Read NocC 023 - The Ancients 05 - Bonnie Vanak - Incubus Wolf - Harlequin 2012-09 for Free Online Page A

ten years since she’d started
working as a bounty hunter.
    The shooter dropped the rifle. Before her astonished gaze, the
man’s body contorted, twisting and elongating. His face became triangular.
    The man had morphed into a snake the size of a small truck. A
forked tongue licked out of its mouth. It raised its head and hissed, showing
two long fangs the size of butcher knives. And then it turned toward the wolf,
jaws yawning open as if to swallow it whole. The wolf snarled and attacked its
throat, but the python shook it off and then hovered over the wolf.
    Jaws yawning open, it was ready to swallow the wolf whole.
    Not on my watch.
    Alex loaded her pistol with her special magick bullets that
could take down a legion of vampires charging at full speed. She shot the snake
between the eyes. Fired, until the magazine was spent.
    The snake shrunk into the size of a man, and then morphed back
into human form. Then he opened his eyes.
    Holy crap, he was still alive?
    Dominic shifted back. Naked, his expression fierce, he took the
man’s neck and twisted hard.
    There was a sickening crack, then stillness.
    Dominic clothed himself by magick. Icy coldness crept over her
as she stared at the dead man. Wheeler from the bar.
    “What the hell is he?” she gasped.
    Dominic said nothing. With a low growl, he swung her up into
his arms and raced back.
    Carrying her as if she weighed nothing, he wasn’t even panting
as they reached the path’s safety. Very gently, he set her on her feet. His
expression was steely.
    “What were you doing out there?” he demanded.
    “Saving myself.” She leaned against the fence, shivering. “I
don’t like getting shot.”
    White bracketed his mouth as he gripped her shoulders. “Do you
know what could have happened to you?”
    The anger in his voice took her aback. No one ever cared what
happened to her. “I can take care of myself.” Alex shook her head. “I don’t
understand. Those were all head shots with special bullets. Why didn’t he die?
What happened to him?”
    Dominic’s fingers loosened on her shoulders. He slid his hands
up to cup her face, his gaze blue steel. Despite the cold, his palms were warm
on her icy skin. “Wheeler was trying to lure me out, shooting at you to get to
me. Belaramos must have cursed him.”
    Alex felt like she stepped off a cliff and was spiraling
downward. Nothing in her well-ordered universe of catch the prey, bring it in
and collect the bounty made sense anymore.
    “Why? Because he was a loud-mouthed ass?”
    His mouth twitched. “Always the humor, my Alexandra. Belaramos
wants my blood and was using Wheeler.”
    Cold anger tightened his face as he dropped his hands. “Wheeler
was trying to swallow me whole so he could bring me back to his master, who
probably promised to lift the curse once he did so. But the wizard would have
killed him anyway.”
    Bile rose in her throat. “Because to get you out, Belaramos
would have to cut you out of the snake.”
    Alex swallowed hard, pushing past her rising gorge. “Some camp
you run here, wolf. Public sex, wizards who turn humans into pythons, the
crazies keep on coming. Any other fun tricks I should know about?”
    He clasped her palm and brought it to his mouth. Dominic
brushed her knuckles with a lingering kiss. “Brave Alexandra. Facing such
powerful magick with nothing but bullets. Your courage makes me… very hot.”
    She shivered under the sensual caress. “It’s dangerous around
here. Come with me back to prison where it’s safe. No snakes, just surly
demons.”
    He threw back his head and laughed, a deep-throated sound that
coaxed her into a reluctant smile. “Alexandra Kostra, you’re dangerous.” He
turned and ran a finger down her cheek, making her shiver. Then he cupped her
face with his large, warm palms. “I could fall for you each time I look into
your lovely eyes. Such shadows there. I want to chase them away.”
    This unexpected tenderness disarmed her. Alex tried to