Marisa Chenery - Wolves of East Anglia

The howl came again. Raed knew he couldn't linger much longer, no matter how much he wanted to stay and continue what they had started. "Never mind. I'll find it."

He gave Lexi one last quick, thorough kiss before he bounded down the stairs.

He hoped he could find more than one werewolf tonight. Frustrated beyond words, he would gladly take his agitation out on the ones he hunted.

Lexi had no idea how long she stood in the small hallway staring at nothing after Raed had left. The man had kissed her senseless. She was lucky to even remember her own name. She slowly turned and unlocked the door to the flat. After she closed and locked it behind her, she leaned back against its wooden surface.

Her body had yet to cool. Arousal still surged through her, and her panties were wet with her desire. She shook her head. If Raed hadn't stopped when he had, she felt certain she would have let him take her right out there in the hallway where technically anybody could have caught them in the act. If her landlady who owned the bookstore below had caught them, that would have been too embarrassing for words.

At least she knew Raed had more than a passing interest in her. She could still feel the pressure of his hard cock against her pussy. The mental images made her want to moan. She pushed away from the door and headed for her bedroom. After the long afternoon nap and with her body still on fire, sleep was the last thing she wanted. She changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and a matching t-shirt and returned to the living room. A few hours of TV would help take her mind off Raed. As she settled on the couch, she had a feeling the night was going to be a very long one indeed.

Raed drove in the direction the werewolf's howl had come from. He parked on a quiet street, alighted and went into hunting mode as he tried to pick up the werewolf's scent. Using powers granted him by Tiw, he willed a black t-shirt to replace his button down shirt. A broadsword and scabbard appeared on his back, strapped in place across his chest. It didn't take him long to pick up the fresh scent as he took off at a run, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.

The trail led him to a small park. Raed grabbed the hilt of his broadsword and slowly pulled the weapon free of the scabbard as he cautiously walked through the iron gates. Even though the night was practically pitch dark, he had no problem seeing, thanks to his acute werewolf sight. Looking left and right, Raed stalked his prey.

Raed froze at the sound of a loud growl coming from behind him. He brought his broadsword up as he swung around. Standing at almost seven feet tall in its half-human, half-wolf form, the werewolf lunged for his throat. Raed jumped back, bringing his broadsword down to slice across the beast's brown-furred chest. The werewolf howled in pain and staggered back as the gash Raed made sizzled.

The blade of his broadsword had silver mixed in with the hard steel, making it deadly to werewolves. A strike to the heart with a silvered blade ended the beast's existence, as did the loss of its head. Only Raed and his men had no need to fear that particular metal. Tiw made sure his warriors couldn’t be destroyed by the weapon they used to take out their prey.

As the werewolf recovered and lunged for a second time, Raed hit the beast again, and this time he didn't wait for a counterattack. Forcing the werewolf farther into the park so they were no longer close to the entrance, Raed hacked and slashed, easily blocking its sharp claws with his sword as the beast tried to tear at his face and neck.

Judging by his opponent's lack of skill, Raed figured it had to be one of the newly turned, which meant there had to be a second werewolf lurking somewhere nearby.

Just as Raed came to that conclusion, a heavy weight slammed into his back, pushing him into the range of the claws of the werewolf in front of him. Damn, he was off his game tonight. Grunting with pain as sharp nails raked down his back, he quickly dodged under the claws of the first and sank his sword through the beast's heart. The newly turned werewolf fell dead to the ground as Raed spun around to face its pack mate.

Older and more experienced, this werewolf knew to keep out of reach of Raed's broadsword. The beast snapped its teeth and snarled as it circled him, striking out with sharp claws when it saw an opening only to jump back when Raed's blade came too close. Raed knew this one would be no easy kill.

Determined to finish the fight as quickly as possible before the werewolf's howls and snarls drew some unsuspecting mortals, Raed willed his broadsword and clothes away and prepared to shift. A moment later, he stood in his half-wolf, half-human form. Now just as big and strong as the werewolf that launched itself at him, Raed let loose a growl and leaped forward.

They met mid-air. Raed grappled with the beast, sinking his sharp teeth into the werewolf's shoulder as he sank his claws into its side. He used his weight to drag his opponent to the ground. Moving out of reach of its hind legs, which had come up to claw at his soft belly, Raed held on tenaciously until he had the werewolf pinned beneath him. Still in his half-wolf, half-human form, he willed his broadsword into his hand. He sank the blade through the beast's chest, straight through to the heart.

Panting, Raed stood as he wiped the werewolf's blood from his muzzle. "Two down," he said in a deep, gravelly voice. He pulled his broadsword free.

The ability to speak in his half-shifted form and to retain higher mental capacity while shifting completely also set Raed and his men apart from the werewolves descended from Fenris. After he cleaned the blade of his broadsword on the dead werewolf's fur, Raed shifted back to full human form and sheathed the weapon in the scabbard. He pulled his cell phone out of his jeans' pocket and hit one of his speed dials.

When Algar picked up on the other end, Raed said, "Is everyone out on the hunt?"

"Yes. I had a feeling you wouldn't make it back in time, so as soon as darkness fell, I sent them out. I'm just about ready to head off myself."

"Good. There's plenty of prey out tonight. I just took two down in a park not far from Lexi's flat."

"Lexi, huh?"

Raed purposely chose to ignore Algar's question. "Tell the others I'm out on the hunt now as well. If they need me, they can get me on my cell."

"Will do. And hint taken about Lexi, by the way. Happy hunting."

Snapping his cell phone closed, Raed looked down at the bodies of the two dead werewolves. They had yet to shift back to human form. He sighed. Such a waste of life, but there was no cure to give them back the human lives that had been taken from them by a werewolf's bite.

Raed looked up at the night sky. The bodies couldn't be left for mortals to find.

"Tiw, I call upon you. I have need of your fire."

Blue god-fire engulfed the corpses; Raed stepped back as the flames burned hotter. In a matter of seconds, the bodies were no more. An unnatural wind blew the ashes away, leaving behind not even a scorched patch to mar the green grass and mark their passing.

Instinct told him this would not be the only time he would have to call down Tiw's god-fire; the night promised to be long and exhausting. He rolled his shoulders.

He felt no stiffness; shifting had healed the claw marks down his back.

Once inside his car, Raed drove by Lexi's flat. The lights were still on above the bookstore. Remembering the kiss they had shared, he longed to be with her, but his duty had to come first. If he was smart he would let Lexi go. He had no room for a woman in his life, but the mere thought of how she had come alive in his arms made his cock stiffen. No, he couldn't give her up yet. He had four weeks then she would leave and go back to the States. He just hoped a month would be long enough to get her out of his system.