Page 35 of Rescued

Bourbon didn’t help. The shaking wouldn’t stop.

It was too quiet in the cabin—deathly quiet, with only the soft hiss and pop of the woodstove breaking the silence. Bree’s music had ended an hour ago, and he should have put on something else.

Too late now. He needed a run—needed to Change, and race through the woods fast enough to outrun his emotions. To hunt one of the night creatures, and kill it. Expend his anger in rending flesh and hot blood.

We cannot leave her alone, his wolf protested.

She’ll be fine.

She should be with us.

She can’t run with a wolf.

We can fix that.

And with a sudden, painful wrench, his wolf took control. Switch was too shocked at first to fight him—his wolf hadn’t seized control since he was a kid.

They padded into Breanna’s room, where she was asleep in his bed. They sniffed at her, inhaling her beautiful, primal scent.

Want, his wolf said. She should be with us.

He saw Breanna as his wolf saw her—beautiful and playful, with a wolf’s heart. And she was lonely. Somehow, in wolf form, he could feel the depths of her loneliness.

They stepped closer.

She needs a mate, his wolf said. We must make her ours, so she will stay.

Holy hell. His wolf wanted to Turn Breanna—without her even knowing beforehand.

No! Switch began to panic. That was the worst thing you could do to a human, and completely against shifter law. She’s not a wolf. We have to leave her alone.

We could protect her better if she was wolf.

Mikey had brought Bree pajamas—cotton pants and a spaghetti-strap top that left her whole neck and shoulder exposed, soft and biteable. Her scent was overwhelming, pulling at him. He licked the soft skin between her neck and shoulder, right at the big muscle where they met.

She stirred in her sleep, but she didn’t wake up.

He licked her again. If he bit her right there, deep, deep, he could make her wolf.

Switch fought with his wolf. No! We can’t Turn her! Not if she doesn’t want.

She will want. Wolf is better.

She’ll hate us. We can’t.

With all his willpower, he tore his wolf away from Bree and took his body back. He stumbled out of the room and pushed his way out of the cabin with a force that pulled the screen door halfway off its hinges.

He stumbled down the porch steps and landed on his hands and knees, fighting the wolf. It took him again, but he desperately refused to let it go back in the cabin.

It gave an angry howl, and they raced off into the forest.

Breanna woke up feeling cold and alone, with the howl of a wolf echoing in her mind. It sounded so lonely, so full of pain, she wanted to reach out and do something to ease the hurt.

The door to the bedroom was open, and light spilled in from the main room. Bree got up and went to the door, touching it lightly with her fingertips. She could have sworn she’d left it almost closed. Just open far enough to hear the music.

“Switch?” she called out. No answer. The cabin was completely silent, and empty of all presence. He wasn’t here.

The front door was open, and there was a cold draft coming in. She shivered as it hit the bare skin of her upper chest and shoulders.