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darkness,
she noticed the muzzle appeared matted and damp— with blood?
    A whimper escaped her, and
Gavin stroked his hand soothingly down her back, but that didn’t stop her from
crying out again as the green-eyed canine was followed out of the gloomy forest
by another black-haired wolf and a lighter-coated one. Three wolves converging
on her?
    A scream finally managed to
wend its way past the constrictive barrier of her throat. Terror overwhelmed
her, and with exhaustion dogging her, she succumbed to the welcoming darkness.
     

     
    Catching her swooning frame,
Gavin thanked every god that might exist for leading him to this particular forest
at the right moment, in time to act the knight who rescued his damsel in
distress.
    They’d only decided on this
particular set of woods after tossing a coin. Location decided for the evening’s
hunt, Gavin and his brothers had driven up in their two SUVS and parked on the
country road, a mile or so past the dirt track turnoff leading to where they
believed the rogues might have holed up.
    There, in the darkness, not
even lit by streetlights, they stripped out of their clothing as they prepared
to shift to their animal selves, their keener senses as their beasts better
suited for a task such as this. As they prepared themselves, they needed no
words to communicate. No ribald jokes even peppered the air. They already knew
their task in the hunt, and besides, while a car engine would go unnoticed as
normal on this lonely stretch of road, conversation, especially at this time of
night, wouldn’t. They didn’t want to announce their presence to rogues who
might patrol the woods.
    Taking a deep breath, Gavin
called to his inner wolf, a mental exchange that took but a heartbeat. A moment
later, the change came over him, and his body reshaped into that of a golden
wolf. He’d long ago mastered the pain of shifting, but he wouldn’t exactly say
it felt great.
    Padding off on furry feet, he
and his pack mates infiltrated the dark copse of trees, not having to go far
before the scent they’d searched for came to them. They split off, loping off
into the woods, careful of their steps, and thankfully downwind of those they
hunted. Make that the prey his brothers hunted.
    Gavin had a slightly different
goal—Bailey. He just prayed he didn’t find her too late
    Ghosting through the forest, he
caught the scent of other Lycans, and followed it. Despite his precautions, and
surely those of his brothers, who knew how to travel in secret, a warning howl
went up by the rogues, their ululating cry lifting into the sky.
    Screw stealth. Gavin went for
more speed, the thrill of the hunt rousing his beast. He stumbled, though, when
he heard a piercing scream, the sound ripping through him and sending his wolf
into a frenzy that saw him running full-out with no care for himself.
    Bailey!
    He didn’t doubt for one moment
the cry came from her. Perking his ears, he listened, straining for a more
concrete direction. He caught instead the sound of someone, or something,
crashing through the woods with no care that their flight lit a beacon. Then,
he heard the harsh gasps and whimpers of a fear so great the mind had come
close to shutting down.
    Gavin shifted back to his human
self just a second before she came tearing through the brush, her head craned
back, her naked body a bright slash in the gloomy woods. He stood before her,
and still she didn’t notice him, running into his sturdy frame and bouncing
back. Raising his hands, he steadied her, but in her terror, she didn’t look at
him.
    “Shh, darling. It’s okay now.
I’ve got you.” His throat closed tight as the sharp scent of her fear enveloped
him. A need to protect her surged in him. He would hurt those who had
frightened her into this creature of terror. But first, he needed to calm her
and get her to safety, right after she stopped fighting him.
    Thrashing in his arms, she
pounded at him, whimpering and crying. He let her vent and