Free Marked for Life by Jaxx Steele Page A

forward as she collided with the earth. Being half the size of her husband and with the wind knocked from her lungs, Regina could put up no fight and another human became a casualty of the animal's vicious abuse.
    Blood dripped from the wolf's mouth as he lifted his head to the sky and howled triumphantly. The air around him started to crackle and sparkle in the daylight and his body started to change… stretching… reshaping… reforming. The fur fell away from its skin, disappearing before it hit the dirt. The howling continued, but then it too started to change, sounding more like laughter. His front and hind legs morphed into hands and feet. The body continued to elongate until a man stood over the fresh kill on the ground. The man continued to laugh as he took in his surroundings.
    "That has to be some kind of record for me," he exclaimed, unashamed by his deed. "I wish I had a watch to time myself." He turned toward the crying baby on the lawn beside the garden. "And you, little one, are not even worth the sport. You are not old enough to feel the fear that fills my nose and sets my blood boiling. You cannot even run away so I can test my abilities," he muttered with a disgusted sneer. "You, I will kill so your rotting carcass doesn't leave a foul scent in the forest. At least the wild animals will dispose of your remains when they smell your blood."
    Before the man could take another step forward he sniffed the air and his head snapped around to look over his shoulder. Another wolf stood at the opening to the trees. The man chuckled and faced it.
    "So, you have taken to following me, Mark? Anything to stay near the pack, eh?"
    The black wolf's penetrating golden eyes stared at him for another moment before it took a few steps forward and then it, too, shifted silently into a man. Mark looked at the dead man as he passed him. His nose wrinkled at the smell of new death on the air. He shook his head sadly.
    "Only a lowly creature with no honor kills for sport, Raymond."
    "How else am I to improve my skill if I don't use the humans for practice?" he asked rhetorically. "I cannot kill our own."
    Mark scoffed. "You, above all, know I don't believe you for a second."
    Mark stood before Raymond, his opposite in all ways. Raymond's long blond hair swayed around his shoulders, rippling in the light breeze. Mark's ebony locks were cut short too short around his head to move. Raymond's limbs were longer and leaner, making him taller than Mark. They squared off against one another, Raymond glaring down at him with an air of supremacy. Memories of their last confrontation flittered through Mark's mind.
    "You can't keep doing this, Raymond. It is forbidden for a reason."
    Raymond sputtered. "That will be the first thing I change when I become chief," he confided arrogantly.
    The infant's whimpers had gone un-noticed by the two men as they spoke until it started to shout again. Mark's brows furrowed in confusion as he looked down at the child. The unknown scent that brought him to the clearing reached his nose again, mingling with the water, trees, and the stench of death. His head turned to catch the surprising aroma. It startled him at first, for he had never smelled anything like it before. Closing his eyes, he inhaled, letting his olfactory senses decipher and isolate the fragrances he recognized, allowing him to concentrate on the new one. The faint trail led back in the direction of the infant. His senses came to life, alert and on fire. Mark's eyes popped open as comprehension dawned.
    "Don't touch him," he said as Raymond advanced on the helpless tot.
    Raymond looked over his shoulder, giving Mark a smirk of contempt, and continued moving.
    "Leave him be, Raymond," Mark warned with a threatening edge to his voice.
    Raymond stopped and turned. "Are you challenging me for this child, Mark?" he chuckled in amazement.
    "Yes," Mark answered without hesitation.
    Raymond's smile disappeared and he drew himself up to his full