eyes, seeing pride and concern warring in their depths.
"You did good. You protected me, and I'm grateful." His hands moved to her shoulders, steadying her. "But you can never do that again. It wasn't safe or smart, and I can handle these situations on my own. I'm a trained enforcer."
"Enforcer?" She hiccupped through her tears, trying to look away from his nakedness but failing miserably. "What does that mean?"
"Later." Logan helped her to her feet, his touch gentle despite the authority in his voice. "Get back in the Jeep. I'll try to explain some things, but we need to get to safety first."
As they walked back toward his vehicle, Zoe's mind reeled with questions, but one thought echoed loudest.She'd killed for this man she'd known for less than two hours, the wolf inside her recognizing him as something worth protecting.
FOUR
LOGAN
Logan retrieved his gear from the asphalt where it had scattered during his transformation as the cool mountain air raised goosebumps across his bare skin. His bulletproof vest lay discarded by his two guns, three knives, and holsters near the two dead human hunters. He gathered the pieces with mechanical efficiency while his wolf prowled restlessly, still high on the scent of Zoe's adrenaline and the primal satisfaction of protecting their mate.
Their mate.The thought sent heat spiraling through his chest even as he fought it.
He'd planned to take her straight to his cabin—isolated, secure, and defensible. But now, with the mate bond singing in his veins and her scent wrapped around him like a drug, he couldn't trust himself alone with her. Not yet. The safehouse outside Silvercrest territory would have to suffice until he could get his head screwed on straight.
Logan popped the Jeep's trunk and pulled out his spare clothes—dark jeans, grey henley, fresh socks, boxers, and boots. He dressed quickly, hyperaware of Zoe's eyes tracking his movements with a burning intensity that made his blood run hot.
"You keep spare clothes in your car?" Her voice held a slight tremor that could have been residual adrenaline or something else entirely.
"Occupational hazard." Logan slammed the trunk shut and slid into the driver's seat. "Shifting tends to be hell on fabric."
The Jeep's engine purred to life, and he pulled back onto the mountain highway, heading north toward the safehouse. Three hours of mountain roads stretched ahead of them, three hours of being trapped in close quarters with a woman who smelled like home and drove his wolf to distraction.
"Okay, enough cryptic responses." Zoe twisted in her seat to face him, her blood-splattered hoodie pulling tight across her curves. "What the hell is really happening? Those men called me a target, you shifted into a wolf the size of a pony, and I grew sharp claws and killed someone." Her voice rose with each word. "I need answers, Logan. Real ones."
Logan kept his eyes on the winding road, his hands gripping the wheel with controlled precision. "You're a hybrid wolf shifter. Obviously, one of your parents was human and the other was a wolf shifter."
"My mother left me a letter." Zoe dug through her backpack with shaking hands. "It said my father was a wolf shifter and that I was about to manifest." She paused as she pulled out the letter. "She had made me promise not to open this until my twenty-fifth birthday."
"Which was?"
"Two days ago. The day of my breakdown at the museum." She then pulled out a photograph, holding it toward him. "This is my mom. Beautiful, right? She died a year ago. Heart attack, completely unexpected."
