The fiery dawn is chasing at my back.
I will catch my prey before the sun catches us all.
I sniff, chasing the scent of the two predators who are also out here in the world of sand.
They have been hunting me throughout the night under the stars, as much as I have been hunting them.
My thick, padded feet scrabble on the rocks, as I speed up after my quarry.
My enhanced senses have made the night as bright as day. They also make scents easy to trace: sunlight, frost, oak and incense.
My Alphas.
My ears prick up, when I hear a gasp of pain like someone has hit their head in one of the small caves that riddle this cliff up ahead.
The cave is too small for me to wriggle into it, but not too small for a fae or a Shadow Vampire who are fleeing from the burning sun.
My smart Alphas.
I snarl, hurling myself at the cave entrance.
Two sets of eyes — lavender and wine-red — stare up at me from the dark.
“Hello, love,” Daire taunts. “What are you going to do now?”
My lips curl back from my fangs. I pace in front of the low cave. My shadows weave furiously around me.
I crouch down, scrabbling with my paws at the sandy entrance. I snap with my jaws, as much as I know that it’s pointless.
Daire laughs brightly.
I should have known that my Bandit King, who has fought guerrilla warfare for a decade, would outsmart me with sneaky tactics. It’s interesting that Lanlin has stuck by his side, barely letting go of his hand.
Daire won’t be laughing for long.
I take him by surprise by transforming back to my human form and wriggling into the dusty cave.
“Fuck,” Daire whispers.
Fuck is right.
I grab Daire by his curls, still flooded with the instincts of my inner wolf, then do something that no Omega shifter ever shouldto their Alpha, no matter how much I know Daire wants me to by the inviting way he tilts his head: I bite his throat.
Daire gasps with delight. “Harder.”
I meet Lanlin’s piercing gaze over Daire’s shoulder, before I bite him harder.
Lanlin’s pupils become blown at the sight.
Instantly, he drags Daire’s hair out of the way, before sinking his own fangs into the other side of Daire’s throat, sucking his blood.
Daire moans, rutting his hips against mine.
Finally, I lift my mouth from his skin, licking over the imprint of my teeth. I purr, satisfied to have marked him.
I lean up, kissing Daire. “You’re caught.”
“Then I hope that I will always be caught, love,” Daire murmurs.
