Southern Shifters: Werelock (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free Page A

there.
    His features were classically handsome. A strong brow was set over blue eyes that ranged between the color of the deepest ocean and pale as a winter sky. His nose was straight and perfectly Roman. His lips fascinated her. Sensuously full, they were maybe a tad too wide for the ideal of perfection but they suited him.
    How old was he? He looked mid-twenties, which would put him only a few years younger than her. Fine lines had already formed around the corners of his eyes. Laughter lines, but she got the feeling he didn’t laugh often. His whole demeanor was less young buck out to get drunk and laid, and more dangerous predator prepared to do whatever it took to get the job done.
    A dangerous bad boy.
    Shit. She’d always had a thing for the bad boy. It was what had gotten her into a relationship with Lance, but now she saw Lance wasn’t a real bad boy, he was a wannabe with a mean streak playing at being dangerous. He thought hitting women and those weaker than himself made him powerful.
    Real danger carried her in his arms like she was the most precious thing in the world.
    He turned, catching her gaze and for a moment it was like she could see into his soul. Her cat purred, wanting nothing more than to turn belly up and invite this powerful male to take whatever he wanted.
    Her cat was a freaking hussy.
    A second later, the shutters came down in his eyes and he smiled. Far from reassuring her, the expression made all her guards go back up. She fought the feeling of safety which tried to wrap her in its snares, urging her to relax and trust him. Persuasion spell. Had to be. He’d compelled her cat too easily for it to be anything other than magic.
    Crap. And her cat already liked him way too much. She was on her own in this particular fight.
    No matter. Given that her cat was the weaker of her forms, she’d long ago gotten used to overriding her natural instinct to shift, controlling her cat ruthlessly to keep them both safe. She’d get them out of this. She had to because no way was she going back to Lance. Not with what he threatened.
    “Ever try to leave me and I’ll put you in the ground with your dead parents. Bury you alive in a silver banded box. You’ll die down there knowing no one’s coming to save you.”
    He’d made the promise with such relish, she knew he’d carry out the threat at the earliest opportunity. He’d probably had it planned for years.
    But she wasn’t dead yet. Her natural stubborn nature kicked her up the ass before she could slide into depression and apathy. Her mind went into overdrive, turning over all the options. If she could get free, she could try to make it to the sheriff’s office or maybe the Dark Moon and beg for help. She’d been in the roadhouse once or twice, strictly in passing and keeping on the lowdown, and the guys that ran it were seriously scary dudes. They might help her.
    No. Instantly she rejected the idea. Had Lance sent the usual shifter-type of bounty hunter after her, then she might have tried that, but a werelock was a whole new level of nastiness. Especially when she barely knew anyone in the town, preferring to keep to herself. Long experience had taught her not to make friends and the only person she could rely on was herself.
    They reached the back of her property, but instead of turning left and walking up her garden, he carried on and turned into the next one. The Kirkpatrick house. They were away for a couple of weeks. She had no idea where, just that they’d packed up that big camper of theirs and waved goodbye as they’d driven off, all smiles.
    A big, black muscle car was parked at the side of the garage, out of sight of the road. Definitely not the Kirkpatrick’s. Mr. Kirkpatrick owned a staid urban utility vehicle a world away from the sleek, powerful machine in front of her.
    “This is us,” her werelock announced, and bent at the waist to set her on her feet.
    She saw her chance and took it before he could move away. While his