Page 11 of Bad Blood Panther

The whole crew was scrambling out of their vehicles, surrounding him.

Help him, her cat said. He hurts…

“Xander?” she said softly.

He raised his head, still crouched in the dirt. His eyes were glowing green, and he snarled at her. His cat burst out of his skin, shredding his clothes. They stared at each other.

Without warning, he launched himself straight at her, teeth bared.

“Fuck! Grab him!” Flynn and Tank dove for Xander.

The shock of the panther’s body hitting hers knocked the breath out of her. Tank and Flynn dragged Xander back just before his jaws closed on her neck. He tried to hold on to her, and his claws raked down her arm, opening bleeding gashes.

Both of the other men were dominants, and Jenny could feel them slamming at Xander with the force of their alpha energy, trying to control his cat.

Just being on the periphery of that mental force sent her panther whimpering, but it was like Xander couldn’t even feel it.

He fought and raged, his claws gouging into them. Why didn’t they Change? Any other alpha would be slapping Xander down, bleeding him to remind him who was in charge.

Instead, Flynn and Tank immobilized both sets of paws, Tank holding Xander’s jaws shut with one meaty hand while Xander emitted furious, strangled yowls. They dragged Xander over to a nearby shed, opened the door, and tossed him inside onto a bed of straw. Before he could gather his legs under him and leap at them, Flynn slammed the door shut. Tank put his weight against it just before Xander threw himself at it from the inside, making the door shudder.

Flynn pulled a thick metal bar across the door and padlocked it on the other side with an iron lock bigger than Jenny’s hand. He leaned against the door next to Tank, panting.

Both he and Tank were sweating and bleeding. Xander’s panther howled in fury and anguish, throwing itself against the door over and over.

He was going to beat himself to a bloody pulp. How could they do this to him? What kind of sick people were in this crew?

Xander’s torment upset Jenny so much she forgot her fear. She stormed over to the two men. “What the hell is that?” She gestured at the shed.

Flynn straightened up, his eyes flat and opaque in the dim light. “That,” he said in his deep, dangerous voice, “is the crazy shed. Welcome to Bad Blood territory.”

The crazy shed? It had a name? This was how they lived?

The other three crew members were still standing by Flynn’s truck, watching silently. Why don’t they do something? she thought frantically. It was cruel to lock him up.

Xander’s body slammed into the shed door. Tank gnawed his lower lip, looking worried. “Might have to trank him after all,” he said.

Flynn shook his head. “We’ve been doing that too much. I hoped, after the last few days, he was doing better.”

The scene was suddenly lit up by headlights, and Jenny’s car pulled into the clearing, coming too fast for that bumpy road. Sloan hit the brakes and skidded to a stop.

“Shit, he lost it,” Sloan said, getting out of the car. Xander’s body hit the shed door again, and Sloan flinched.

Another truck pulled in, and the woman called Caitlyn emerged.

Sloan yelled at Jenny. “What the hell did you do to him? He was doing so good!”

Jenny’s mouth dropped open. “What did I do to him? You’re the ones locking him up!” Xander’s body slammed into the shed door again, and he let out a furious, insane yowl.

It felt like her own body was being torn apart. “Listen to him!” She looked around the circle. “How can you even stand to hear that?”

Flynn turned on her, his dark eyes terrifying. “You think we enjoy this?” he said. “We don’t know what the fuck to do with him. He’s out of control. He’s almost killed just about every one of us, at one time or another.”

“This isn’t helping!”

“What the fuck do you know?” The small woman, the black bear, got up in her face. “Your friend Cindi Turned him against his will. His cat’s never been right. It’s scared and angry and out of control. But instead of helping him, you let him go off on his own and manage as best he could. What the holy hell did you think was going to happen?”

“I didn’t do that!” Jenny said. “I tried—”