The Sweetest Mercy (Sexy Shifter Shorts) Read Online Free PDF

her. His hands firm on her flesh but not bruising. He could have crushed her bones as easily as squeezing an orange. And yet, Carter handled her with care.
    She couldn’t just leave him out in the middle of the forest injured, or worse without at least giving him the chance to explain himself first. She changed course, backtracking until she found a spot where the brush wasn’t so thick. Ribbons of moonlight filtered down through the tree branches, casting eerie shadows like sinister hands reaching out to claim her. Kiera hopped a tree stump and jogged fifty yards to where the slope descended into a shallow draw. She slid the last several feet on her butt, cursing the fact that she’d left her underwear in the cave. The uphill climb to the other side of the draw was a bit more daunting and she had to use the taller grass and a couple of bushes as handholds as she worked her way to the next ridge. Unfortunately, the undergrowth was even thicker on this side of the draw and bare tree limbs raked at her skin, scratching and abrading as she fought her way closer to the sound of Carter’s moans. Gods, she hoped there wasn’t any poison ivy in this area. Because with her short skirt—not to mention her current lack of underwear situation—the local flora wasn’t something she was anxious to get up close and personal with.
    A dark shape stood out in stark relief against the moonlight. Too solid to be anything but a body and Kiera’s breath caught in her chest. No movement, no sounds to indicate that he was even still alive, but deep down, Kiera’s intuition—an intuition that rarely steered her wrong—assured her that life stirred within him. And why did that cause her to feel such a strong sense of relief?
    “Carter?”
    He stirred, though the movement was barely discernible. As she crept closer, a silver glint of light winked through the darkness from near Carter’s ankle. She knelt beside his listless form and brought her hands to her mouth as she stifled the gasp that burst from her lips. A huge ass trap was locked around Carter’s calf and his pants were soaked with blood.
    “Oh my gods,” Kiera whispered as she grabbed the trap and yanked with all of her strength. Carter moaned, the sound so like an injured animal that it sent chills down her spine. The spring mechanism was tight, her own slightly enhanced strength no match for the powerful trap. “Carter?” She abandoned the trap and gave his shoulders a rough shake. “Carter! Can you hear me? Wake up!”
    “Kiera.” His voice was nothing more than a whisper and she had to lower her ear to his mouth to hear him. “Reece… set traps. Teeth …coated with …silver. Too weak to remove. I need leverage.”
    Leverage? “Okay,” Kiera replied, brushing his dark hair from his forehead. Her fingers lingered on the scar at his temple and she traced the jagged line. What had happened to him? “I’m going to go look for a stick—”
    “No,” Carter murmured. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and Kiera detected a building fever. Apparently silver was uber bad for a shifter. Like poison. Fast acting poison. “Need something stronger. Clamps. Have to get to my cabin…”
    As if finishing his sentence took too much strength, Carter grew silent, sending icy shards of fear into Kiera’s chest. She wracked her brain, desperate to remember what he told her in the cave. He’d said his cabin was somewhere between here and the compound where Erica was. “Carter, can you walk?” If he couldn’t there was no way she could carry him. She was stronger than a human, but it still wasn’t strong enough to carry him. “I’ll help you. But you’ve got to try and stand. Can you do that for me?”
    Carter’s head turned toward her and his eyes cracked open. His irises glowed with that strange amber light and she assumed it was the animal part of his nature fighting for a way out. When Reece’s eyes had flashed with emotion, it had frightened Kiera. Mostly because