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Marinah

I ignored the tangy smell of blood trickling down my face as I continued my mad dash through the darkness. A sharp, prickly branch sliced my other cheek. I winced internally as the sting of salty sweat hit the bloody scrapes and scratches that now covered most of my face and neck. Sweat also trailed between the rough, inch-long hairs covering my body, leaving a distinct scent trail behind me. There was nothing I could do about it. I’d done a decent job of keeping my breathing even, allowing my sensitive ears to pick up the slightest noise and alert me to danger. As I ran, I planned. My next course of action became clear when I spotted the perfect place to hunker down and wait.

“Danger.” Ms. Beast whispered inside my head.

“Too close,” I snarled back. “Damn him.”

“Kill.” Her whisper sent shivers through my entire body, and I grinned, displaying six-inch fangs, while I changed direction slightly to avoid a small open area. I slowed and headed for a thicker crop of trees and brush. Sniffing the air with my elongated snout, I detected nothing out of the ordinary. But I wasn’t being pursued by someone ordinary, and there was no way I’d let my guard down.

“Plenty of smells, but not the ones I’m trying to differentiate,” I told Ms. Beast.

“Danger.”

“Of course there’s danger; that’s why I’m here.” I melted into the brush, slowing my breathing even further until it became indistinguishable from the sounds of the night. My knife rested in my wicked claws, ready for an attack. At least, I felt ready.

The wait seemed interminable, and restlessness crept in just as he struck. The force of the large body slamming into me hurled me into the air, and I landed on my back. Hard. I scrambled to my feet, falling into a defensive stance despite the absence of air in my lungs. My will to live burned brighter than my immediate need for oxygen.

He was fast. I had to give him that. The moment my body hit the earth, he was on the move, ready to end my relatively young life. His kick caught my wrist, and the knife flew from my grip. Damn claws. No matter how many hours I trained, I still had trouble compensating and maintaining the correct hold. Not good. My mistake wouldn’t help me now.

I adjusted my position, and my next kick struck him hard in the upper thigh, hard enough to crack bone. It didn’t stop him. His fist slammed into the side of my head above my left ear, and stars burst in front of my eyes. I barely managed to block the next jab, and this time I drove my claws into his side, aiming for a vital organ. My claws sliced through flesh and muscle, and a deep, guttural grunt escaped his throat.

“Hurt, didn’t it?” I said with glee.

But I celebrated too early. The fist plowing into my shoulder reminded me why small victories meant nothing. I shifted my stance, pivoted, and swept both his legs out from under him. His grunt was louder this time, and the satisfying thud of his body hitting the ground matched the moment I regained the ability to breathe. A blessed rush of air filled my lungs.

What I didn’t expect was the attack from behind. Why wouldn’t I expect it, you might ask? I had thought I was being hunted by one person. This was the punishment for my error in judgment.

The new attacker’s first blow was a wicked kidney punch that doubled me over. Even as I struggled to catch my breath, I spun away from the monster on the ground to face the new threat. He barreled toward me with the force of a raging bull, almost five hundred pounds of packed muscle, claws, and teeth. My only defense was to go with the momentum as our bodies collided. Unfortunately, I ended up on the bottom.

His arms and legs wrapped around mine, pinning me in place, but I wasn’t done. I evaded his snapping jaws, lifted my hips, and brought my powerful legs up to capture him around the shoulders. With every ounce of strength I had, I thrust my body into a side roll. His grip didn’t break until I drove my claws deep into the muscle of his arm.

I was free. The faint crunch of crisp leaves had me spinning while delivering a roundhouse kick aimed at my first assailant’s head. My foot connected with his jaw, and his massive snout tried to shake off the impact.

A punishing kick to my hip sent me spinning again. Somehow, I spotted the knife I had dropped earlier and grabbed it. With all the force I could muster, I drove it into the second attacker’s thigh, sending him crashing to the ground.

Then I froze. Cold steel pressed against my throat.

“Move, I dare you,” the monster whispered in my ear.

“You sent Beck to even your odds. That’s cheating,” I whined, trying to keep my voice steady.

The steel didn’t ease its hard press against my skin. “You’re getting too full of yourself and keep making stupid mistakes,” he growled.

“Give her a break, King,” Beck groaned from where he lay, five feet away.

A stream of blood trickled down my neck, courtesy of King’s knife. Without a sound or betraying my intentions, my hand shot up with shocking speed, forcing my fingers between the blade and my throat. Sacrificing those digits, I rolled again, pushing the knife away while striking with the blade still clenched in my good hand. King let out a sharp grunt, the big baby, and the sound was music to my ears. Using my foot, I kicked his knife away after he dropped it, though my fingers and claws dangled by a thread from my injured hand.

I backed up, keeping both men in my line of sight.

“ Kill ,” Ms. Beast whispered.

“ Oh, shut up ,” I snapped silently.

Beck groaned loudly. “I don’t know about you, King, but I’m tapping out. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to your courting frenzy and get some gentle mothering from my woman.”

“Tap, tap,” King grumbled.

I lowered the knife and let a wicked grin stretch across my face, my jaws inching up and out at the corners to give a full display of teeth. It was the kind of smile that would make most people piss their pants.

“I’m improving,” I said proudly.

Beck laughed, a sound that had become more frequent lately. “Yeah, you can kick all our asses, while teaching us a thing or two. That stab to my thigh came close to guaranteeing I never father children or keep Missy satisfied.”

I covered one ear with my good hand, keeping my claws in check so I didn’t poke out an eyeball. I did not want to hear about Beck satisfying Missy again. It was simply too much. He got the hint and snapped his jaws closed.

King stood, holding the slice I’d opened on his hip together as best he could with his own clawed hands. He turned to Beck. “If there were ten of you, that woman would still never be satisfied. Add the Hellspawn, and you’ve got monsters worse than hellhounds.”

I shot King a glare and shook my head in exasperation. “Don’t call Ruth ‘Hellspawn.’ She only lives up to the name when you do. We need to figure out how to unplug that child’s monster.” I raised my mangled hand, showing King my shredded fingers. “I think they’re still attached enough to sew back on, but thankfully Axel is away right now. He’s still mad at me for the last time I needed his help.”

King wrapped his bloody arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “I’ll treat you like a tiger with a hangnail,” he said with a smirk.

I rubbed my jaws against his, sinking into the delicious warmth of his body. “You always know exactly what to say to a girl.” King’s claws lightly scraped across the leather straps at my chest, sending a tremble through me that I refused to acknowledge.

“I’m out of here,” Beck muttered, disappearing into the night.

“How bad are those fingers?” King asked huskily.

“Bad,” I admitted.

“Figures,” he whispered.

“I’ll be as good as new in a few hours.” I flicked a glob of mud from my face. “And cleaner too.”

“How did Ms. Beast handle the double attack?” His hold on me tightened as he searched my eyes, looking for a glimpse of my lunatic Warrior side.

I blinked slowly, letting him see just a piece of her in my eyes. “She still insists I kill you. Though, this time, she wanted Beck’s blood too.”

He laughed, a deep sound that rumbled through his chest. King argued with his beast side constantly, so he understood the duality I faced. Our beasts were relentless, their solution to any fight being death to the opponent. Ms. Beast complicated things further by sometimes directing her bloodlust toward my mate. I didn’t truly think she would kill him, but she loved the chase more than anything.

“What about the mating frenzy and Beck attacking me?” I asked.

Normally, the men were careful not to get close enough for accidental contact. The last thing they wanted was King tearing them apart.

His expression darkened, his jaws tightening into a frown. “I’ll avoid Beck for the rest of the day so I don’t end up killing him.”

“You do that.”

King took my mangled hand in his massive paw, examining it with a careful precision that belied his size. “You’ll heal, but stitches will help it go faster, and that way, we can do this again tomorrow night.”

I inhaled deeply, letting his scent fill my lungs. It was the scent of the man who held my heart. “You love the hunt as much as Ms. Beast.”

He tipped my head back, his gaze piercing mine. “I love hunting you.”

“Wicked man,” I murmured.

“Would you have it any other way?” he asked with a devilish grin.

“Never.”