The Hellhound's Un-Christmas Miracle - Zoe Chant Page 0,21

a hellhound stepped out of nothingness onto the empty road.

Sheena swore and reeled back towards Fleance. Protect her! his hellhound snarled. Fleance didn’t need telling. He moved in front of her automatically, adrenaline flooding his system.

And Sheena’s voice burst into his mind, jagged-edged and sharp as the light that flared between them once again.

*What the fuck is that?* she gasped. Emotions flooded through the mate bond: shock, confusion. Guilt. *His eyes—wait. And his smell. It wasn’t you at my aunts’ house, it was him.*

Fleance reached behind himself without looking and grabbed her hand. *Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.*

*What is that?*

Fleance gritted his jaw. *A hellhound. Like me.*

Angus Parker’s hellhound form was the size of a small pony. In the dark, from a distance, it might look like a real dog. If you made that mistake, as Fleance knew, you were already done for. If it got close enough for you to see the acrid smoke boiling out from under its black coat, or the pits of hellfire where its eyes could be, there was no escape.

The last time he had seen Angus Parker, Caine had just made him bare his throat in surrender. Caine had fought Parker in hellhound form: the two alphas were matched for size and strength, and since Caine was an alpha, he’d been able to break the other alpha’s power over him and take control of the pack.

Fleance had never seen Parker so angry. His hellhound form had melted away, but its rage had festered so close to the surface Fleance could feel it, even as he was led away in handcuffs. Now it was as though the rot had seeped through the hellhound’s skin. Parker’s coat was ragged and patchy, and the smoke that oozed through it was thick and greasy. Fleance felt nauseous.

It’s hellhound magic, he told himself as his heartbeat thundered in his ears and a million years of evolutionary instinct told him to run. That’s all. He’s just trying to frighten you.

His own hellhound was cowering low inside him, ears flat to its skull, teeth bared. Fleance’s breath locked in his throat.

Parker wasn’t just trying to frighten him. He was succeeding, sending terror rolling to the very depths of his soul. And not just because of his magic.

Because Fleance, and his hellhound, knew what he was capable of.

All the more reason not to let fear distract us, he thought, as much to himself as his hellhound and convincing neither of them.

Parker’s hellfire eyes trailed over him, down to his hand clenched tight around Sheena’s. A rough chuckle that made the hairs on the back of Fleance’s neck stand up grated out of its throat.

*Patched up your lovers’ quarrel already? Never say I never did anything for you, kiddo,* Parker rasped.

Fleance felt sick. The idea of his uncle having anything to do with his relationship with his mate made his stomach turn.

“Yeah, okay, that’s definitely what I saw,” Sheena whispered from behind him, her voice thin with fright. “I take it back. Your fiery eyes are much nicer than that thing’s.”

The monstrous hound peeled its lips back over its fangs. *And everyone keeps saying this is a first-world country,* it snarled pleasantly. *I’ll forgive you that ‘thing’ this once, sweetheart. In the future, you’ll call me ‘sir.’*

Sheena bristled. Fleance squeezed her hand. “She won’t say anything to you in the future, because we’re leaving. Now.” Fleance’s hellhound, even paralyzed with fear, lent its growl to his voice. He faced Parker down.

His car was two miles away, maybe more, beyond the small forest that surrounded the burning neighborhood. Behind Parker.

He had to get to it and get Sheena to safety. No matter what it took.

Parker lowered his head with a wolfish grin, as though he’d heard Fleance’s thoughts. Impossible, Fleance reminded himself.

*Leaving so soon?* He could imagine how this would go if Parker was in human form: the wide smile, the friendly clap on the shoulder that turned into a grip so solid there was no escaping it. The hellhound’s bare-fanged grin was a terrifying parody of Parker’s gleaming salesman smile. *I’m disappointed, Flea. I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to turn tail the moment you saw me. Not after all this time.*

“You don’t know anything about why I’m here.” He knew that was the truth. If he couldn’t sense Parker’s presence when he was invisible—if the alpha bond was truly broken—then Parker couldn’t read his mind.

*Give a man a chance, Flea. Let’s see if I can guess what brought you all

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