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D aniel had sidestepped a split second before Sarah pulled the trigger, but her reflexes were excellent and she caught him in the shoulder. He screamed as he lunged to attack her. She dropped the rifle and was pulling out her handgun as Devon shifted.

He sprang at Daniel, swiping him across his mangled chest, expecting Daniel to shift.

When he seemed to struggle, shaking his fists and howling, Devon realized he couldn’t.

Daniel was completely insane and no longer in control of his actions.

Devon had no choice. He jumped on Daniel, sinking his teeth into the diseased man’s neck.

He felt Daniel struggle. His broken body, lacking its former strength, suffocated quickly under Devon’s superior strength. He released his grip when the body beneath him went still. Blood dripped from his exposed teeth, as he turned to his mate.

Sarah’s face showed horror as she pointed the gun at Devon’s head. “Stay back.” She noticed his two brothers, Luca and Liam cautiously emerge from the trees and stand beside Hunter. She had positioned herself where she could easily shoot any of the Cascade siblings.

Hunter put his hands up slowly, signaling Luca and Liam to do the same. “Sarah, we won’t hurt you?”

Sarah’s gun wavered slightly. “What are you?”

“We’re cougar shifters. Part man. Part cat. Put the gun down. You won’t be able to kill us despite your reputation.” Hunter sounded exasperated as he lowered his hands. He was undoubtedly trying to figure out what he was going to do about Sarah.

Sarah glanced at Devon. He had sat down on his haunches to appear calm. It was a facade. He could feel her fear beating him despite her seemingly calm demeanor. If she ran, he’d be hunting his own mate.

Sarah motioned her gun toward Daniel’s corpse. “And that is some kind of disease that affects your species.”

Hunter’s face hardened. “No, we’re immune to disease, that’s the result of some asshole experimenting on our species like lab rats.”

Sarah was noticeably shocked. “Others know about you. Your species?”

“Apparently.”

“Regardless of who or what you are, Devon killed him. I’m taking you all to the station until we sort this out.” She kept the gun leveled on Hunter.

“No Sarah, you’re not,” Hunter said.

“I will call for reinforcements.”

“The moment you move a finger towards that radio Devon will be on you.”

She swung the weapon back to Devon. “You wouldn’t,” she said.

Devon didn’t flinch.

Luca moved closer to take a better look at Daniel’s body. “He’s in way worse shape than Cyril.”

Sarah snapped her attention to Luca. “Is Cyril one of those things?” Her heart was pounding, it was all she could do to remember her training. It never covered anything like this. How am I going to get out of this?

Hunter moved a step closer. “You know Cyril?”

She held the gun steady. “What’s Cyril’s connection to you?”

“He’s our cousin. He was experimented on and set loose. He’s still in rough shape. How do you know him, Sarah?”

“He attacked me, but I took him down, arrested him. He was released the next day due to his mental state and returned to the facility he escaped from.”

“Who took him after he was arrested?” Hunter said.

“His family came for him.”

“Sarah, Cyril’s family hadn’t had any contact with him for years. He wasn’t in a mental facility he was abducted. Where were you attacked?”

“No, I’m not playing this game with you.”

Devon felt her unease surge.

Hunter’s voice was a whip. “This is no game. This is my family and some fucker’s trying to rip it apart.

” His eyes glowed amber. He noticed Sarah’s hesitation.

Sensed her indecision and anticipated her next move.

It was the reason he hadn’t resumed human form.

Now that she knew her gun was useless, she bolted into the trees.

Devon motioned his brothers to stay then bounded after her. He could easily have jumped on her to bring her down, but he didn’t want to frighten her further. He darted around her from the side. She almost ran into him when he appeared in front of her. She skidded to a stop.

“Devon if you can still hear me...”

He shifted. “Sarah, I need you to calm down and stop running long enough for me to talk to you.” He relaxed his naked body.

She held the gun in both hands, angling to the ground. “Calm down. Are you kidding, you’re a fricking animal!”

Devon’s voice remained calm. “I’m a shifter, part cougar and part man. We have the attributes of both, but we are our own species.” Her steady glare denied the confusion he felt emanating from her.

“Why doesn’t anyone know about you?” she asked.

“We are cautious. Only our human mates are privy to what we are?”

“You mate with human women? There are no female shifters?”

“When we find our mate, we bite them, starting the transformation. They become shifters.”

“Since I’m not a mate, I assume I’m not supposed to know your little secret.” She said carefully.

“You are someone’s mate, Sarah. You’re mine.”

Sarah struggled to remain in control. Her voice stayed calm due to her training. “I’m not your mate Devon and you didn’t bite me.” She needed to get away from him. Time to think.

“No, I didn’t, but Cyril did. Didn’t he?”

Sarah’s voice wavered. “What does his attack have to do with this?”

“He was experimented on. He went insane. Started to rot like Daniel. We caught him, but he admitted to biting several women while looking for his mate,” he said sadly.

She raised the gun “So you bite women until one of them starts to transform. That’s sick.” She felt sick. She had feelings for Devon. She may not understand them, but the betrayal felt real.

Devon regained his composure. “No. We instinctively recognize our mates. We court them in your world and get consent before bringing them into ours. Cyril was insane due to the things that were done to him. This has never happened before.”

“What exactly is this?” She forced back the feeling of impending doom.

“Talen was tasked with tracking Cyril after he failed to return to the lair as planned. He caught him attacking Lucy. He saved her, but Cyril had already bitten her neck. Lucy is Talen’s mate.

She started to change even though Talen hadn’t bitten her himself.

We assume that, since we all carry the same enzyme in our teeth, if a woman is bitten and her mate is close, she will start the change. ”

“That’s quite a theory.”

“Is it? When did Cyril bite you? and where? because it isn’t on your neck.”

“How do you know I’m changing?”

“You’re not changing as quickly as Lucy, but you’re showing some signs. Answer my question,” he said forcefully.

Sarah considered not answering, but she needed all the facts. “He bit my arm a year and a half ago. It barely drew blood.”

His stare was intense. “You didn’t show any signs or feel any different until today?”

“I don’t feel any different because I’m not changing.”

“You ran like a rabbit back there. Your ankle should be throbbing in pain. It isn’t, is it?”

Sarah had forgotten about her ankle. “I heal fast,” she said bitterly.

“You could barely walk on it a few hours ago,” Devon said. “You don’t heal that fast.”

Sarah swallowed. He couldn’t be right. Yet despite her fear she acknowledged that running through the forest appealed to her.

She also knew if Devon was right her father would be the first person to hunt her down.

The other things he would do would be worse.

She couldn’t expose Devon to Brian Marksmen.

The world believed he was a merciless hunter.

They had no idea how sadistic he truly was.

She forced steel into her voice. “I’m not your mate Devon. I can’t be.”

He moved a step towards her. In spite of her fear, she noticed how perfect his body was.

The firm muscles that flexed beneath his skin.

Her gaze involuntarily moved between his legs.

His flaccid cock began to harden under her hungry eyes.

She turned away as a feeling of warmth infused her body.

It was the same feeling she’d had back at the lodge, but she’d chalked that up to the situation. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“Sarah. You’re going to change. It may not be quick, but you need to know what is going to happen. Let me help you.” He sounded so reasonable as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on her entire life.

She lowered her gun. She needed more information before she could make a rational decision about her next move. “I’ll allow you to tell me about your species, but I’m not agreeing to anything. Are we clear?”

A vein pulsed in Devon’s jaw. “We’re clear.”

“Let’s go back to the Lodge. I’m not standing in the woods all afternoon with a naked man.”

“Since you chose to run towards it instead of the Lodge, my house is only a mile away. I recommend we go there first.”

Sarah hadn’t realized she’d run the wrong way. She had an excellent sense of direction. She never got lost not even as a child. It was a rare mistake. “It makes sense to go there and grab clothing for you first.” Really, what else could she say?

Devon smiled. She sensed his victory as strange as the sensation was. It pissed her off. “I wouldn’t get too overconfident if I were you.”

Devon didn’t hide his smirk. “Why?”

“I may still shoot you.”

* * *

Devon was relieved to take Sarah home even though he was pissed off that Cyril had bitten her.

He saw flashes of his cougar attacking Cyril.

He had to remind his beast that his demoralized cousin was a victim.

That whoever experimented on him was the true aggressor.

His cat grumpily agreed, but only so it could concentrate on securing its mate.

It wanted Devon to bite her. To speed up the transformation. It saw no reason to wait.

Although Devon struggled knowing Cyril’s bite was on his mate. He needed more information about the attack.