the strength it would take to rip pieces from the vehicle.
It was that cool, calm part of her mind that pulled the trigger.
She’d braced herself as well as she could, but she still wasn’t prepared for the recoil. Her hands jerked, sending her second shot through the windshield, and the wolf lunged into the car and ripped the gun from her hands before she could hiss out a pained breath. By the time she realized what had happened, his hands had closed around her upper arms.
Her shoulder crashed into the steering wheel as he dragged her across the seat. Fighting his grip was futile; he pulled her into the open and hoisted her up so she was face to face with his glowing yellow eyes.
Those eyes narrowed as he buried his nose in her neck and inhaled. “You don’t smell like his bitch,” the man muttered. “You’re just a lousy fucking human.”
The words didn’t make sense. Had he expected her to smell like her cousin? Or could he smell another wolf in the SUV? Jay—
Jay should have come back by now.
She pushed the useless thought away and rammed her knee into her attacker’s balls. He howled his pain, his rage, and threw her to the ground like a broken toy. His clothes ripped as he shifted, and he hit the ground on all fours, his hands and feet already turning to paws. Eden found herself staring into an open, snarling muzzle full of razor-sharp teeth.
She scrambled back, kicking at his nose when he lunged. His teeth closed on the heel of her boot, and she twisted and tried to jerk away, wrenching her ankle in the process.
Tears sprung to her eyes, but she bit her lip and pulled again, dragging her foot free of her shoe. Hope surged as she twisted again and landed on her hands and knees. If she could get under the car or to the house—
A growl ripped through the air a second before a heavy weight crashed into her, driving her to the ground. Claws dug into her body, but the pain disappeared under a flood of agony as the wolf sank sharp teeth into her arm.
Screaming. Running. A woman, a brunette dressed in flannel, yelling as she kicked at the wolf. “No!”
The wolf reared back, and the woman swung the butt end of a shotgun so hard it sounded like a solid home run when it connected with the animal’s head. He tumbled off Eden and rolled away just far enough for the woman to ready the shotgun as he rose.
She fired once and the wolf staggered back with a howling whine. She worked the slide, fired again, and the wolf fell.
Eden struggled to her knees, her back on fire and her arm throbbing. “Where’s Jay? The man I came with—”
The woman tore off her flannel shirt and wrapped it around Eden’s wound. “We have to find Zack.”
“Zack’s here?” It was a stupid question, but it was hard to think when every heartbeat made the pain worse. “You’re with him?”
“You’re Eden.” It wasn’t a question. The brunette pulled her to her feet. “Can you walk?”
“I don’t know.” She took one tentative step and hissed as her ankle buckled. She pitched against the side of the SUV with a groan. “I need to find Jay. I didn’t warn him, and I should have. I need to warn him.”
“Shh.” The woman tilted her head, then wrapped Eden’s arm around her shoulders. “Come on, this way.”
The world went gray with every step. Eden couldn’t feel her fingers anymore, couldn’t feel much of her hand at all on her bitten arm.
A bite. “Oh crap, the wolf bit me. Is that bad?”
Before the woman could answer, Jay ran out of the trees, barefoot with his shirt hanging open. “Jesus Christ. Eden?”
She stared at his chest. Beautiful light-brown skin and dark hair, muscles and strength, and if he’d been undressed, unarmed, he couldn’t be human. “You’re a wolf.”
“You’re bleeding.” His gaze dropped to her arm, and he stepped forward to hold her up.
He hadn’t denied it. He hadn’t even blinked. “You’re a wolf,” she said again, more quietly this time. “I got bitten. Does that mean anything?”
He blanched. “Eden—”
The brunette cried out, a wordless noise of relief and worry tangled together. She jerked away and ran toward the trees, where Zack had walked out of the shadows, and threw her arms around his neck.
That it was Zack, Eden had no doubt. The eighteen-year-old hero she remembered was there, buried under