ChoosingHisChristmasMiracle by Charlie Richards Read Free Book Online Page A

rush the side door he’d been assigned, Payson at his side, he prayed they weren’t making a mistake hurrying a mission along this way.
    Payson moved restlessly beside him. He glared at the shifter, not particularly pleased that he’d been paired with someone he didn’t know. Raul hoped it wouldn’t come back and bite him in the ass.
    Sadly, it did, almost the moment he walked through the door. Although, if Raul were to think about it later, he knew it wasn’t really anyone’s fault. These kinds of things just happened.
    Once they received the signal to head in, namely a text to everyone’s cell phones, Raul rushed forward, keeping just behind Payson. Payson used his shifter strength to yank the door open, snapping the lock. Three guards were striding down the hallway, talking amongst themselves about heading to the gym. Although they all only wore uniform trousers and white tank-tops, all carried guns strapped to their hips, and they were quick to use them.
    They pulled their firearms and started shooting, not even asking questions about Raul and Payson’s presence. Evidently, their door had been a guard entrance only. Raul and Payson dodged in opposite directions.
    Raul used his shoulder to slam wide a half-opened door and found himself in a room with three more armed men. He shot repeatedly as he rolled sideways behind a desk. Too bad the craftsmanship of the piece of furniture was shoddy at best. The bullets ripped right through the wood, splintering chunks in every direction.
    He couldn’t hold in his cry of pain as bullets slammed into his body. His suddenly numb right hand lost its grip on his gun and it clattered to the floor. Raul could hardly care about that as agonizing flames shot through his right thigh right before a hit to the side of his chest sent him flying sideways.
    Focusing on one slow breath after another, time seemed to stop. Everyone says that their life flashes before their eyes when they’re near death, but all that registered to Raul was the roar of a very large and very angry sounding animal. Maybe it was Raul’s imagination, but he thought he saw a massive, silver-tipped grizzly lumber into the room.
    The last thought before consciousness fled was that he really wished he could see Sean one more time.
    * * * *
    Kontra’s head whipped around at the sound of gunfire. He exchanged a glance with Manon, and both men sprinted toward the noise. Kontra knew the Cajun had found it odd that they hadn’t faced more opposition at security. Either this wasn’t a building owned by the Silver Lake Corporation, they weren’t expecting so swift retaliation, or all their people were hiding elsewhere.
    From the sounds of things, Payson and the human, Raul, had run into opposition, and a lot of it. It wasn’t often Kontra traded in his biker’s boots, but he felt grateful he had tonight. The sneakers were quieter and more comfortable as he pounded down the halls toward the gunfire.
    A cry of pain followed by the scent of blood told Kontra all he needed to know. Someone had shot their companion. Following his nose, he let out a roar and let the shift take over. He stood a better chance of rescuing the human in bear form.
    Rounding the corner, Kontra lumbered forward and roared again. Two guns drew a bead on him. He lunged toward the first, taking a bullet to the shoulder. It didn’t slow him down, and he swiped a clawed paw across the guard’s chest, shredding the man’s torso. From the amount of blood spray and the way he crumpled to the ground, Kontra knew the guard wouldn’t live. Next, he moved toward the man pointing his gun at something behind the desk.
    He lunged over the piece of furniture, his massive bulk barely clearing the bullet-riddled obstruction. Landing on the other side, he crouched over Raul’s prone, bleeding form and struck out at the human. A pair of gunshots cracked through the room. Kontra grunted as another slug hit him, slicing through flesh and leaving a fiery trail