Consumed (Dark Protectors) by Rebecca Zanetti Read Free Book Online Page B

heavy mugginess assaulted her lungs. She had to get closer to aim for Brent’s legs. Too bad she didn’t have a tranquilizer gun.
    Grabbing the slippery rail, she maneuvered down the wet steps, her gaze on the fight. Jordan jumped Brent, sinking his canines into the werewolf ’s neck. Brent howled in anger.
    Chills ripped down Katie’s spine. Her arm ached, a dull, thick pain, pounding with her rapid heartbeat.
    Brent swung, connecting with Jordan’s chest. The lion flew across the alley to land hard against the building. Brick shattered, sending chips flying.
    Jordan rolled, landing on all fours, teeth bared to kill. He took a step and halted, his wet ears going back. Rage filled his eyes when he turned his head and looked up. The snarl he gave at seeing her made her step back.
    Brent hissed, shooting farther into the alley, his feet pounding and sending cobblestones flying. With a yowl sounding as if it came from a churning hell, Jordan bunched and followed him into darkness.
    “No,” Katie whispered, rushing down the remaining steps until splashing in a puddle at the bottom. Dusty water washed up her bare legs. Clutching the gun harder, she hustled after them.
    Rain splattered into her eyes as she ran through the alleys, following the demolished ground. Fear propelled her. She had to reach Jordan—if there was any way to stop Jordan from killing Brent, she needed to do it. Brent’s blood might hold hope for them all. They had to take him down, not end him for good.
    She slid around a corner to see Brent disappearing over a rooftop, Jordan springing onto a fire escape. “Jordan,” she screamed.
    He halted, eyeing her and leaping back to the ground. Raw fury folded his lip.
    The world stopped moving. The brick on either side of the alley turned a deep black from the rain splattering up from the cobblestones. Darkened windows lined high above, while even higher, two building lights shone down, weak in the murky night. A horn bellowed in the distance. She shoved hair from her face, gulping in air. Muggy and hot, air coated her throat on the way down.
    Her lungs heated.
    The cougar eyed her, rage in his eyes, fur rising on end down his back.
    The need to aim the gun at him made her stomach clench.
    The air thickened and he rose to full height, a human male standing in the rain. Nude and enraged.
    Katie shivered. His eyes glowed in his angular face, revealing the animal present even in human form. His nose was straight, his cheekbones high and symmetrical, purebred lion embedded in every feature. While his chest had always been broad, cut definition enhanced more powerful muscles than she remembered. His narrow waist tapered to...
    God. She would not look lower.
    Jordan’s gaze started at her tennis shoes and traveled up her bare legs to the clinging T-shirt. Fury lined every strong contour in his face.
    Awareness slammed desire out of the way. She took a step back. Okay, running through alleys wearing only a T-shirt might have been a bad idea. Very bad. Intuition yelled at her to flee. No way in hell could she outrun him. Aiming the gun would be a serious mistake. She knew it ... yet her hand trembled as she raised the weapon.
    His chin lowered. A stalking predator, he strode forward with measured steps, water sluicing off his hard body.
    Retreat was her only option. A loose stone tripped her, and she dodged to the side, her back flush to a building. Thank God the weapon hadn’t gone off. A second later he trapped her, his abs square against the barrel of the gun, his gaze primal.
    Something inside her hissed. Deep down, beyond humanity, at her very core ... a lioness stretched.
    The breath caught in her throat. She stilled. Searching down deep. Searching for the animal she used to be. The animal that had been silenced ten years ago by the virus. A tingling wandered through her veins, igniting her blood. An animal sense that she’d missed so very much. The slumbering cougar awakening in reaction to a male.
    And the