Free Feral Seduction (Feral Protectors 2) by Liv Brywood Page B

fallen tree stump on the beach.
    Hours later, she’d walked up and down the beach so many times that she’d started to lose any hope of locating his cave. As she turned to walk back into the trees, a flock of birds took off in a flurry of beating wings, as if they’d been spooked.
    On high alert, she scanned the beach. Icy tendrils of terror coursed down her spine. The camouflaged man stepped out of the forest not a hundred yards from her. And in his hand, he held a huge black gun.
    The gun cracked. Searing pain sliced through her chest. The force of the bullet catapulted her back. She landed on her back the beach.
    The sun-drenched sky faded and darkness blurred her vision. She drew one last shaky breath as the world disappeared.
     

Chapter 7
     
    Stryde trekked across the forest. He couldn’t decide which route to take to get back to the cave. The shortest trail meant crossing the beach. He’d avoided going anywhere near there since Leah’s death, but the longer route would take him hours out of the way. He decided to suck it up and turned toward the beach.
    Still in human form, he stepped onto the sand. He wiggled his toes in the cold granules and sighed. Someday, he’d be able to cross the beach without feeling as if his chest was caving in. Today was not that day.
    As he padded toward the river, he kept his eyes glued to the ground. Just because he’d chosen this path didn’t mean he had to wallow in unrelenting pain. When he got to the cave, he’d be able to sleep. Until then, he needed to put one foot in front of the other and focus.
    As he stepped into the water, he gritted his teeth against the cold. Freezing water swirled around his ankles. He wiggled his toes to keep them from going numb.
    Halfway across the river, his sixth sense picked up on the utter stillness of the forest. Usually birds would be chirping in the quaking aspens along the riverbank. A silent forest signaled danger.
    He crouched into a striking position. A whisper of wind rustled through the trees. Adrenaline coursed through his muscles. As he surveyed the area, his hearing reached a heightened state. At first, nothing seemed amiss. Then, he noticed a lump just on the other side of a huge fallen tree stump.
    He slowly stood and stared. Was he imagining things, hallucinating? It couldn’t be a woman, could it? He couldn’t endure that nightmare again. It was probably a dead animal. Although he couldn’t imagine one shaped like a human, even in death.
    His feet moved before he’d consciously decided to investigate. He stepped out of the river, rivulets of water cascading down his back. As he trotted closer, he picked up the pace.
    No, no, no. Why was this happening again?
    He dropped to his knees next to Brandy. She lay on her side, facing away from him. He couldn’t see her face. He froze in terror. His hands hovered a few inches over her body. She hadn’t moved since he’d approached, at least not in any way he could detect.
    He tentatively touched her shoulder. When she didn’t move, he rolled her toward him. A wheezy breath hissed out of her lungs. Dark red blood seeped through her shirt, directly over her heart. She’d been shot.
    He carefully pulled her into his lap and brushed her sand-laden hair from her face. Desperation constricted in his throat. “Brandy, you can’t die. Not here. Not like this.”
    Her eyes fluttered but didn’t open. She still clung to life. He tore the edge of her shirt and peeled it open to reveal the wound. Sticky blood pooled in a jagged puncture directly over her heart. He was shocked she wasn’t dead yet.
    Nothing could be done for an injury like this. Even Akila wouldn’t have any healing salve strong enough to treat such a catastrophic gunshot wound. There was only one way to save her. He’d have to do the thing he’d sworn he’d never do again—turn her into a wolf.
    He couldn’t do it here. The transformation would make her too vulnerable. It was too violent and he’d need to