Primeval (Werewolf Apocalypse Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fingers through the bubbles and hummed an old Foreigner song.
    Something moved in the other room, and she was instantly alert. Being ogled by a multitude of creeps every night while you danced in your scanties made you cautious. She wasn’t even certain she’d heard anything. She just knew there had been motion. She’d sensed it.
    “Tina,” she called. “That you in there, you stupid animal?”
    The cat gave a low growl, followed by a shriek. Gwen stood up in the tub, sudsy water streaming down her tanned body. Glancing around the room, she searched for a weapon. She grabbed the toilet plunger. It wouldn’t do too much damage, but if she connected right, it could bust a skull. She cursed herself for leaving her mace in her purse on the table.
    “Tina? Kitty?”
    The tabby crawled into the room, and Gwen immediately saw there was something wrong with her leg. She was dragging it across the white tile, leaving a crimson smear on the floor. She was heading toward the tub where Gwen cowered, clutching at her plunger.
    The cat stopped halfway across the room, shuddering. She had left a long, bloody trail, and Gwen stepped out of the water and tiptoed to her pet. As she lowered herself to one knee, she saw Tina had been bitten by something. A large chunk of flesh was missing from her hip, where it met the left back leg. The cat looked up at Gwen, pleading with its mistress to stop the pain.
    “Oh no, Tina, what happened?” Gwen asked reaching for the cat. She put her hand atop the feline’s head to reassure her.
    Only, something was moving beneath the skin, like millions of insects crawling under the fur. Then, the bone structure of the cat’s skull shifted and rearranged itself under her fingers. She snatched her hand back to her naked chest.
    Tina looked at her with glowing yellow eyes, and when she opened her mouth to scream, the cat’s jaws extended and new rows of fangs erupted from her gums. Her snout pushed outwards, and her forehead grew lumpy with bony extensions.
    Tina grew larger. Much larger.
    And Gwen started screaming as her pet, now transformed into something bestial and monstrous, sank its teeth into her leg…
    …infecting her mistress before Gwen bashed the creature’s brains in with the wooden handle of the plunger.
     
    * * *
     
    Tracey Bagwell didn’t feel well.
    She’d come home to her apartment overlooking Central Park after a shopping trip, arms laden with bags almost too heavy for her fifty-five-year-old muscles. She kept herself in shape, speed walking at the gym and evening runs on the elliptical machine, but today’s shopping excursion had been immensely satisfying. She knew she had to get the newly acquired items in the closet before her husband arrived home. He’d been scolding her lately for her expenditures, but she knew a bargain when she spotted it, and she’d spotted more than a few that day.
    Tracey unloaded her new clothes, taking a moment to admire each new purchase. Her walk-in closet was dark and shadowy. She hadn’t seen the rat until it had darted from a hiding place and had nipped her on the ankle. Then, it was gone in a flash of its pale, fleshy tail. She dropped to her hands and knees, searching for the little beast, finding only a rather large hole in the wall.
    And hadn’t the rat been rather large itself? It had seemed so, but it had moved so fast she wasn’t certain of what she saw.
    When she stood up, brushing off her knees, she suddenly felt dizzy. A wave of nausea overtook her, and she rushed for her well-lit bathroom. Her stomach heaved as she emptied it of the salad she’d eaten for brunch. She flushed the toilet, closed the lid, and crossed her legs to examine the wound on her ankle.
    It was red and swollen, even though she’d only been bitten a few minutes ago. Furrowing her brow, she stared at the bite. Measuring about an inch across, it looked too large to be from a rat. The redness was disturbing, too. It looked infected, but surely there hadn’t