Read Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) for Free Online

Turning she saw it had moved from behind the shed and now stood only a few yards away from her. She was certain the panther could cover the distance between them in seconds but it never moved, it just watched her with its far-too-intelligent eyes as if waiting for something.
    “What do you want?” she whispered.
    The cat returned a low growl creeping slowly forward.
    “Go away, I don’t want to hurt you.” Lexia had slowly bent to retrieve the knife she now always carried strapped to her leg. She’d killed a wolf man last night, she was certain she could defend herself from this large cat but the problem was she didn’t want to harm it. The panther didn’t feel evil in the way the wolf had and it was so beautiful, so sleek, and graceful; its black velvet coat shimmered in the sun and those eyes seemed to see far too much to belong to an animal.
    The panther had moved closer; if Lexia just stretched out her hand she’d be able to run her fingers through its fur. The need to touch the wild and dangerous animal that now crept up the steps of the porch, its head low, eyes gleaming, was so strong that nothing else mattered but to run her fingers through its coat.
    She never heard her dad approach the front door and as her hand started to stretch out to touch, to feel, he opened the door knocking her forward. The panther snarled, lashing out with its paw slashing its claws through her skin. She heard her father scream and he tried to pull her inside but she needed to touch the cat, to feel its soft fur. The panther still held her gaze so intensely, calling her, then it turned, disappearing into the trees and the spell broke.
    Shaking her head she looked up at her dad, his face a mix of anger and worry, then back to the forest. The cat had vanished into the trees. Lexia spotted her knife on the porch floor and snatched it quickly, sliding it into the back of her jeans as she stood to face her dad.
    “What the hell were you doing, Lexia? It’s a wild animal, a panther...”
    “I—I don’t know.” What had she been doing? The panther had been following her, it had tried to kill her and she wanted to stroke it! She got up and walked into the house, ignoring her dad’s harsh words. He stormed in after her but when he noticed the claw marks, he immediately shut up.
    “Oh god, Lexia, do you need stitches? You must be in agony!”
    Lexia looked down at her arm, noticing now the pain from the deep slash marks.
    “It’s fine dad, not that deep.”
    She went to retrieve some medical supplies and started to wrap a bandage around her arm.
    “What are you doing? Let me see.”
    Lexia sighed and sat on an old wooden chair at the table in the middle of the kitchen.
    “I cannot believe that was a black panther; you realize you could have been killed! I’m going to have to call someone about it; we can’t have that animal running around attacking people.”
    “Dad, no! Please just leave it alone, I would have been fine if you hadn’t knocked me over.”
    “Honestly, Lex! What has gotten into you lately? I... I can’t believe you have only a few cuts, I mean that animal can kill someone with a single swipe.”
    Her dad grew silent as if in thought and Lexia worried about the train his thoughts had taken; had he noticed how quickly her arm was healing? It had already stopped hurting and as he finished, her skin tingled as if being knitted back together.
    If she was honest, the fact that she now healed at an incredible rate was freaking her out big time and she was also beginning to panic at the way her dad was now looking at her. His eyes seemed to see far more than they should and Lexia stood quickly knocking the bowl with all the dirty clothes stained red with her blood onto the floor.
    “Shit,” she muttered, bending to retrieve them.
    As she stood to walk to the trash can, her dad stood in her way and Lexia had a sudden urge to defend herself. She could feel her mind suddenly going into defense mode, preparing to