The Blood Bundle, Books 1-2: Blood Singers and Blood Song (New Adult Paranormal Vampire/Shifter Romance) by Tamara Rose Blodgett Page B

warning:
    Be vigilant. Be aware. They may already be
in the area, having scented her hours before themselves.
    Werewolves.
    *
     
    Julia's eyes rolled wildly beneath lids that
were clenched in horror.
    Watching what had happened that fated evening as
a movie before her.
    Julia watched.
    Her subconscious replay unrolling, unbidden and
uninvited.
     
    The werewolf came into full view, not in a
crouch, but as a half-man, half-wolf creature, only partially
changed. His advantage as a soldier of the Were was his form. He
and the other soldiers of his race were aptly suited for the
acquisition of Rare Ones. To do so, he would need to subdue the
others. His keen sight, albeit in shades of gray to the deepest
ebony, assisted him in his forward motion.
    Immediately he allowed his senses to take in the
threats. His night vision acclimated automatically, dismissing the
glow of the fire, compensating in the orbital network that was
unique to his kind. His nostrils flared, bringing the myriad of
scents necessary for successful acquisition.
    If he had been in human form he would have
laughed. One of the males, who if he had been coupled with his
comrade that stood beside the target, might have posed a problem.
But he lay prone beneath a human female. A female clearly in heat,
he scented.
    He would dispatch him first, then move on to the
primary target. The mate of the Rare One.
    This assessment took mere seconds.
     
    To Julia, from his appearance to his attack, it
seemed to take hours.
    As if in slow motion, the creature leaped
forward in one long stride. The muscles underneath the dove gray
fur were a ripple of sinew and tendon, perfectly synchronized.
    Uniquely suited for harm and brutality.
    Cynthia screamed when she saw the muzzle of a
creature her mind could not name. Yellow eyes blazed out of its
face as it flew through the air, body seemingly suspended. She
tried to scramble off of Kevin but he was already reacting, pushing
her away. It was his movement that kept the head she possessed on
her shoulders.
    Kevin was buried underneath a monster. A thing
of legend come to life, the heat of the fire at his back. He tried
to roll the creature off of him, using the thing's momentum against
it but it was steel and fur, Kevin pinned underneath it.
    In a moment of sickening clarity, Kevin realized
that Cyn could be killed.
    It was the last thought he ever had as his head
was severed from the column of his neck, blood spouting out in a
spray that splattered Cynthia, who lay on the sand behind him. She
closed her eyes as the warm droplets of copper struck her in a wet
splash. When she opened her eyes, her lashes felt gummy from the
blood and she knew she would be sick even as she heard Jules
screaming for her in the background.
    Then Jason was there. He rammed the twisted
metal rod they used for marshmallow roasting into the creature's
side and it reared back from Kevin's body with a howl, backhanding
Jason like he was as substantial as a feather.
    Jason grunted as he landed on the sand six feet
or so behind the creature. Then the werewolf was on him and he had
just enough time to shout, “Julia, run!” before he felt talons like
razor blades encircle his neck, squeezing.
    Julia felt her bladder clench even as she ran to
Jason's side, ignoring his directive.
    Her husband.
    The thing with fur, standing over seven feet
tall on its hind legs, had a hand that was half paw, and all
talons, surrounding the delicate flesh of Jason's neck. His other
hand raised in a high arc, readying to deliver the killing blow,
claws like spears poised.
    “No!” Julia screamed.
    Its eyes shifted to hers as she ran to Jason. It
seemed to pause.
    Then the hand swept down, the nails like knives
glinting in the dying light of the fire.
    In a blur of light gray, something barreled into
the werewolf.
    But not before a second mouth of gore opened in
Jason's throat. Blood welling and falling as his neck was opened in
a deep slash of crimson.
    The main artery compromised,