Free Sealed With a Curse (WG 1) by Cecy Robson Page B

inhaled deeply. “The blood on her clothes is a full minute drier.”
    Mohawk gasped. “That vamp drained her in under a minute?”
    Aric nodded. “The bloodlust in his system had advanced, making his appetite more voracious.” He leaned over the brunette’s face. “Did you see her teeth? They’re pushed in. He covered her mouth to keep her from screaming while he finished his first meal.”
    Aric circled the women, frowning. He bent and examinedtheir remains. “The bodies are already in rigor.” His scowl deepened as he inhaled. “The bastard didn’t leave them one ounce of blood.” He reached for the cell phone in his back pocket and made a brief call. “It’s Aric. I’ve got two more in an alley near Northwood Boulevard and McCourry. Tommy’s hurt. I’ll need him transported.”
    “We’re on our way,” someone said on the other end.
    The midnight black wolf yanked his head free in a crash of falling rubble. With a roar he bolted toward me, teeth bared.
    “ Don’t touch her ,” Aric warned.
    The wolf stopped his onslaught as quick as a flick of a switch. Good for him. I was done taking shit.
    The kid with the Mohawk whose eye I had, well, gouged out, flipped. “Why are you defending her? For all you know she’s in league with the bloodluster!”
    “I am not!” I snarled.
    Tommy, the redhead, scowled despite the worsening color of his skin. “We saw you standing over them. We know you’re not human.” His upper lip curled. “And you’re sure as hell not one of us.”
    Aric narrowed his eyes, his voice bordering on rage. “Use your goddamn noses.”
    Mohawk shook his head violently. Taran’s shoe flew off his face, leaving a big, gaping, bloody hole. None of the wolves reacted. I was ready to hurl. “Aric, she can do things,” Mohawk insisted. “Maybe she can cover her lies, too. For shit’s sake, look at what she did to my freaking arms!”
    Aric must have thought Mohawk merely lay on his elbows. His eyes widened when he saw the idiot’s limbs fixed to the concrete. He frowned. “What are you?” he asked again.
    My growls would not be silenced. “It’s none of your business what or who I am. I’ve done nothing wrong!”
    Police sirens screeched in the far distance. Aric leaned back on his heels. “Maybe not. But I would ask that you fix my student.”
    Aric’s words slapped the PMS right out of me. “ Students? These are students ?”
    “They’re supposed to graduate this spring.” Aric’s gaze swept over my petite frame before frowning back at his boys. “Now I’m not so sure they’re ready.”
    Fantastic . I seriously thought I’d whooped ass. Here all I’d done was beat up a bunch of high schoolers. My eyes took in their tall, burly forms…and baby faces. I groaned, humiliated. Maybe I could take on Justin Bieber for an encore. Their movements during our rumble had been more choreographed than reflexive—like they’d spent a lot of time sparring and very little time in actual brawls. That should have been my first stupid clue. I limped toward my shifting victim.
    Mohawk growled hideously, but Aric’s glower immediately silenced his audible protests.
    My head shot toward Aric; I was confused as to why he continued to defend me. He didn’t know me. I was the protector. I didn’t need protecting. Still, if I abandoned his pack mate, it would take nothing short of a jackhammer to free him.
    My good hand reached cautiously toward one of Mohawk’s long spikes. “Don’t move. It will only take a moment.” I concentrated briefly and shifted him out of the concrete as easily as if he’d lain in a puddle of water. Mohawk jerked, staring at his arms in terror, as if he’d expected to be amputated.
    Aric tilted his head, examining me closely. I graspedmy injured arm defensively, convinced he’d already labeled me a freak. So when he gave me an approving nod, it caught me by surprise. And so did the kindness in his voice. “Thank you for releasing him.”
    Mohawk’s