Free Blood From a Silver Cross (Kat Redding) by E.S. Moore

might be some sort of photo album. She sighed heavily and then looked toward the back door.
    Nathan stiffened and ducked down, but before anything else could happen, the younger woman returned and closed a curtain over the back door.
    My hand was still on my gun as Nathan rose from his crouch. He was facing the house and I could tell he was considering approaching. The light inside snapped off, leaving the home dark except for a single, upstairs light that looked as if it might be a candle.
    A low growl was my only warning.
    The wolf came out of nowhere. I managed to turn and raise an arm just as the were leapt at me from the other yard. She was fully shifted and, like all weres, was naked. She was tall, her fur dark.
    The wolf was on me before I could pull my gun. She hit me hard in the chest, knocking my hand away from my Glock before I could draw. We slammed hard into the metal shed, causing it to clang loudly. Teeth snapped at my face and it was all I could do to keep an arm up so her fangs didn’t close on my flesh.
    I reached down in an attempt to get at my sword or one of my knives, but my coat was trapped closed. The werewolf was strong and no matter how hard I pushed, I couldn’t get her to back off. She snapped and snarled in my face, splattering me with warm saliva.
    She had me pinned to the side of the shed, one hand completely useless. The other I had jammed at her throat and I pressed with all my might in an effort to keep her from biting my face off and to choke off her air supply. I was beginning to tremble and knew that if something didn’t give soon, my arm would give out.
    I opened my mouth to call out for Nathan, knowing he would be pissed at me for following him, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I needed help.
    Before I could yell for him, another snarl brought both our heads around. A new were, this one smaller than the one holding me, crashed into the female wolf. Her grip on me loosened and both wolves went rolling out into the open.
    I drew both my gun and sword as soon as I was able and took aim at the fighting wolves. Neither was familiar, though it was hard to tell in their wolf forms. I only was sure that neither was Nathan.
    The fight was quick and I didn’t have to shoot, which meant I still might avoid Nathan’s detection. I wasn’t sure if he’d stuck around to watch the fight or if he’d taken off at the first howl. I wasn’t about to look either. I kept my gaze locked on the snarling wolves.
    Werewolves are violent naturally, but something about this fight went far beyond the normal. The little one wasn’t as strong as the bigger female, but he fought with a tenacity the other couldn’t match.
    With a yelp, the female rolled away from the male and took off running. The smaller let her go.
    He turned to me and I raised my gun. “Don’t try it,” I said, ready to pull the trigger at the first aggressive move. He might have saved my skin, but that didn’t mean he would let me walk away. He might have simply wanted me all to himself.
    The werewolf studied me a moment and then started shifting. He cried out as the change overtook him and I was forced to look away. It was an extremely painful process that wasn’t pleasant to witness. I was thankful as a vampire I didn’t have to go through that.
    A moment later, a man stood before me, nude as the day he was born. Sweat and rain glistened on his body. He turned his face up to the sky and took deep, gasping breaths, before locking eyes with me.
    He didn’t say anything. He stared at me for a good five seconds before turning and walking away.
    Surprisingly, I let him go.
    I lowered my gun, but kept it in hand, waiting for him to vanish completely from sight before risking a look around the corner. I doubted he would have stuck around, but I needed to know for sure.
    The hedge was empty.
    Nathan was gone.

7
    M y first instinct was to drive straight to the Den and confront Jonathan about Nathan’s activities. I didn’t care