Read Claimed, a vampire romance (Lost) for Free Online Page B

pulled, tugging the vampire off balance. One of the other two wolves, still in human form, reached into his back pocket and pulled out a shiny metal stake. Even in the dim light, the object seemed to glow.
    All rational thought left Rachel. “No!” she screamed and fought with the flap that covered the pocket that held the gun. Weapon in hand, she stumbled forward. She held it up, ready to fire. Fingers dug into her arm, jerking her to a stop.
    Shelby pulled Rachel around to face her. “Are you crazy? You can't get into that.” Her eyes snapped with annoyance. “We need to get out of here.”
    Rachel shoved at her friend, moving her enough that Rachel could see Cameron raise an arm and fend off the human wolf's downward strike with the stake. She lifted the gun again.
    “What are you doing? Where did you get that?” Shelby’s eyes were wide now. She waved her arms as if the motion might break some spell Rachel had fallen under.
    Rachel focused on the man with the stake and pulled the trigger. Shelby’s hand rose too, knocking into Rachel’s and sending the bullet skyward and the gun flying from Rachel’s grip.
    The weapon hit the ground fifteen feet away, firing a second time as it did.
    “No!” Two shots. All, according to Cameron, the gun held.
    “Oh my god! We’ve got to get out of here!” Shelby yelled into her ear. She jerked on Rachel’s arm, tugging her away from the still-fighting men.
     Her gaze fixated on the now-worthless gun, Rachel resisted.  
    “Rachel, listen to me. We need to leave. How did you get here? In that?” Shelby gestured toward Cameron's car.
    “Yes...” Reality was returning. Rachel glanced at her friend. Without the gun, she couldn’t fight a werewolf, and neither could Shelby.
    “Then let's go.” Shelby grabbed her arm again and tugged her toward the waiting car.
    Another howl echoed against the buildings and reverberated over the lake.
    A second wolf had shifted. He turned to face them, his head and tail held low.
    Behind him, Cameron struggled with the two remaining wolves, one in wolf form, the other still human. His fangs had lowered, and his face was distorted. He looked nothing like the man she'd kissed in that basement, nothing like anything outside of a nightmare.
    But still she hesitated.
    Shelby jerked again. “Now.”
    The wolf, the one watching them, sniffed the air, and his ruff rose. Then, with a smile, his front legs extended, and he loped toward them.
    “Now! Rachel! Now!” Shelby let go of Rachel's arm and ran.
    This time Rachel followed.
    The car wasn't locked, and the keys were in the ignition. Cameron, Rachel realized, had thought ahead. He had known something like this might happen. Guilt knifed through her again, but she forced it back and slid behind the wheel.
    Shelby threw her body into the passenger seat and jerked the door closed behind her. At the same instant, the wolf slammed into the driver's side window.
    Rachel screamed. She couldn't help herself. Her hands shook and her heart raced. In her panic, she could barely see, but she could hear Shelby yelling beside her, telling her to turn the car on and hit the gas.
    She did, shoving the accelerator to the floor and wrenching the steering wheel to the left, away from the lake and back toward the smoother roads where the car could pick up speed and leave this nightmare behind.
    This nightmare and Cameron.
    Tears welled in her eyes, but she did what she had to do. She drove as fast and as confidently as she could until they had left behind the lake, the wolves, and the man who had saved her.

 
     
    Chapter 6
    At first, Rachel just drove. She knew Cameron had planned on taking Shelby and her to a safe house, but she had no idea how to find it.
    “We could go back to the sorority house,” Shelby offered.
    Her eyes on the road and her fingers wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel that her knuckles ached, Rachel shook her head. “No. Cameron had somewhere for us to go. I just need to