Page 42 of Brody

My skull cracked against the asphalt.

Stars exploded.

Pain like lightning.

I tried to rise, but my body betrayed me.

Through blurred vision, I saw Brody freeze mid-stride, his entire body going rigid.

“No,” he growled, the word barely recognizable as human.

His hands clutched at his head, fingers digging into his scalp hard enough to draw blood.His body bent double, as if fighting something inside himself.

“Not now,” he gasped, his voice dropping to a register I’d never heard before, not quite human, not quite wolf.The sound raised the fine hairs on my neck.

When he straightened, his eyes weren’t his anymore.They blazed blood-red.His features contorted in agony as bones cracked and reshaped themselves.

This wasn’t control; this was a shifter with his animal in the driver’s seat and no trace of human rationality or strategy.This was primal and savage.

The realization hit me with a physical force.He wasn’t just helping other unmated males with pre-feral symptoms.He was one of them.The wolf who’d walked away from me was now fighting to keep that same wolf from consuming him entirely.

His body twisted violently as his clothes shredded.Black fur burst through the skin.His face stretched with sickening pops, teeth growing into flesh-tearing fangs.

A massive wolf now stood in Brody’s place, larger than any natural wolf.Muscles coiled with deadly power, hackles raised.Saliva dripped from bone-crushing jaws.

But those eyes shone blood-red and savage.No trace of the man I knew.

The vulture-shifter who’d attacked me stumbled backward.“What the hell.”

Wolf-Brody launched himself, a blur of predatory intent.His jaws clamped around the man’s throat with a wet, final sound.Crimson sprayed beneath the streetlights.The second attacker turned to flee, feathers erupting along his arms, but he wasn’t fast enough.

It was over in seconds.Two bodies lay motionless on the street, the concrete stained dark with spreading pools of blood.

Blood dripped from his muzzle as Wolf-Brody turned slowly toward me.

Just the predatory assessment of a wolf deciding whether I was prey.

Time seemed to freeze.The copper scent of blood filled the night air between us.

My heart slammed against my ribs, fear flooding my system.

This wasn’t Brody, just pure animal instinct.

“Thornbern,” I whispered, voice trembling.“It’s me.”

He stalked toward me, bloodstained saliva dripping from his jaws as my cheetah stirred, uncertain whether to submit or flee.

“I know you’re still in there,” I continued, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the terror coursing through me.“The man is stronger than the beast.You’ve always been stronger.”

I pushed myself to my knees, ignoring the way the world tilted around me.Blood from my split lip dripped onto the pavement between us.His massive head lowered, nostrils flaring as he scented me.

“Come back to me,” I whispered, hand trembling.“Please.”

He growled, the sound vibrating through my bones.I held my breath.

Seconds stretched.My arm shook with effort.

Then something shifted in those blood-red eyes.A flicker of recognition, almost too quick to catch.