Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(6)

Tamsin had a foot free—she’d kick his dick straight off if he bared it. If only she could breathe, damn it. Stars swam before her eyes, and she worried she’d pass out before she could shift and squirm away.

A rumbling growl that vibrated the ground flowed from the trees and onto the road, and the mists swirled in a sudden waft of air.

The second man darted a scared look to the woods. “What the hell was that?”

Sober Guy tightened his grip. “Probably a stupid dog. Don’t worry about it.”

“Didn’t sound like no dog to me. You know these woods are haunted, right?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” the man holding Tamsin scoffed. “Let’s get her into the truck. We’ll take her someplace and teach her not to mess with us.”

These guys were getting annoying. Tamsin struggled and they laughed. She started to feel kind of sorry for them.

The growl came again. He was warning them—what a nice Lupine. The growl basically said, Run now, and the worst that will happen is you’ll have bad dreams.

Trouble was, humans didn’t speak Shifter. The second man gave a little scream and headed for the truck, but Loser and the guy holding Tamsin paid no attention.

Loser grabbed Tamsin by the face. “We’re going to make you real sorry you messed with us, woman.”

“Now, don’t be like that,” the man holding her said. “We’ll treat her nice. She’ll like it. All she has to do is—”

Whatever she had to do, Tamsin wasn’t to know. A black shadow streaked from the trees and bowled over Loser and then the guy running for the pickup. The shadow came up snarling, in the form of a huge black wolf.

The hold on Tamsin’s throat loosened. She gave a backward thrust with her elbow, hard into Sober Guy’s gut. He folded over, and she shook off his grip, snatched up her jacket, and ran.

The wolf jumped at the man who’d held Tamsin. Sparks flew into the night as the Lupine’s Collar went off.

Good grief, why had they sent a Collared Shifter after her? Collars inflicted pain deep into the Shifter’s nerves, which was why Tamsin had refused to put one on twenty years ago. That refusal had made her a fugitive from that day to this.

She knew Shifter Bureau occasionally got their hands on un-Collared Shifters and forced them to do their bidding, but they’d dragged this guy out of a Shiftertown, the bullies.

Great, now she was feeling sorry for him too.

Wolf-boy had his hands full with the humans, who were slowing him down. They weren’t fighting him but flailing around in panic, one yelling to grab their gun, the other two smacking into each other trying to figure out how.

Tamsin grinned as the wolf’s snarl turned into one of frustration.

She put on a burst of speed straight up the road, no more dodging through unfamiliar swampy woods. She’d stick to the pavement and find her motorcycle—then wolf-dog wouldn’t be able to catch her.

She heard the pickup start, its engine roaring. A few moments later, the truck’s lights struck her, the pickup heading straight for her.

Tamsin jumped into the ditch, swearing when she landed in muddy water up to her knees. The guys in the truck didn’t look her way, probably hadn’t even seen her in their panic.

Tamsin struggled out of the ditch and ran after them, sprinting for all she was worth. She could leap into the truck bed and get away from the wolf, then drop out again near her bike. The least these guys could do for trying to capture and rape her.

The truck sped up, its tailgate skimming out of her reach. “Assholes!” Tamsin yelled at them. “You’d leave a helpless woman out here with a big bad wolf?”

Apparently they would. The truck kept accelerating, throwing mud from its tires, screeching away until it turned and was lost in the darkness.

“Total scum-bucket gobshites!” Tamsin declared to the night. At least she’d relieved them of their money during the game. Fair and square—she didn’t cheat. They were just bad players.

Tamsin slid on her jacket as she ran, keeping to the side of the road, her breath coming fast. She heard nothing behind her but the faint creak of wind in the trees and the whisper of whatever critters inhabited these woods. No sound of the wolf.

Tamsin knew better than to turn around and check whether he was following. He would be. Lupine trackers didn’t give up. She needed to keep running, make it to her motorcycle, and put as much distance between the two of them as she could.

Her only warning was a huff of hot breath on her back. Since she’d more or less expected it, Tamsin didn’t stumble or let surprise slow her. Her Shifter senses of smell and sight might not be as good in her human form, but her cunning wasn’t blunted. There was a reason her kind hadn’t been rounded up when Shifters were outed long ago.

Tamsin dodged left, then as the wolf leapt at her, ready to take her down to the sludgy ditch, she dodged right, back to the road’s pavement. The black wolf, intent on the takedown, couldn’t stop his momentum. He plowed into the ditch with a giant splash.

His savage growl of rage would make a sane person’s blood run cold. Tamsin laughed out loud.

“That’s what you get for working for Shifter Bureau!” she yelled.

Meanwhile, she was hauling ass out of there. Extracting himself from the mud wouldn’t stop the Lupine, but it would slow him down and give Tamsin her chance.