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She swallowed, her breath coming hard and fast, her heart pounding. Gritting her teeth, she glared defiantly at him, hoping her fear didn’t show.

He grinned again. “You think you can fight this, but in the end, you’ll do what we want because you’ll be one of us.” He took a step closer. “I’d like to tell you this won’t hurt, but—” He shrugged.

It came to her then, what he planned to do. His eyes changed, until they glowed amber in a face that was blurring, losing its definition. She gasped but couldn’t look away.

This was no painful transition; instead, his body flowed into his new form until he stood before her, half-beast, half-man. He flung back his head and roared.

Regan fought then. She couldn’t help herself. She struggled, writhing and twisting until she could fight no more, and she hung, limp and exhausted, only held upright by the hands that still gripped her shoulders. Ethan stood before her. She searched for some faint glint of humanity but could find none.

A beast stared back.

His hands were covered in a coarse fur and ended in vicious claws. Reaching out, he pushed her jacket from her shoulders, clasped a clawed hand in the front of her shirt and ripped it open. A low growl trickled from his mouth as he looked at her breasts.

Regan focused over his shoulder, forcing her brain to go blank. She had no choice. This was going to happen, and she tried to make her mind go to another place.

One claw scraped across her breast. The pain brought her back, and she glanced down. A trail of crimson welled up, stark against her pale skin. She clamped her mouth closed to prevent the whimper escaping as he leaned closer. The fetid stink of his breath filled her nostrils before he lowered his head and licked the line of blood from her breast.

For a moment, he peered up into her eyes, and through the pain, she saw there was a flicker of humanity there after all. Then it was gone. His lips drew back, revealing razor-sharp incisors, and he lunged forward, his teeth tearing into the soft flesh where her shoulder met her neck.

Red-hot agony wrenched through her. She opened her mouth and screamed, could still hear her own screams as the darkness took her.