Cultivating Caden - Parker Williams Page 0,1
form, Quade could inflict some serious damage, but what this guy had done was monstrous. The coroner needed to put his victims back together piece by piece, like a jigsaw puzzle.
And now the man was loose, a threat not only to any humans unlucky enough to cross paths with him, but also every demihuman in the organization who would have the bad luck of getting in his way.
When the breeze shifted, Quade picked up a better scent. The backdrop of the pines and spruce, coupled with the sweet smells wafting off the nearby lake, stood in stark contrast to his target’s acrid smell. He was near now. Quade let a little more of his other half out, picking up speed. There was no way this murderer would escape. While it saddened Quade that he had to take another life, it was better than the alternative.
The crack of a branch nearby alerted him to his quarry’s presence off to his left. Quade’s gaze narrowed. He could see frenetic movement, hear the gasps from his target and the whispered pleas for someone to save him. Unfortunately that wasn’t about to happen. This bastard was about to draw his last breath.
Quade leapt headlong into the thick undergrowth, ignoring the brambles that tore at his skin. Those wounds would heal soon enough. Right now, other things took priority. He slammed into his prey, who cried out as they both crashed to the ground. When Quade looked down, he hesitated for just a moment. That was apparently more than enough.
The man threw his hands up, blocking his face. “Get away from me!”
The wave of energy struck Quade as the trees around them creaked and bent. Branches lashed out to surround Quade. They gripped his arms and legs, wrapped around his throat, and one long one began to press into his mouth.
“I didn’t do anything! Why can’t you leave me alone?”
Quade struggled, but it did no good. He was held fast, and his efforts to draw a breath were futile as the branches squeezed the life from him. He attempted to fully shift, but his wrists were pinned and he couldn’t bring his claws to bear against the wood, which prevented him from cutting himself loose. Unable to do anything but try not to suffocate, Quade stared at the person he’d been told was supposed to be such a threat. The man couldn’t be more than twenty-five or so, with green eyes so wide, Quade could count the blood vessels. Mottled bruises along his delicate cheeks had to be days old, but various scrapes were much fresher, oozing blood. Unable to stop it, Quade growled. Add the fact that the man was buck naked, and Quade had to wonder what the hell was going on.
The man recoiled and skittered back against one of the trees whose branches held Quade captive. For just a second, Quade swore the bark wrapped around the man like armor. As he pushed to his feet, a constant stream of words flowed out of him. “Please, just leave me alone. I didn’t mean to hurt them. I don’t even know what happened. I just wanted them to leave me alone. I begged them to stop, and they laughed as they…they….” He sobbed. “After, they stood over me as I lay there, naked and bleeding, and I… I don’t know. All I heard were screams as they were torn apart by… something.” The man’s knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
The branches that bound Quade loosened enough for him to slip free. He gave himself over to his killing form—partially man, but mostly the beast within—and stalked toward his prey. Sharp claws pushed through his fingertips. That was how Quade normally killed, a quick slice to the throat and they’d be dead before they realized it. But….
Tears left tracks as they slid down dirt-encrusted cheeks. This was the man he was expected to kill? No way could he have torn apart nine biker types and left their bloody corpses in a field at the edge of the forest. The man who now sat before him—his shoulder-length blond hair, his body so thin, Quade could practically see his bones shivering, and the way he was sobbing—Quade figured he was probably a fucking vegan, unable to even think about hurting something living.
With great effort, Quade willed himself back to his human form. The beast inside wasn’t happy. It had expected blood, and to be denied pissed