sunfall Read Online Free PDF Page A

Frantically, she dragged the chair into the hall, out of direct sunlight. As Foster and Summers rushed to help, Constantine and I positioned ourselves between them and the wolf.
    “She’s alive!” Foster announced triumphantly.
    The human part of me rejoiced, but my animal brain was preoccupied by our canine adversary. He was behaving strangely. A low growl rumbled from his throat, but he had lowered his head and was backing away from his kill in a show of submission. Was he trying to indicate his surrender? Constantine at my side, I padded forward, alert to any sign that the wolf was bluffing.
    We flanked him and began to herd him into a corner where his maneuverability would be compromised. After only a few steps, he stopped and held his ground. When I darted forward, snarling and snapping, he sank onto his belly, whining. As soon as I stood still, his body began to blur. My ears flicked backward at the sound of Summers’s footsteps, and at the edge of my vision I caught the glint of daybreak off his gun barrel. Whoever this was, he was well and truly outnumbered.
    My reaction to the tall man with shaggy dark hair who suddenly stood naked before us was wholly involuntary. I growled loud and long, ears flat against my head, tail lashing wildly. Sebastian Brenner had once dared to claim my mate as his own, going so far as to marry Valentine after she had lost her soul so they could both take advantage of the inheritance she had been able to collect upon wedding a man. For Val, their union had been only a business arrangement, but Sebastian had wanted to possess her fully, and for that, I could never forgive him.
    “Sebastian Brenner?” Summers sounded even more surprised than I felt. “Explain yourself!”
    Sebastian bared his teeth in an echo of his wolf’s displeasure. Fists clenched at his sides, he took an assertive step forward, seemingly unfazed by his nudity in such a fraught situation.
    “Back off, Leon. I came here to bargain for Helen’s life.”
    “Bullshit.”
    Sebastian’s face flushed. “If you won’t trust me, then go ahead and shoot me. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
    “Last I heard, you and Balthasar weren’t on speaking terms. You expect me to believe you’d confront him on Helen’s behalf?”
    “My father takes great delight in begging. He would never listen to me, but I was hoping that if I kept him talking, I might learn something about his plans.”
    Summers finally lowered his side arm, but his finger remained a hairsbreadth from the trigger. “And did you?”
    “He wasn’t here.”
    “What?” Summers sounded as incredulous as I felt. “What do you mean he wasn’t here?”
    “There was no sign of him at all. I was trying to make a deal with one of his lieutenants, when someone fucking shot me.” He palpated his left biceps, grimacing. “I shifted. The guards were too slow. Now they’re dead.”
    When I realized that Val must have sniped Sebastian, the very human urge to laugh came on so strongly that I let it carry me into my transformation. Unashamed of my own nakedness, I raised my arms above my head, stretching my human muscles. Sebastian’s face went blank as he looked me up and down, and I smiled in triumph. Mine was the body Valentine craved, the one she worshipped with her touch. Not his. Never his.
    I turned to Summers. “We’re safe. Let’s contact Val.”
    As he hailed her over the com link, I went to the nearest closet. When I found several terrycloth robes hanging inside it, I tossed one to Sebastian before wrapping the other around myself. They probably cost hundreds of dollars, and I was happy to be charging them to Balthasar Brenner’s tab.
    The moment a fleeting smile crossed Summers’s face, I let myself breathe again. Val was okay. We were going to make it through this.
    “Yes, Alexa’s fine,” he said. “Helen is badly injured, but alive. What’s your—”
    “We need to get out of here,” Foster called. The tension in her voice sliced