“Chase?” She called out to him tentatively in her mind.
“Sophia, don’t move from that spot, OK sweetheart? They will have to come through me to get to you.”
“How many are there?” She worried her lower lip watching the entrance, scared for his safety.
“I heard two but smelled four. Why? What’s wrong?”
She wished she could do something to help him. “Chase, what if I shift—”
“No!” He growled so loud she winced. Well, crap!
“But why not? I mean I can help you—”
“No.” Frustration and anger built inside her. He seemed to have sensed it because he sighed and then continued at a lower tone. “You cannot shift, Sophia.”
“I can try,” She urged, hoping he would change his mind. “I mean I know I haven’t ever done it before, but I can give it a shot. I mean how hard can it be, right? And maybe help you in the process.”
She could sense the tension he was feeling at her words.
“It’s not safe for you to shift.” His voice was soft but serious.
“Why?” Her question was drowned by a loud piercing laugh. A large hyena dove through the air and went straight for Chase. The animal was big with black and brown coarse fur. The thing looked like a cross between a sick lion and a dog on steroids, so ugly she was sure it had to be some kind of science experiment gone wrong.
Chase immediately crouched and leaped, catching the assailant in mid-flight. His wide-open jaws clamped and locked on its front leg and then swung his prey back out the door.
The hyena’s body slapped against the white wall with a loud whine, creating a long bloody mark when it slid down to the floor. Another set of the ugly animals attempted to attack Chase, but he swiped his deadly claws, slicing through the enemies with ease.
He bit into the neck of one and crushed the bones, leaving the hyena in a messy pool of blood on the floor. The other assailant came back with the first aggressor and both attacked, clawing at Chase at the same time. They proved to be enough of a distraction to allow a fourth to break in through one of the lab windows.
Shocked into immobility, Sophia watched the man that stood across the room from her. This was a shifter in his human form. He was shorter than Chase but still a great deal bigger than her, with short black hair and dark brown skin.
The guy was not hard on the eyes either. He looked vaguely familiar. He walked forward, and she wondered again if she should try to shift.
Chapter Six
“Don’t do it, Sophia. It’s too dangerous with two animals inside you. Your first shift should not be during a stressful situation like this one. If something goes wrong it’d be a problem we don’t need at this moment,” Chase stated matter-of-factly in her head and continued to fight.
She bristled, hating how much sense he made. Her cat hissed, and her wolf growled.
He made a valid case for waiting. Still, maybe she could find a way to defend herself; she did have claws, and this guy didn’t know that she was now a shifter also. There was enough blood being spilled that she knew he hadn’t picked up her scent, and from what she could tell hyenas weren’t as sensitive as wolves and cats. She stood patiently waiting. The intruder came closer.
“Dr. Sophia Reese, why don’t you make this easy on the wolf and come with me now. We’ll let him go, and he won’t come to any harm.” The man had a loud voice with a whiny pitch to it.
“Really? What will you do with me?”
She watched the man and knew he was assessing her, so she hunched her shoulders and tried to look scared.
“You won’t come to any harm if you give us the experiment you’ve been working on.” He seemed to relax which made her want to pounce on his dumb ass.
“I don’t know what you mean, but I do know one thing. Chase is going to rip you all limb from limb.” She gave him a happy smile.
She prayed one of the animals inside her body were willing to come to her aid. She envisioned her fingers shifting. The man made a grab for her arm. Long razor-sharp claws stretched out of where her nails would normally be.
Not wasting a second, she turned her body into the man’s, catching him unaware because of her sudden proximity and speed that, she had to admit, had impressed even her. Without a second thought, she buried her claws straight in his jugular, ripping his throat wide open when she yanked roughly on the soft flesh.
Blood sputtered and splattered all over her face. His shocked, wide eyes stared at her while his claws squeezed painfully into her arm. Fear that he might still hurt her engulfed her for a moment until she saw his large body slump to the floor by her feet.
Nausea rolled up her throat. She watched the man bleed to death.