Keri Arthur - Circle of Desire

The zombie roared and swung around, clenched fists flying. She ducked, swept a leg around his and knocked him onto his ass. Then she picked him up kinetically and tossed him back into the smoke as well, toppling more zombies in the process.

Dead men were beginning to drop like flies near the cavern entrance, making it harder for those behind to scrabble past. She grabbed another sleep bomb from the pack and lobbed it deeper, just in case there were more zombies waiting in the tunnel.

"You go get the two girls," she said, putting the pack back on. "Make sure you enter and leave through the gap in the stones."

He nodded and headed for the small cave holding the girls. She reached for kinetic energy again and began to stack the sleeping zombies, creating a wall of flesh that was as tall as she was and at least two arms' widths deep.

If there were any more of the dead down in that tunnel, the wall would at least hamper their progress for a while.

Though she had to hope there wasn't too many more.

There were at least fifteen piled in front of her. How many more could the Mara have raised in this area without someone noticing something odd was going on?

She half turned to go help Ethan then stopped. Noise whispered down the tunnel. Nails, clicking against stone.

A werewolf was headed their way.

But how? This smoke was just as effective on shifters as on the dead. Unless the wolf had realized what was going on quickly enough and grabbed something to use as a mask.

"Something else is coming," she warned, hurrying across to the small cave.

He'd taken off his sweater and put it over the naked girl.

Then he carefully scooped both up. "Let's get out of here."

"You go. I'll deal with the shifter coming down the tunnel." She knew if she told him it was a werewolf he'd refuse to leave her. Especially after her near escape with the last one.

His expression was grim. "I don't think that's a good — " She touched a hand to his lips, stopping his words. "The most important thing right now is getting the girls to safety. I won't be far behind, I promise you."

He kissed her fingertips then nodded. "You'd better not be, or I'm coming back after you."

His words did weird things to the rhythm of her heart.

God, it would be so easy to believe he truly loved her.

Except for that moonlit ceremony. Except for the fact that he'd promised himself to a woman she wasn't, even if it was only in his mind.

She followed him as far as the waterfall and dropped the backpack on the ground. There were a couple of sleep bombs left, and the holy water, but neither was much use against a werewolf.

She ripped free one the stakes she'd taped to the leg of her jeans, tossing it lightly in her hand as she walked back to the cavern's centre.

The radiating heat of the werewolf's aura hit her long before she ever saw him. Ethan might have had the moon heat under some control, but in this wolf, the fever raged free. His hunger was a force that seemed to suck the air from the room, leaving her breathless, hot and very afraid.

Because it wasn't just lust she sensed. This one hungered for violence as well as sex. Another of the bitten, she thought, and as mad as a rattlesnake. Maybe that was why the Mara chose them as guards — they were fast, powerful and more importantly, didn't care who or what they killed.

For an instant she thought about retreating, but she had to give Ethan as much time as possible to get those kids free.

And it was only one werewolf. She could cope with that, surely. She'd certainly dealt with far worse in her time with the Circle.

Yet as much as she kept repeating that statement in her mind, it didn't seem to help the fear churning her stomach.

A blur of brown hair leapt over the sleeping bodies of the zombies. She clenched her fingers around the stake as the wolf came to a halt and shifted shape. As a man he was big. Bigger even than Ethan. And like the wolf that had attacked her in the restaurant, he was all rippling muscles and golden skin.

He was also naked. And hard with wanting.

His gaze slid down her body, and she felt like a prize turkey at Christmastime — all fattened up and ready for the plucking. The wolf's gaze finally rose to hers again, and all she could see was madness. The heat of his aura blasted her skin with his desire, but beyond the breathlessness, there was very little physical reaction. It was as if she'd somehow become immune to this wolf's fever.

"I smell wolf on you." He ripped off the mask he was wearing, revealing a mouth that was thin and cruel. "I shall enjoy erasing that scent."

Bile rose in her throat. Ethan had all the time he was going to get because she wasn't about to stand here and play with this madman. She lifted her hand and hit the wolf kinetically, smashing him back against the wall. As he slithered down the rock she flung the stake at him. At the last moment he saw it and dodged. The white ash stabbed through his side rather than his heart. Deadly, but not immediately so.

His rage washed over her, a force so great it knocked her back several steps. With the stake lodged in his body he couldn't shapeshift, but he didn't even appear to try as he picked himself up and rushed at her.

She dodged and hit him kinetically again. Pain slithered through her brain, and she knew she'd have to watch it.

She'd need her kinetic skills to cope with the Mara, and she couldn't afford to overexert herself right now.

The wolf hit the wall with a grunt, bounced to the ground and relaunched himself at her. She ducked away but wasn't fast enough. His fingers hooked around the bottom of her sweater and jerked her to a stop. He laughed, a harsh cruel sound that made her stomach churn.

She swore, twisted around and raised her arms, pulling herself out of the sweater. She ripped the second stake free, holding it in front of her like a knife. It was doubtful he even noticed it as his gaze slid down her naked torso.

The heat of his need boiled around her, sucking away the air and burning her lungs.

He sprang again, but before he reached her there was a blur of fur and fury that hit him broadside and thrust him away from her.

Anger and relief surged in equal portions.

Ethan.

He hit the ground in human form and rose, standing between her and the other wolf. He had one hand behind his back and was flexing his fingers, as if grasping for something. She kinetically slipped the stake into his hand.

"No one touches what is mine," he growled and launched himself at the stranger.

The other wolf might have been bigger and more powerful, but he didn't have a chance against Ethan, even if he hadn't already been stabbed with white ash. Ethan was fast and furious, and he gave no mercy. Within minutes the other wolf was dead at his feet.

He swung around and stalked towards her. His brown eyes were more wolf than human and glowed almost golden in the torch light. His hunger washed across her senses, and her body sprang to aching life. Reacting to him, and only him.

The spell, she thought. He might have thought he was committing himself to Jacinta, but he'd bound himself to her. Or, at the very least, bound her to him.

He pulled her into his embrace and plundered her mouth.

His kiss was intense and passionate and, in many ways, an affirmation of territory. No one touches what is mine , he'd said. Her heart did a joyful little dance, but she had to wonder if he was even aware he'd said those words.

"Next time tell me it's a werewolf coming down the tunnel," he growled when he finally broke away.

His breathing was as harsh as hers, and his desire thrummed through every fibre of her being, stirring her in ways she'd never dreamed possible. But right now, it was a need they both had to ignore.