Charming the Beast (Purgatory 3)

I will kill them all.

His bones were popping. Fur burst along his arms. His hands slammed onto the floor—but, they were changing, too. He had paws. His spine reshaped, he transformed—

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The wolves around him fell back and the scent of burning flesh and silver filled the air.

“Shit, he’s shifting!” That was Duncan’s voice. And when he looked up, he saw Duncan in that doorway, right beside Eric. Both men held guns in each of their hands, and they were firing, again and again.

The wolves weren’t stopping though. One jumped onto Eric and took the man down. They crashed onto the floor.

Two more lunged at Duncan. He shot one and the other attacked with his mouth open. “I don’t think so,” Duncan muttered. “Been there, done that bite shit before.” He kicked out and the werewolf flew back against the wall.

Destroy. Kill. Connor’s thoughts were becoming more primal as he shifted. Chloe was on the floor, her eyes closed, her body chillingly still. It shouldn’t have been that way for her. He’d promised to protect her.

Grief tore through him and pumped up his rage and hate to killing levels. All control was gone. It was—

Her eyes opened.

The world stopped for him right then. Chloe’s stare met his. Her eyes were so big, so blue, so alive.

He knew she’d been dead just seconds before. But Chloe was rising, pushing herself up. Her hair slid over her cheek as she slowly turned her head. Her neck popped a bit, as if the bones had slid back into place.

She came back to me!

His wolf howled.

“What the f**k?” Keegan shouted. “How in the hell are you still alive?”

Kill. Connor flew at the man. He took him down, slamming Keegan onto the floor. He went in ready to rip the guy’s throat right out, but Keegan threw him off and jumped right back to his feet.

“Fool!” Keegan glared at him. “You think you’re the only one who can drink vamp blood and become something more?” He flashed fangs. “Yeah, I know what you are. I realized it the other night. Now let’s see which alpha is stronger.”

“C-Connor?”

His head whipped to the right. Chloe was on her feet. She looked lost, confused. She rubbed her neck and glanced around the chaos in Eclipse. The scene was filled with fighting wolves and blood. “Connor!”

He realized that she didn’t know he was a wolf. She was searching for him, moving so slowly and seeming confused by everything around her. Everything and everyone.

Because she was dead before.

“This is interesting,” Keegan said. “Maybe there are more surprises from my Chloe.” His eyes glinted. “I just have to make sure I kill the bastard who mated her first.” He moved in a blur, running right for Connor and he swiped his razor sharp claws along Connor’s back.

Connor was distracted—still looking at Chloe—and he turned back to Keegan too late.

The bastard laughed as he retreated. “First blood’s mine. Ready to see what a real alpha can do?”

But right then, another wolf slammed into Chloe. She screamed and then her arm flew out. Connor knew the wolf was going to bite her. Connor’s hind legs pushed down, and he surged across the room, focused only on getting to her.

But Chloe grabbed the wolf around the neck. “No.” Connor heard her soft voice so clearly.

Then she just tossed that wolf aside as if he weighed nothing. With one hand.

What?

More gunfire thundered and—

“Get her the hell out of here, Duncan!” That was Eric’s voice, barking a command.

Connor stood in front of Chloe.

She shuddered and looked down at him. Did she even know it was him? He needed to shift back to his human form, but if he did, he’d be vulnerable for attack.

Chloe looked at her hands, then at him. “What did I do?” She backed up, then focused on him again. “Connor?” She stared down at his wolf, and he knew right then that she saw him.

He pushed against her legs.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered. “Something is wrong. I-I don’t think…I can’t seem to control myself. I have this need…” Her whole body shook. “I want to kill.”

He was one hundred percent sure the woman had just risen from the dead. She was shaking and too pale and he wanted to get her back to Holly’s lab ASAP.

“Please help me,” Chloe begged.

He looked across the bar. Keegan had vanished. The other wolves were fleeing through the windows. Probably because Eric was shooting silver in a frenzy.

Connor let the fire of the shift sweep through him. Hot, consuming, and his bones began to reshape.

“Now I get to kill you…”

Keegan’s voice.

Connor’s head snapped up. Keegan was just steps away, but Connor hadn’t scented the bastard. He’d thought the guy had cut and run from Eclipse.

Now Keegan’s claws were coming right for his head.

Gunfire rang out. A blossom of red appeared on Keegan’s chest. He looked down… “Dammit!” Keegan shouted and he stumbled back.

Duncan, his gun still at the ready, rushed forward. “You don’t get to kill my brother, ass**le!”

Keegan scrambled away, moving fast for an injured bastard.

For just an instant, Connor remembered another time, another place. So long ago. Another attack with wolves and blood. He’d been a child, begging for his brother.

But his father had been there. That sick, twisted jerk had taken Connor away while he’d cried out for his brother

Duncan took up a protective stance in front of Connor. “Finish the shift, and let’s get out of here. Those wolves could be going for reinforcements.”

Connor’s back bowed as the final surge of the transition swept over him. When it ended—that hard, burning agony—his hands were slapped against the floor. He was na**d and back in human form.

He looked up. Chloe was staring at him. What did she see? The monster?

He rose to his feet.

Chloe wrapped her arms around him and held tight. Her whole body was trembling. “Something is wrong with me…” Chloe said again. “The fire…I can feel the fire everywhere.”

And she was hot to the touch. She’d been ice cold when she was on the floor. When she lay there, her neck twisted, a broken doll because of Keegan’s attack.

Connor lifted her into his arms. Eric ran out ahead and Duncan covered their backs while they left that bar.

Harris wasn’t out in the SUV. Connor knew that a back-up team had been waiting in the wings. Their mission had been to get Harris to safety.