Changing Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 2)

“Yeah, love. The wrong kind of bad.”

“Then I’m coming with you. You might need my help.”

I fight hard to restrain my smile. She’s cute when she’s protective.

“I don’t want you seeing this. It won’t be pretty.”

Her grip on me gets tighter, but she blows out a breath.

“If this Sadie chick was part of helping the rings, then it doesn’t need to be pretty. Unless…”

Her voice trails off, and I reach over to tilt her chin up. Those violet eyes hold a lot of guilt suddenly.

“Unless?” I prompt.

She looks away, as though she can’t look at me for some reason.

“Unless she was forced to help them.”

I’m not sure how anyone could be forced to help. I’d die first as opposed to being a monster. Even when I was a monster, I showed mercy by offering the kill instead of torturing people. And that was only until I got control of my beasts.

But Sadie doesn’t get mercy, just like Roslyn didn’t get mercy.

“She wasn’t forced to help. She was one of the reasons Kimber was locked up as a child. It’s just time to collect on a very overdue debt.”

She thinks about it for a minute before she threads her fingers through mine.

“Then I’m in.”

Grinning, I kiss the back of her hand. I’m glad my girl’s not as sweet as I once thought she was.

“Then let’s hurry up and patrol so you can give me what you promised.”

Chapter 29

ROSLYN

I’m sore all over in the best possible way. The sun isn’t far from rising, and Thad and I haven’t done much sleeping.

He stirs as I get up on all fours, shaking away some of the forest debris from my fur, and he lifts up as well, mirroring the same action before I go to nuzzle him.

That’s the first time I’ve enjoyed shifted form in this way. I’m just glad two white wolves didn’t draw any attention.

No blood-starved night stalkers showed up, so I’m assuming they’re feasting somewhere else. Another problem for another day.

Right now I get to have a little revenge of my own against some of the ring runners. My wolf is ready for blood, and it makes it hard to shift back to flesh. But I do, watching as the skin replaces fur, and I end up in a crouched position before standing to my full height.

Thad cocks his wolf head to the side, appraising me, and I roll my eyes when he starts panting. Jackass.

My clothes appear on my body with no more than a thought, and Thad shifts back to flesh, and he tugs me to him mid-transformation. By the time his lips touch mine, he’s fully shifted, and my arms go around his neck, pulling his bare body as close to mine as possible.

“I’m starting to worry I can’t get enough of you,” he murmurs against my lips, which of course makes me smile.

Forcing myself to move away before we lose control, I take inventory of him to make sure I haven’t done any true damage. The marks on his shoulders and neck have healed throughout the night, but the one on his hip is still fresh, since I fed off it just an hour ago.

“I didn’t take too much, did I?” I ask, suddenly feeling a little worried.

“Not even close,” he says before pulling me back to him. “One pack of blood, and I won’t even know anything is missing. Besides, I took some from you, too. And damn you taste good. I’m starting to wonder if I can live off you, because I shouldn’t have healed so easily otherwise. You’re a fireball in the sack. Or in the pine straw, rather.”