wasn’t going anywhere. He had a very important guest arriving soon. A guest who would beg him for mercy, and a quick death before he baked slowly in the sun.
A needle slammed into his neck then, cutting off all thought, all fantasy. Instantly, the room started spinning. Bloody bastards . . . Synjon braced for a fall, forced his fangs down and a growl from his throat.
The female on the terrace sneered at him. “I can’t believe she wasted her time on you.”
Seconds before Synjon blacked out, he saw the blond female leap from the ledge of his penthouse balcony and shift into a glorious, massive, and highly pissed-off hawk.
3
W ith the sun warm on her skin, Petra circled the tree, then raced toward the stream. Thank the gods for her mother’s suggestion to get some air, some exercise. It was how pregnant shifter females brought on their labor. Hours of sprinting through the Rain Forest. Granted, Petra was no shifter and she wasn’t trying to bring on labor, but the running did something for her. Something miraculous. It released some of the intense and debilitating emotion that had been holding her hostage for a week.
When she reached the stream, she leaped to the other side and continued along the water’s edge. As she ran, she spotted creatures moving, courting, and mating under the surface of the shallow water. It was a sight she’d grown up with and was used to. A sight that meant a new year approached. New beginnings . . . new life.
Ever since she’d woken up to the understanding that she lived in a rain forest with an entire species of shape-shifters, Petra had wanted to be like them. She’d been somewhere around ten years old when she’d realized she wasn’t. Even the young who hadn’t shifted yet could run like the wind and scent prey. It hadn’t made her feel like an outcast exactly, but like she was missing something amazing.
And then, just seven months ago, everything had changed. When he came. He came and made her feel understood, not like a freak. He unleashed the truth, showed her what she was capable of if she embraced it, trained it—fed it.
Her fanged nature.
And in some odd way, embracing her vampire had made her feel closer to her family, as though she had more in common with the shifters than she had ever thought possible.
Breaking into a sprint, she passed a bear shifter who was trying to climb a tree and get to a nest tucked into one of the branches. It growled playfully at her, then returned to its task. Petra found that the faster she moved, the less pain she experienced. It was as if the overwhelming feelings didn’t have time to fully fuse to her insides.
And the balas liked it.
She wasn’t sure how, but she could sense it. And moving so quickly provided one of only a handful of times when she’d been able to connect with the little life growing inside her. If she could just give it nourishment now . . .
If she could just give it blood.
Bile rose in her throat as she picked up speed, leaving the stream behind and taking off across the flat land toward her lion shifter family’s sprawling one-story compound. Somehow she would find a way to protect her balas , feed her balas , give her balas the loving and proper family it deserved.
Even if she had to spend the remainder of her swell running.
Just a foot over the property line, she nearly collided with a massive blond male.
“Damn it, Val,” she said, jerking to a halt. “You could’ve hurt the baby.”
The blond male with shoulders as wide as the doorframe of their family house backed up a foot just to show he wasn’t in her space. His dark eyes moved over her curiously, concerned. “You’re sweating. Breathing heavy. What are you doing?”
“Whatever I have to do to keep sane.”
He frowned. “My poor Pets.”
“What do you need, Val?” She jogged in place. She wanted to hold on to this moderately contented feeling for as long as possible. Maybe she could try drinking blood as she ran. Maybe
A needle slammed into his neck then, cutting off all thought, all fantasy. Instantly, the room started spinning. Bloody bastards . . . Synjon braced for a fall, forced his fangs down and a growl from his throat.
The female on the terrace sneered at him. “I can’t believe she wasted her time on you.”
Seconds before Synjon blacked out, he saw the blond female leap from the ledge of his penthouse balcony and shift into a glorious, massive, and highly pissed-off hawk.
3
W ith the sun warm on her skin, Petra circled the tree, then raced toward the stream. Thank the gods for her mother’s suggestion to get some air, some exercise. It was how pregnant shifter females brought on their labor. Hours of sprinting through the Rain Forest. Granted, Petra was no shifter and she wasn’t trying to bring on labor, but the running did something for her. Something miraculous. It released some of the intense and debilitating emotion that had been holding her hostage for a week.
When she reached the stream, she leaped to the other side and continued along the water’s edge. As she ran, she spotted creatures moving, courting, and mating under the surface of the shallow water. It was a sight she’d grown up with and was used to. A sight that meant a new year approached. New beginnings . . . new life.
Ever since she’d woken up to the understanding that she lived in a rain forest with an entire species of shape-shifters, Petra had wanted to be like them. She’d been somewhere around ten years old when she’d realized she wasn’t. Even the young who hadn’t shifted yet could run like the wind and scent prey. It hadn’t made her feel like an outcast exactly, but like she was missing something amazing.
And then, just seven months ago, everything had changed. When he came. He came and made her feel understood, not like a freak. He unleashed the truth, showed her what she was capable of if she embraced it, trained it—fed it.
Her fanged nature.
And in some odd way, embracing her vampire had made her feel closer to her family, as though she had more in common with the shifters than she had ever thought possible.
Breaking into a sprint, she passed a bear shifter who was trying to climb a tree and get to a nest tucked into one of the branches. It growled playfully at her, then returned to its task. Petra found that the faster she moved, the less pain she experienced. It was as if the overwhelming feelings didn’t have time to fully fuse to her insides.
And the balas liked it.
She wasn’t sure how, but she could sense it. And moving so quickly provided one of only a handful of times when she’d been able to connect with the little life growing inside her. If she could just give it nourishment now . . .
If she could just give it blood.
Bile rose in her throat as she picked up speed, leaving the stream behind and taking off across the flat land toward her lion shifter family’s sprawling one-story compound. Somehow she would find a way to protect her balas , feed her balas , give her balas the loving and proper family it deserved.
Even if she had to spend the remainder of her swell running.
Just a foot over the property line, she nearly collided with a massive blond male.
“Damn it, Val,” she said, jerking to a halt. “You could’ve hurt the baby.”
The blond male with shoulders as wide as the doorframe of their family house backed up a foot just to show he wasn’t in her space. His dark eyes moved over her curiously, concerned. “You’re sweating. Breathing heavy. What are you doing?”
“Whatever I have to do to keep sane.”
He frowned. “My poor Pets.”
“What do you need, Val?” She jogged in place. She wanted to hold on to this moderately contented feeling for as long as possible. Maybe she could try drinking blood as she ran. Maybe
Similar Books
Wild Horses
Denise L. Wyant
All In The Game (Dearly Beloved)
Virginia Crane
Tuck
Stephen R. Lawhead
Peter and Veronica
Marilyn Sachs
The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof
Annie M.G. Schmidt
The Celebrity
Laura Z. Hobson
Sparked (city2city: Hollywood)
Edie Harris
A Proper Scandal
Charis Michaels
A Cookbook Conspiracy
Kate Carlisle