Wolfbreed

Free Wolfbreed by S. A. Swann Page A

Book: Wolfbreed by S. A. Swann Read Free Book Online
Authors: S. A. Swann
hands buried in the sides of the man’s neck. Her limbs seemed to have grown and her face was strangely distorted.
    The man fell to his knees, trying to reach behind him, to dislodge the girl on his back.
    Only it wasn’t a girl anymore. It was something else, long-limbed and red-furred, with a long canine muzzle whose snarl revealed long, nasty teeth. The man still struggled underneath it, until the thing pulled its forearms up and out, at which point the man stopped moving.
    The surviving two men snapped out of their shock and grabbed for the swords before them.
    The creature had barely stepped from the back of the corpse when the bearded man ran forward, bringing his sword down on the creature’s neck. The thing that had been Lilly didn’t flinch, and didn’t duck. It turned its muzzle toward the blow, and caught the man’s wrist in its slavering mouth. The man’s eyes went wide and the sword tumbled out of his grip as the thing shook its head back and forth before letting go.
    The man stumbled back, cradling his ruined arm and screaming Prûsan obscenities. The other man brought his weapon up and managed to run it through the creature’s unprotected belly.
    “There,” he said triumphantly, “it’s done.”
    The paws at the end of the creature’s forearms still had enough of the aspect of human hands to grab the attacker’s sword arm. The thing turned its face toward him and spoke. “No. It isn’t.”
    Hearing human language come from that inhuman throat was even more monstrous than seeing the girl transform. It was still a girl’s voice, but bestial, and
very
angry.
    The man belatedly tried to pull his arm free, but he only pulled the monster toward him. The creature continued pulling him forward, driving the sword deeper through its body, until the hilt was flush against its gut, and the man’s throat was in reach.
    Erhard had seen endless battles, and had seen countless men die, many at the end of his own sword, but he turned his eyes away as the man tried to scream.
    This was no battle. This was little different from the pagan Romans throwing Christian martyrs to wild animals to be torn apart for the sport of it. The fact these men were armed made little difference.
    He looked across at Brother Semyon, who watched the slaughter with a dire intensity. Erhard had to remind himself that he was in the company of a servant of God, a man who had taken the same vows as Erhard had. He was not in a position to judge a man’s heart, and Erhard was never more grateful for the fact that judgment was in God’s hands alone.
    “Do not turn away, Brother Erhard,” Brother Semyon said quietly.
    Erhard reluctantly turned back to the scene on the field. Two men were dead from grievous wounds to the neck. The last surviving pagan had backed into a corner, clumsily wielding his sword one-handed, the ruin of his wounded right arm shoved under his armpit.
    Lilly stood upright to face him. Blood covered her, glistening on her muzzle, matting the fur on her legs and torso.
    The wounded man did his best to keep the shaking sword point between him and Lilly. “D-don’t come any closer …”
    Lilly slowly walked toward him.
    “No. I will—”
    Lilly stopped a single step from the tip of the threatening blade.
    “I won’t let you—”
    She grabbed the blade in her half-paw, half-hand. She easily tore it free from the man’s grip. Her paw bled where she had grasped the sword, but only for a moment. The massive wound in her belly had already sealed itself.
    The bearded man shook his head, weeping, as Lilly stared at him with pitiless green eyes.
    “By the gods,” he said. “Mercy.”
    “Why?”
    She descended upon him, giving him little chance to scream.

    olfbreed, Brother Semyon called them. Beasts that could cloak themselves in a human skin at will. Things that lurked in the nightmares of every rural village and hamlet. Anywhere that bordered a wilderness could harbor such unholy things.
    Lilly stood in the

Similar Books

The Road from Coorain

Jill Ker Conway

The Fancy

Mercedes Keyes, Lawrence James

Runaway Mistress

Robyn Carr

Murder Genes

Mikael Aizen

Killing Cousins

Rett MacPherson

Love Scars

Lark Lane