Before she could move, the figure was jerked away by someone else. Whoever it was moved in a quiet, fast blur. Scrambling, she leaped from her vehicle. Someone let out a strangled cry but the sound was cut off abruptly. Hurrying away from her Jeep, she froze as she rounded it and saw a giant black wolf use his freaking claws to rip the head off a man. The wolf snarled angrily, its white teeth dripping blood as it tossed the head to the side.

Estrella’s mouth almost fell open as the decapitated man shriveled to ash right in front of her. What the hell?

She stumbled back into a wall of muscle. Turning, she nearly shrieked as a man with fangs and claws protruding from his hands grasped her by the shoulders. At least he wasn’t slicing her up with his claws.

“Don’t worry about the wolf, you’re coming with me, bonita,” he purred. His amber eyes were definitely not human.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! This guy was a vampire. Her brain rejected it, not wanting to believe the creatures were even real. But this guy was so a vampire. And he thought he could take her?

Instinctively, she shoved at his chest before undergoing the change into animal. She’d seen a wolf change once and his shift had been brutal and had taken precious moments. Hers was seamless as her jaguar form took over. Her clothes shredded as her bones quickly realigned and her much stronger and bigger animal side took over.

She lunged at the vampire, going for the throat as she knocked him to the ground. That wolf shifter might not be an ally but she’d seen the way he’d taken down that man—vampire. She’d been forced to kill a wolf shifter in the past and it looked like these other creatures had the same weakness. Decapitation probably killed everything.

The vampire with an olive complexion similar to her own held up his arms defensively as he cried out. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

If she’d been in her human form, she’d have snorted. Yeah right. She bit into his forearm, surprised by the taste of his blood. It was sweeter, not as coppery as animal and human blood.

The dark-haired vampire slashed at her, raking those claws down her left side as he tried to dislodge her. Behind her she heard more snarling. Afraid of a sneak attack, she let go and risked a quick glance over her shoulder. The black wolf was sparring with two more vampires.

She didn’t know why he was putting himself in danger for her, but if he could take on two, she could take on this one. The vampire struggling underneath her hold was keeping his throat and face protected so she went for one of his biceps, keeping him pinned to the ground with her weight and strength.

He cried out in pain as she tore through tendons and muscles. A hard fist slammed into her head, loosening her jaw. Letting go, she rolled over onto her paws and jumped back, putting a few feet of distance between them.

“We don’t want to hurt you!” he shouted, palms raised.

She snarled and started for him again. He sprinted away from her. The vampire shouted something and she saw a blur of movement as one of the others who’d been sparring with the black wolf ran back to the SUV parked behind the truck. They dove into it and seconds later tires squealed as they tore back the way they’d come.

Still panting, she took a cautious step toward the limp wolf on the ground. Even though it was dark, thanks to the stars, moon and her extrasensory abilities, she could see a pool of crimson spreading onto the road underneath the other shifter.

Though she didn’t know the wolf, he’d still been fighting the vampires. For her? Maybe. She didn’t know what to make of this guy.

She knew she should probably be more focused on the fact that vampires were real and she’d just been attacked by one, but she had to help the wolf. As she neared the animal it let out a soft moan. Nudging his jaw with her nose, she froze when its eyes blinked open. They were the exact pale shade of green as the man from the art studio.

Chapter 2

Rainer stared into the eyes of the beautiful female jaguar shifter. She was a sleek orange feline with dark black spots. Jagged pain lanced down his left side. One of the vamps had sliced into him, breaking a rib and piercing him with a silver dagger. The rib was already healing and the silver hadn’t gotten into his blood stream so while he hurt, he was almost four hundred and fifty years old and more than capable of compartmentalizing his pain.

For a brief moment he tensed, wondering if the female planned to attack him too. The thought of sparring with this woman, even in self-defense, made something painful well up inside him. Some primal part of him just couldn’t do it. But then she let out a soft whine and nudged him with her nose and he realized she was worried. Or at least concerned about him.

He tried to move then realized he must have been injured worse than he originally thought. More pain ripped through his right shoulder like tiny daggers digging into him. Damn vampire had sliced through him with his claws. Rainer let his head fall back against the pavement. He’d heal soon enough and if those vamps didn’t come back and the woman didn’t try to attack him, he’d be fine.

But she clearly had other ideas. After whining and nudging him again, she turned tail and disappeared around her Jeep. Less than a minute later she came back around in her human form wearing a form-fitting T-shirt and shorts. All shifters he knew carried around multiple changes of clothes so it made sense she had something extra to put on. It was a shame she’d had to destroy that skimpy black dress though. He’d had some wicked fantasies earlier tonight of slowly peeling it off her. Watching her carefully, he relaxed slightly when she opened the back door of her Jeep.

“Come on, big fella. You’re coming home with me so you can heal. Do not make me regret this,” she murmured as she bent down and picked him up.

Rainer was huge and if she’d been human she wouldn’t have been able to lift him. As it was, the petite woman strained and grunted as she slid her arms under his big wolf body and lifted him up. Though it would have hurt like hell, he could have jumped into the back on his own, but he was afraid any sudden movements would scare her.

And he wasn’t above playing the sympathy card if it got her to take him back to her place. She was living in Huntsville, which was his Alpha’s territory and she hadn’t made her presence known to anyone that he knew of. Considering that his oldest brother Alaric was second-in-command to Knox, his Alpha, Rainer would have known if a jaguar shifter had been living in their territory. Then she’d acted as if she didn’t know what an Alpha was. Whatever was going on with this woman and whoever she was, he was damn sure going to find out.

Because those vampires tonight had been hunting her.

After gently sliding him onto a thick quilt, she shut the back door while she muttered to herself about how she was definitely going to regret letting a wolf into her home. If he’d been in human form he would have smiled. Inhaling deeply, he scented her on the quilt and the smell soothed him on a primal level. Most shifters carried quilts or blankets around in their vehicles in case they decided to stop somewhere and sleep out in the woods, on the beach, or wherever.

He didn’t like leaving his truck but there was no identifying information inside and the license plate wasn’t linked to his pack. If someone stole it, well, he’d take care of that later. The gentle hum of her engine would have lulled him to sleep but after only a minute of driving the vehicle shut off again and she got out.

Making a split second decision, he shifted back to his human form. His bones cracked, broke and realigned and skin quickly replaced fur. Rainer wanted to be able to talk to her and he wanted to know why they’d stopped when they were in the middle of nowhere. She definitely hadn’t gone far.

Seconds later the back door opened. The woman’s dark eyes widened and she took a step back. She seemed almost frozen to the spot as her gaze raked over him. He was turned on his side, still covered in blood and aching, but the way she stared at him made another part of his body react. When her eyes landed on his groin area, her olive-hued cheeks tinged bright pink and she quickly averted her gaze.

Looking at a spot over his shoulder, she cleared her throat. “Do you need help getting out?”

No. “Yes.” Yeah, he definitely wasn’t above playing the sympathy card if it got her to touch him. Rainer sat up and winced when he saw the blood he’d left behind. “Sorry about your quilt,” he muttered.

“It’s fine. We need to get you cleaned off.” Still keeping her gaze not quite on his face, she slid an arm under his shoulder and helped him slide out. Her body was stiff and tense as she held on to him, making it clear she didn’t like touching him.

He inhaled deeply, memorizing her jasmine scent. It was so pure and classic he wanted to bury his face against her neck and just breathe her in. “My name’s Rainer,” he said as his feet touched the paved driveway that led to a cottage style one-story home in the middle of the woods. Perfect for privacy, but not for a single female shifter who clearly had no pack for protection. He frowned at the thought of her out here all alone. His inner wolf flexed its claws, wanting to protect her.

She paused for a moment. “I’m Estrella. Now come on. I want to get you inside before those...things come back.”

He let her name roll around in his head as he savored it. But the uncertain way she said “things” made him curious. “You’ve never seen a vampire before?”

Her grip around him tightened as she hissed in a breath. “Those men really were vampires? I’d thought so but I still wasn’t sure if I was right or if they were even real...” She trailed off and put a key in the front door.

The second they stepped inside she let her arm drop, leaving him standing naked and dripping blood in her foyer. He started to call out but she returned a moment later carrying a towel covered in old paint splatters. Keeping her dark brown eyes on his she held the towel out, effectively blocking his lower body from her line of vision. “This is so you can cover yourself.” Her cheeks had turned that delicious shade of pink again.

Despite the residual pain pulsing through him, Rainer wondered what it would be like to nip and kiss her very full lips. “Does my nudity bother you?” Most shifters were immune to nudity, but he still wrapped the towel around his waist.