Free Jungle Freakn' Bride by Eve Langlais Page A

grabbed hold.
    And then bit her at the pulse points !
    She let out a scream to beat all screams. Not because it hurt, but in rage that they dare d . The piercing shriek didn’t stop their longer and more pointed than human teeth from entering her skin, piercing her , dammit!
    Initially , she pulled, only to realize as they held her fast, that yanking might cause more damage. But then again, getting eaten alive was bound to be worse than a few jagged tears.
    “Son of a bitches. I won’t let you eat me. I am not your freakn’ dinner, you cannibalistic bastards !” D espite her fear, and futile struggle, they didn’t tear at her flesh but sucked at her, drinking her blood like vampires. It last ed only about thirty seconds , then t heir mouths released their grips at the same moment to reveal matching bleeding wounds on her arms , wounds they then sprinkled with drops of their own life essence as they tore the skin of their own wrists and held them over hers .
    What the hell were they doing? With each drop of their blood that hit her sluggish ly oozing wounds , the more a fierce heat invaded her , a lmost as if they injected her with something. The temperature around her increased – or did she grow feverish? S he tried to squirm, to break free of their grip , but found herself unable to move.
    Oh crap, not again.
    This time, the pain proved fairly quick, or she passed right out, because next thing she knew, nothing hurt.
    And yet … s he didn’t feel quite right , n ot all there. She blinked her eyes and saw, saw with a clarity she’d never imagined, and yet, as if from a distance – and even that appeared odd. The shapes around her curv ed differently than she expected , the hues , colors she’d come to know, were off to a certain degree . She opened her mouth to speak, and nothing happened. Panic fluttered in her stomach . She couldn’t talk, move, scream – nothing in her body worked, but she had no problem letting terror take over.
    A soothing rumble vibrated from without, or within, she couldn’t quite tell. The warm sound wrapped around her, lulled her , and if a sound could speak, it let her know she wasn’t in danger. From now on , she was... She didn’t understand the strange glimpse, a ctually more the feeling she got, of many beings running together, cavorti ng…like animals?
    The cry that emerged from her throat didn’t sound right. Not for a human. And definitely not coming from her.
    Except it was her making the noise , an animalistic howl almost. Pain, exhilaration, anticipation , all rolled into one , flooded her senses. S he withdrew further from the forefront of the action, pushed aside for something other , s omething intrinsically wound around her mind . Something alien took over her body , b ut it didn’t just take over, it changed her ; that was if her disbelieving eyes could be believed.
    As her limbs moved, not under any command by her, she noted the impossible changes. Goodbye pasty skin. Hello golden fur. Bye - bye hand . My , that’s a big paw. Holy shit, loo k at those claws. That was probably her last conscious thought before madness hit along with the biggest burst of pain.
    Lightning quick and sharp, the agony receded and on shaking legs , she rose to her feet. A muscle twitch rippled through her, from the tip of her hind toes, up her legs, across her back until it hit her shoulders. A roll of those body parts and a twitch of her tail let her know everything worked.
    A tottering step and she fell over, limbs tangling. The other one squeaked in their shared consciousness. She snorted. So fearful that one was , yet, with a fiery core. She would teach her other to believe in the strength they shared. But first, she needed to learn how to use it.
    Bracing her four paws, she raised herself, legs trembling as the muscles, in their new configuration, learned how to work. Steady and upright, she moved forward and promptly fell flat on her nose.
    A chuffing sound made her whip her head