A Justified Kill by Marylynn Bast Read Free Book Online Page B

into and crash for a couple hours. Lack of sleep caused her to be extremely cranky, and with her wolf constantly pushing at her sense s non-stop didn’t help the matter one bit . She was ready to shift and rid herself of the frustration building in her body and the out of control feelings in her mind.
    Completely ignoring Catherine who had continued talking, she left the kitchen area and entered the bar , looking around . She didn’t smell him, nor did she see Gerald in the corner where his other buddies already sat. The bar was full of people, in her frame of mind she just needed to get to work, so she brushed past the annoying little woman who had for some reason moved to stand in front of her again . Ignoring her questions, Amber began her rounds through the bar . Greeting the locals with a pasted on friendly smile , she took their drink orders while talking the small talk that was expected of her. Then there was a sudden mental nudge and the hairs on her arms raised on end, the tingling sensation ended at the base of her neck where those hairs stood straight up . He was t here . She could smell his stench and fe l t he rself turning to stare in Gerald’s direction , watching him saunter into the bar.
    Gerald’s face was a swollen mess. He looked like he had been on the losing end of a boxing match. The round house kick she had planted on his face had left an ugly black and blue bruise that ran the length of his cheek to his jaw . The broken nose he sported was the result of Hanna’s last kick. The sickening sound of shatter ing cartilage had resonated through the campsite. His blood had spl ashed across his face and dripped onto the ground before she ’d pulled Hanna away. A satisfied grin slipped across her lips at knowing he had to be in pain, the hand clasping his side where Hanna had lan ded a few good kicks was proof of that.
                  Even knowing he was in pain, i t irritated her to watch Gerald try to swagger towards his friends in the corner . Listening in tently to his response when she heard them asking who had jumped him .
    “You should see the other guy , ” Gerald boasted falsely , he gingerly straddled the chair while they all laughed with him at his response.
    One of the men lifted his hand. For Amber, it was suddenly like everything was in slow motion. C atching her eye, he motioned, beckoning for her to come to their table. It felt like time had slowed down . Even the sounds of the bar had become a low murmur . She had to blink a couple times before things returned to normal. Now what the hell had just happened ? She couldn’ t stop the frown that spread across her brow. Unfortunately their table was in her section that night and she reluctantly headed towards the corner.
    The prodding was insistent in her mind and she wondered if this was what her mother had talked about . She ’d told her that her wolf would always be with her and would guide her. Her body felt like it was moving on its own accord . Be fore she realized it, she stood staring down at Gerald . It took everything she had to fight the urge to bare her teeth , to keep from lean ing towards him and wrap ping her hands around his throat. S he felt the vibrations of a low growl begin in her throat and forced herself to straighten, to move away from him . No one appeared to notice the sound because the bar was so noisy . S hifting her eyes so she was looking at the tabl e instead of them prevented anyone f rom seeing that her eyes were the swirling mix of chocolate and yellow specks. Deep down, she knew without a doubt her change was definitely upon her and the next night , w hen the full moon was high, her wolf would finally emerge. An evil smile slid across her lips when she quickly glanced back at Gerald, who was eyeing her.
     
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    After making it through a n agonizing , extremely long night at work , Amber fell into bed , ex haus ted but anxious for the next evening to come , when she would finally make