Free Burning to Ashes by Evi Asher Page B

reason, Scarlet felt the almost undeniable urge to run for the trees in the distance.
    She walked slowly over to the cars, not wanting to alert the others to how she was feeling. There was enough drama going on right now, and she was sick of being in the middle of it. This new development—whatever it was—was something she would deal with in private.
    The roar in her head became a sound—a schizophrenic auditory hallucination.
    Scarlet almost laughed at the wording that popped into her head.
    She’d give her beaten up and much-treasured iPod—if she still had it—to know what the hell was happening to her this time.
    She reached the SUV and moved around to the back of it where she shielded herself from view, then doubled over and retched, trying her damndest to keep the sound to a minimum.
    The rest were distracted. Tate, Erik and Heath seemed to be having a loud argument again.
    There wasn’t much in her stomach, but she emptied it, and still, the waves came in quick succession. Her body felt as if it was trying to rip itself to pieces, and through it all, the steady roar in her head, a roar that became a howl, and echoing moon-haunting howl.
    What is happening?
    Her mind shrieked as she crumpled into a ball on the ground. She was staring down at her forearms, not really seeing the blistered flesh when she noticed that the skin had started healing at a rapid rate, the tissue pinking, but then her eyes widened as another wave of pain hit, and she felt prickles on her arms. Her eyes riveted as fur started to grow from the pink skin.
    She lifted a hand to her face and curled her fingers towards her. But they weren’t fingers . They were tipped with elegant claws that grew before her eyes, her fingers changing shape, and distorting, to become elongated and curved like a precision set of bladed weapons.
    She could feel the strength and power.
    The howl lit up in her mind again, forcing her head to fall back as her eyes focused on a moon that was on the verge of full.
    She heard a crunch, and her back bowed, curling her forward into a ball as her shoulders widened, ripping the fabric of her shirt.
    The agony was so intense, she could keep silent no longer.
    A long scream morphed into a howl as it escaped her throat, and inside her head she felt another being, a being that was elated at the freedom it was about to take.
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
     
    Archer stood with his back to the others, trying to find some hint of composure. The oracle had hit him with a double whammy. Hell, he felt like she’d picked up a sledgehammer and pounded the thing into his gut with malice.
    He was trying his damndest to find some way to deal with the bleak situation they were in. He had to figure out some way to get through this all, and come out alive at the other end.
    His mind was swirling with one reality. Scarlet was going to have to run the rest of her life, or Geo would kill her, and if they did run, they’d have no time to get to someone who could possibly help her learn to control her power. She was going to die, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
    He felt a sense of impotent rage bubbling up in him, and fought the urge to turn and start destroying everything in sight.
    He wanted—no—he needed— to keep Scarlet safe. The oracle had confirmed what he’d already started believing. Scarlet was his She and his one chance at happiness for the whole of his immortal lifetime.
    Wolves were given only one mate. Once their wolf chose that mate, the Lycan would be unable to love or be with any other woman. He was hers for as long as he lived.
    A Lycan’s inner being knew that woman before the Lycan did. The creature usually knew from its first scent of the woman. Before that happened, Lycans were free to do as they pleased, and have as many women as they wanted, but once the werewolf had decided on their She, he would accept no other.
    Why hadn’t Archer listened more closely? Why had he doubted? Now, he faced the extra