Andrei watched in fascination as her body began to shift. One minute, a slender teenage girl stood in the middle of the kitchen. The next, a sleek black panther stood there amid a pile of tattered clothing, ears flicking back and forth, tail twitching.
He grinned, somewhat surprised that she hadn’t thought to undress first. “Would you like to go hunting?” he asked.
When the big cat nodded, Andrei went into the living room and unlocked the door. “Wait for me on the landing.”
He let the panther out, then double-locked the door. Going into Tessa’s room, he spoke to her mind, assuring that she wouldn’t wake up until morning. After kissing her on the forehead, he dissolved into mist and slipped under the front door.
Bailey the panther was waiting for him.
Resuming his own form, Andrei warded the entrance and the windows against intruders.
Convinced that Tessa would be safe in his absence, he transformed himself into a wolf and led the way out of town to a thick stand of timber that grew along a narrow stream. Rabbits and squirrels made their homes among the trees. If they were lucky, they might even find a deer.
Chapter Twenty-One
Katerina stood in the deep shadows, looking up at the apartment where Andrei’s woman lived. What, exactly, was their relationship? That he drank from the woman was obvious. She had smelled the female’s blood on him. Was that all the woman was to him? A source of fresh blood? Or was there more going on between them? Andrei was an attractive man. A stallion in bed. The woman was . . . pretty, she admitted reluctantly. Beautiful, even—for a mortal female.
She sniffed the air. And frowned when she caught the scent of the girl Andrei had taken from her. Why had he brought her here? Was she also prey?
She lifted her head as a vagrant breeze carried Andrei’s scent.
He had passed by here only moments ago. The girl, too. Why had they gone off together?
And where were they now?
More importantly, why hadn’t her bite destroyed him? Not that she regretted the fact that he was still alive. She wanted him in her bed and she intended to see him there, one way or another.
But that could wait.
Curious as to where Andrei and the girl had gone, she turned away from the apartment building and followed his scent down the dark streets toward a heavily wooded area located near the outskirts of town.
* * *
Andrei couldn’t remember the last time he had changed into the wolf. It was an awesome sensation, feeling the cool earth beneath his paws, the play of muscle as he leaped over a fallen log, the myriad scents that assailed him—foliage and dung, a rabbit cowering in a hole, the stink of a carcass long dead.
He glanced at Bailey, running easily beside him. Her coat, as black as ink, seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. He could feel her joy, her exultation, as she raced through the night, free of restraint and fear.
A low growl rose in her throat as a jackrabbit bolted from its hiding place. A burst of speed, the snap of her jaws, and the rabbit hung limp in her mouth.
He sat back on his haunches as she quickly devoured the luckless creature, grinned a wolfish grin when she licked the blood from her muzzle and fur.
A noise, almost too faint for even the wolf’s keen ears, drew Andrei’s attention. Hackles raised, he moved to stand in front of Bailey as Katerina materialized out of the shadows.
In an instant, Andrei resumed his own form. “What the hell! What are you doing here?”
Katerina shrugged, her attention fixed on Bailey. “A shape-shifter? Did you know when you saved her?”
“No. What difference does it make?”
“None, perhaps.” She licked her lips. “I’ve never had a shifter.”
“And you’re not having this one.”
“You should have been a knight of the realm,” Katerina mused, her voice thick with derision. “Always rescuing damsels in danger.”
“I’ll be taking her home now.”
“Fine. I’ve decided we’re leaving here tonight. Pack your things.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m not sure, but it doesn’t seem as if the mortal I’m searching for is here, so I’ve decided to move on.”
Andrei shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You may regret your decision.”
“Is that a threat?”
Her eyes went red as she bared her fangs. “More like a promise.”
“Dammit, Katerina . . .” he began.
But she was already gone.
“Bailey, we need to go.”
He shifted to the wolf and they ran back to the apartment. As he had before, Andrei dissolved into mist and slipped under the crack below the door. Regaining his own form, he let Bailey in, then shot the dead bolt home. She immediately headed for her bedroom. No doubt to shift back to human form in private, he mused with a wry grin.