Blood's Fury (Deadly Beauties 1)

"Damn," he says while pulling a lock of my hair to his face and breathing it in. "You smell so good… so strong."

I've only ever suffered this frozen state of terror twice, and I almost died both times. This time, there's not a healing room or a group of witches capable of the spells it would take to bring me back.

"Your father thought it funny to kill the woman I had turned - the woman I loved. He said he had to remind me who was in charge. I think it's time I show him what happens when you take someone from somebody - you lose someone you love, too."

Just as his chilled breath finds my neck, the door bursts open, and the cold blooded bastard is yanked off of me and thrown out the window as Thad walks toward me.

"Are you okay?" he growls, his eyes not moving off the night stalker who is still trying to figure out what just happened.

I just nod while grabbing my throat, checking for punctures, and then he drops into a hawk and zooms out the window. I wobble up and gaze out to see him changing into a tiger - a white, beautiful tighter - before leaping onto the back of Rain, his teeth shredding the skin of the stalking asshole.

"Kick his ass, Thad," one of the girl changers cheers.

"What the hell is going on?" one of the night stalkers interjects, and then the chatter rises to urge on the brutal fight.

"Alyssa?" Frankie murmurs while stepping into my room. "What the hell?"

I don't answer as I stare out and wince when the night stalker digs his fangs into Thad's shoulder, and red stains the white fur. He roars out his pain, changing into a white, majestic lion, and suddenly the fight shifts again as he takes over.

The night stalker wails into the darkness, and though he's stronger at night, Thad's apparently older, more in control, and one hell of a force to be reckoned with. The lion roars louder, and suddenly red paints the white snow under their bodies as the night stalker goes limp - a chew toy for the fierce kitty with a bad temper.

"Shit. Did he just kill a night stalker?" Frankie gasps in disbelief.

"Yeah," I almost whisper, feeling my whole body growing a little numb from the adrenaline overload.

"He's stronger than any changer I've ever seen to take on a night stalker under the full moon. That's when they're at their damn strongest."

"I know," I murmur, still stunned as the lion shifts into Thad, and then he limps toward the house.

I rush out of the bedroom and into the living room just as he comes in, and a girl offers him a towel to cover up his… bare lower half.

He takes it, but he doesn't wrap up before collapsing to the chair, his shoulder bleeding profusely as he wearily pants his painful breaths.

"Thad," I murmur guiltily while kneeling down to examine the terrible gash.

"I'll be fine. I just need some blood, some sleep, and some solid food," he strains out.

"I'll get the blood," one girl chirps, disappearing seconds later.

The others disperse, and one begins clanking pans to start cooking him something. I cover up his lower half with a blanket that had been tossed across the back of the couch.

"A naked man's body really bothers you, doesn't it?" he jokes, but then he winces when his laughter proves to hurt.

I grimace while shaking my head.

"I can't believe you survived a night stalker under the full moon… under any moon for that matter," I murmur softly, ignoring his comment.

"I told you I wouldn't let someone touch you and get away with it. If I hadn't gone all day without blood, I wouldn't have even gotten a scratch."

"Why'd you go all day without blood?" I ask as one girl brings him a bottle full of it.

He rises up slowly, wincing the whole way, and then he starts sipping. After a few guzzles, he pulls it back from his lips to answer me.

"Drinking blood under a full moon makes me a lot stronger, but it also keeps me up all night. I prefer to sleep… unless I have a reason to be up all night," he says, ending on a menacing note.

I let a ghost of a smile free, and then I stand to my feet.

"I'm going to go get you some clothes," I say while walking toward his room.