Page 22 of Shadows of the Soul

I squeezed the wheel tighter. “You have no right.”

“You are judging me by human standards. I’m not human, Cora. Shapeshifters are dominant. They assert what they want with no apologies. We don’t take without asking, but we don’t hang around on the sidelines waiting for the green light, either.”

“I…” The temperature dropped, making our breaths puff out in white clouds before our faces. A fog descended in front of the car, making me ease off the accelerator. Sleet slapped against the windscreen in a white heavy sheet. I shivered, thankful for the warmer leathers I’d chosen. I glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky. “What on earth is happening?”

“Cora!” Hudson shouted, grabbing the steering wheel and jerking it to the left. A terrible screeching sound echoed through the car, then we were airborne and spinning. I looked over at Hudson. He unclipped his seatbelt and lurched out of his seat toward me. He pressed on my button, releasing me from my restraint, and then we were barreling through the car door as he cocooned me with his body. We hit the ground and my teeth jolted, catching my tongue. Coppery warm blood exploded in my mouth as we rolled. My heart pounded so loud I could hear it pulsing in my ears.

We stopped with me laying on top of Hudson, his arms wrapped around me in a punishing grip. “Are you alive?” I wondered.

He laughed like his breathing was a certainty. “I smell your blood. Where are you hurt?”

“I bit my tongue.”

“Should I kiss it better?”

I slapped his chest and pushed, standing up and dusting my pants down with my hands. He leapt to his feet and glanced at the thick fog surrounding us.

“What did I hit?” I wondered. Oh god, please don’t let me have hit a car and hurt someone.

“Bear shifter.”

On cue, an almighty roar split the air. I froze. Instinct kept me locked in place.

Hudson snarled. “You didn’t hit them hard enough.”

“What if it’s like the others? A wildie for no reason?”

His pupils had turned vertical as he scanned the thick fog. “Then we try not to kill it, but if it’s a choice between us or it, we win. Clear?”

“Crystal.”

A shadow lurked in the fog, the distance distorted by the sleet and swirling wisps of mist. Another joined it. Then another. I took a step away. “Hudson, I don’t think there’s one.”

He stepped back with me. “Agreed.”

“Do we fight or run?” I asked. It didn’t sit right, slaughtering innocent shifters who seemed to be caught up with something unknown.

“Run, at least until we get out of this fog, so I can see them coming.”

We turned and sprinted. “Wait,” I called out. “My bag, I need it.”

“You’ll have to sacrifice your fresh panties.”

“The stuff Rockhard and Lenson made is vital.”

Hudson mumbled a string of colorful curses and changed direction. “Keep running,” he shouted.

I took off running, the thump of multiple feet growing closer behind me. My arms pumped and legs burned as I pushed myself faster. The familiar ache ran the length of my spine as my monster threatened to escape and protect me.

Red-hot pain sliced my calf, making me cry out, but I didn’t turn back. The extra seconds would cost me my life. A low growl came behind me. Hudson’s arm wrapped around my stomach. He slammed my bag into my hands and in a smooth move, he shifted to his giant tiger form and I was suddenly riding on his back. He loped faster and faster as the distance between us and the beasts increased.

I clutched his fur and leaned against his neck. The icy sleet whipped my hair, pulling it free from my ponytail. I glanced behind us, finding nothing but thick fog. How did he know where he was going? Even cats can’t see through fog. Freakish fog that appeared out of nowhere.

An enormous howl of anger erupted from every direction. My head snapped forward. The fog condensed into furious heavy clouds outlined with a carmine hue. A face formed and stretched, lightning flashing behind it as it reached twenty feet. It opened its mouth wide and terrifying and descended toward us. Hudson darted to the left to avoid being eaten by the cloud monster. My heart thudded in my chest as it gained ground and chased us. I gripped Hudson’s fur tighter with one hand, throwing my free hand out and yanking at the moisture in the surrounding fog before forming it into a water ball and blasting it at the horrifying face. The eerie features shattered into the mist. “That was creepy,” I muttered.

Hudson huffed through his nose. My guess was he was laughing. He zig-zagged a path, no doubt confusing our scent trail. The howls grew distant.

Hudson slowed, then halted. He bent down, and I got the hint and slid off his back. The cold pierced me now I was away from his fevered body.

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