and disappearing into the foliage behind her.
Melinda’s growls filled her ears and they were running after him. Keegan moving faster than human thanks to Leeory’s aid and Melina and Gary keeping stride with her as she burst through the dying branches and after Bryton.
She motioned for Melinda and Gary to move in a wide arc hoping to cut Bryton off. With her gun in hand Keegan spotted a blur of spotted fur and she chased after him. Her heart was pounding in her chest and no matter how fast she ran, she lost track of him. Keegan stopped and concentrated on the sounds around her and extended her senses. Death waited in the darkest corners of the woods and Keegan followed the call.
She had stumbled over the body of a fallen officer when she spotted the spotted blur heading back towards the house. She pushed herself up off of the ground and ran after the leopard.
A loud burst of gun fire greeted Keegan as she burst forth from the woods. She saw Bryton attack one of the detectives who had bravely left his spot of safety to try and stop the shifter.
Keegan stepped up her chanting. The words were louder and the will behind them stronger. She watched the way Bryton’s body contorted as he tried to fight off the hold she was starting to gather over him. His head snapped back and forth, struggling to clear his mind of her influence.
Bryton snarled and he focused in on her. His claws dug into the ground before he was moving to attack. Her gift wouldn’t be of any use now, not if it hadn’t stopped Bryton. She watched as he tore past her and she whirled around to see Detective Hollis batted to the ground.
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as her body reacted instinctively. She flicked the safety off her gun and took aim. There was no other way to end this. People were going to get in its way and they were going to die. There wasn’t going to be anymore death. She couldn’t allow it. Finding a clean shot, Keegan pulled the trigger and she pulled it again. She watched the way the leopard stumbled in confusion over Matt’s body. Blood began to mat its fur within a matter of seconds and Keegan knew who the man hiding beneath the skin of the beast was going to die. She stood shocked and her ears ringing from the sound of the gun shot. Her hands shaking at the thought of killing another supernatural, even in order to keep her fellow policemen safe from harm.
Keegan ran towards Matt, not caring that Bryton was still alive. When she was close enough she could see the darkness in the leopard’s eyes. Even in his last moments Bryton understood what was happening to him. He was going to die and he wasn’t going to go without hurting the person who brought him down. Bryton lowered his paw and Keegan heard the shriek of pain coming from Matt. Matt had his hands pressed below the vest he was wearing and against his stomach. He curled to his side to shield himself from further injury but there was no helping him now. Keegan took a deep breath and fired her gun one last time into the neck of Bryton Anderson and watched as the leopard collapsed off to the side of Matt.
Keegan slid to her knees next to Matt, her hands instinctively pressing against the wound at his neck and her eyes darting to the leopard that lie dying on the ground next to them. She pressed harder against the gash as she watched Bryton took his last breath with a shudder. Ignoring the dead leopard next to her Keegan looked around her to find some kind of help. “Call an ambulance! I need help! Please?”
Grabbing at the walkie on her belt she fumbled with pressing the right buttons with blood soaked fingers, “Officer down towards the eastern end of the scene! We need immediate medical attention!”
Keegan dropped the walkie talkie on the ground and pressed her hands back to the wound that was bleeding worse, his stomach. She felt the sting behind her eyes as his blood started to seep through the cracks of her fingers. It wouldn’t stop. The sound of two more gun shots echoed in her ears and she looked up to see the leopard shifting back from death and into its human form. Even as she saw the man