Perfect Dark
Genre: Urban Fantasy
The Company of Wolves: Book One
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Eleonora Carthy wanted a normal life—a human life—but in a world where it's kill or be killed, she never had the luxury. As a hybrid, born of a human mother and werewolf father, she fled the pack that claimed her when she was a young woman. Now she can no longer hide, thrust into the spotlight after she shifted in front of humans to save a child. Facing the werewolves she abandoned will be difficult, but that's not the confrontation she's worried about. Returning home means she has to make amends with the man who declared her as his mate long ago, the sexy and powerful alpha Noah Cameron.
And that's not all.
Much has changed in supernatural communities. The Watchers of the Moon want werewolves eradicated. Things aren't much better for vampires, as The Coalition of the Sun wants them to stay dead for good. When she returns to her position at the Preternatural Bureau of Investigation, taking a case involving a werewolf that almost killed his family, she comes face-to-face with all she'd hoped to leave behind. A world where all sorts of things go bump in the night, have sharp teeth and deadly hungers, and one mistake could easily be the last.
Welcome to the company of wolves.
EXCERPT
A loud growl rent the air and didn’t stop, echoing from inside the confines of the dimly lit corridor. The throaty hum got louder even though I moved away. Noah mirrored my motions, keeping his body in front of me, providing me protection from the danger that was about to reveal itself.
"Brace yourself, grá," Noah said, reverting to the endearment that I had always adored. I didn’t have time to dwell on it, however. Forced to concentrate on more important matters as he fully opened the connection between us. This time he used our bond and strength to reach out to the beast that appeared between the columns of the hallway.
Trapped in the form of a man and a wolf—the penis dangling between its legs clearly indicated the sex of what we were dealing with—the wolf-man was spattered from head to toe with fresh and dried blood. The source of some of the bleeding came from numerous cuts and scrapes along his body and hands. Several of his fingers were bent at odd angles, indicating the bones were broken in more than one place. The wolf-man was so far gone, he was beyond reacting to pain.
Noah’s wolf was a powerful thing, so strong I had to bend my knees to maintain proper balance when it demanded control and sent his presence through the house. I clenched my teeth and instructed my feral half to support him in whatever manner he chose. His influence surrounded us, encasing us, until there was no denying where control and authority existed and from whom it came.
"Heed me." Noah’s voice was no longer his own.
I’d only heard the verbalization of his wolf twice—when my arm was accidentally broken by Mark in a game of football that became too rough, and when I informed Noah I was leaving to care for my ailing mother—and just as before, the sound sent a tendril of fear and awareness up my spine.
The wolf-man snarled through his long, lethal teeth, trying to formulate words. Saliva dripped from his jaws as he raised his clawed hands, his eyes glowing a bright, eerie yellow. Up close, I was able to scent something odd oozing from his skin, something citrusy that I couldn’t place.
"Get control of yourself," Noah commanded. "Shift back."
The absolute power and strength in the order sent me staggering back a couple of feet. A loud, gut-wrenching howl came from the beast as he fell forward, keeping his balance on hands and knees. He started changing to his human form, his hair drawing back into his flesh to slowly reveal flashes of skin. The distinct sound of an object falling in the distance obliterated the silence and, for a moment, caught Noah’s attention. The wolf-man leapt to his feet when the focus on him was broken, turned back into the hallway, and tore a path in the direction of the interruption.
"Damn it," Noah snarled and followed.
A shrill scream and a loud slam indicated a door had been shut, and not a moment too soon. As Noah swept into the hallway and I followed, we watched as the wolf-man launched himself at the door and slashed at it with his claws. The wood was almost entirely obliterated, and I could see a large dresser had been pushed in front of it on the opposite side.
"God, no!" A woman cried out, and I glimpsed her through a splice in the door. She was leaning against the dresser, using all her strength, attempting to keep it in place. Her face was red from the effort, and she had a bruise forming on the side of her face. "Get back kids! Stay back!" she screamed at her children who were also partially visible, their huddled forms pressed together against a far wall.
Noah reacted without hesitation, holstering his gun in the same motion he made a sweep for the wolf-man. He wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, placing his free hand around his head, and placed him in a choke hold. When the man spun around, I saw Noah’s face. His eyes were no longer their normal dark blue shade. The irises had become a vivid and bright golden-silver. The hands holding the wolf-man were now clawed, and Noah's canines were visible through his parted lips. The man continued fighting even as Noah deprived him of oxygen. The wolf-man's orange gaze flickered upward, until his focus was entirely on me.
"Oh shit," I whispered and took a step back.
He came at me like a freight train, teeth bared and arms extended, despite the two-hundred pound man against his back. There wasn’t time to hesitate. It was me or him. I balanced the gun with both hands, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. There was no recoil, the barrel remaining nice and steady due to the design of the weapon. I remained as I was as the silver bullet traveled the short distance, vanished in the left side of the wolf-man’s chest, and stopped him just feet from me.
It was a kill shot, straight to the heart.
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