Lycan Unleashed by Tiffany Allee Page A

back. I’d whipped my head around to stare at him. His eyes had reflected the moonlight that bounced up off the snow in a way only a lycan’s could and he’d closed the gap between us without a word.
    Then he had kissed me.
    I’d lost a bit of myself in that kiss. Maybe Mason had too.

    I closed my eyes and tried to relax, firmly banishing thoughts of him from my mind. My hand slid down Charlie’s fur, and the cat leaned against me. I could feel vampiric energy faintly, like seeing a flash in my peripheral vision. For a moment, I thought I’d fallen into a dream. But as Charlie purred loudly my eyes flew open.
    A soft scratching sound touched my ears faintly. My stomach dropped. Someone picking the lock?
    I hadn’t dreamed the vampiric energy; it was still there, on the edge of my ability to feel it. The slightest smell of burnt coffee, and shadows lurking just beyond where I could see them. If I stayed put a few more seconds, let them get closer, I might be able to determine who the vampire was. If it was one I’d met before. But if whoever was scratching at my lock got through my door, once they got in they’d be too fast for me to escape. I wouldn’t have enough time to get away.
    And like a prize idiot, I’d left my gun downstairs in my car.
    Charlie jumped off the bed and pattered down the hall. I opened my mouth to hiss at him to come back, but snapped it shut before a sound could escape.
    A vampire would hear such a sound. Maybe. I couldn’t chance it. Charlie wasn’t one to obey orders regardless. And if I pursued him, I would undoubtedly be caught. Charlie would probably be fine. My intruder wouldn’t be interested in a pet. I would not be so lucky.
    Blinking back tears at the thought of them hurting Charlie, I gave the room one last desperate glance before I opened the sliding glass door that led to my balcony.
    Stay hidden , I told the cat silently.
    The cold air bit into my skin, which was protected only by a T-shirt and cotton shorts. The door slid quietly behind me, and I heard the click of my front door opening a split second before the sliding glass moved into place.
    The first two feet of the balcony from the house were free of most of the snow piling the last foot or so, protected by a short awning in the roof. Wincing, I walked barefoot into the crisply-edged snow and stepped over the balcony. The edge was only a couple of inches between the banister and the gaping darkness to my backyard below. My toes were on fire, and I knew I’d have only minutes before they would numb. I held onto the top of the balcony with one hand and then bent down and gripped the bottom of the railing with the other. I slid my hand from the top down to grip the railing next to my other hand.
    Freezing air rushed into my lungs when I took a deep breath. Was the vampire getting closer? I didn’t dare drop my concentration from what I was doing to feel out with my senses. Had he or she seen me yet? I didn’t risk a glance at the sliding glass door. Instead, I slid one foot, then the next off the railing, wincing as the wood scraped at my legs and arms. Dangling, I knew I was likely to hurt myself—even dropping from only the second story while already hanging several feet closer to the ground. But I didn’t have a choice.
    I released the railing and fire bit at my inner arms as they slid against the wood. I hit the ground, crunching the snow beneath my feet. Shock rushed up through my ankles and knees. Then I slid, my feet rushed out from under me and I fell to my butt with a whump .
    Coldness surrounded me. Panic coursed through me. Had I cried out when I hit the ground? I thought I might have. The walls in my townhouse were thick, and with the doors shut and the noise of a train passing, I hoped the vampire hadn’t heard me.
    I forced myself up, thankful that the bit of snow on the ground had at least cushioned me a little, and rushed to the fence. Nothing seemed broken, and while I could feel a slight ache from