Free Avenger's Heat by Katie Reus Page B

knowing Erin was directly next to him. The individual turned and ran deeper into the woods.
    Hell no.
    He looked up at Erin. Using hand signals, she motioned that they should follow. He nodded and ran ahead of her. He didn’t care that it would infuriate her. She might be an enforcer and working this case, but she was still his to protect.
    Using his speed and animal grace, he was practically silent as he raced through the woods. Jumping over fallen branches and leaves, he was thankful for his night vision. Behind him, he barely heard Erin moving. Even in her human form she moved so damn fast it was like she was practically flying, her feet barely touching the ground.
    A distinctive, almost cinnamon and mango scent teased his nose as they ran right into a small clearing and found themselves surrounded by four vampires. Damn, they were as quiet as he and Erin were.
    They all wielded short blades similar to the two Erin always carried and now held expertly in her grip. If he’d been in human form, he’d have cursed.
    When one of the vampires sliced his blade through the air in a defensive gesture at them, Noah growled low in his throat and bared his canines to their full, intimidating length. Without having to look at Erin, he knew how they’d do this. He’d fought alongside her before when their now-deceased neighboring pack Alpha thought he could attack their land. Of course then she’d been in wolf form, but the concept was the same.
    Turning so that his back was to her, he knew she’d done the same to him as they prepared for an attack. His hackles rose, an almost inaudible growl rumbling from his throat. Whatever happened, these fuckers weren’t going to hurt Erin.

Chapter 4
    E rin had her back to Noah, but knew he’d provide cover no matter what happened. She could focus solely on the two vamps in front of her. A male and a female. They were both tall, blond, and looked like they might be of Nordic descent. At her brief glimpse of the other two vamps that Noah was facing off with, she’d seen they were both female. One very short, maybe five feet flat, with jet-black hair and bronzed skin. The other female was of average height and had midnight black skin, the whites of her eyes and teeth standing out starkly in the darkness. And they all looked ready to fight. Bodies tensed, they each held blades firmly in their hands.
    Erin might be new to her position as enforcer, but she wasn’t new to fighting. Some vampires were damn strong, but she was a lupine shifter and growing stronger every day now that she’d fully embraced who she was. Not to mention she’d been training with Jayce, a five-hundred-year-old scary bastard who knew more ways to kill someone than she could probably imagine.
    Of course there were only a few ways to kill vamps. But Erin hoped tonight didn’t come to that. She didn’t need to screw up the balance between supernatural beings in New Orleans by killing some vamps.
    â€œTry not to kill them,” she murmured to Noah, who only growled softly.
    The blond man to her right laughed, the harsh sound slicing through the eerily quiet night air. All the forest creatures had gone silent, knowing instinctively that bigger and deadlier predators were in their domain.
    â€œDon’t kill
us
?” He laughed again and lifted one of his blades higher. When he pulled it back as if to throw at her, she reacted.
    It was so instinctual she barely thought about it
.
Erin whipped one of her blades at his neck lightning quick. It sailed through the air with a swishing sound before embedding itself directly in the middle of his thick neck. There was no way that would kill him—death hadn’t been her intent. She just wanted him incapacitated.
    The man’s bright blue eyes widened, flashing to an amber glow then back to blue, as his knees hit the hard earth. With his free hand, he reached for his neck. He made a gurgling sound as blood spurted