blood 03 - blood chosen Read Free

somehow, the bearer of the shit leaves their mark.”
    “Like a signature?” Adi asked.
    “Yeah. Good call, mutt.”
    “Huh,” Adi said, head bent, her face speculative. It wasn't a good look.
    “Hey, I didn't mean anything by it,” Cyn said, backtracking.
    Adi met her eyes, ignoring the dig. “I screwed up, big time. I should've...”
    “What? That whack job... she mowed you over with her head,” Cyn said, tapping her temple. “There's nothing you could have done, Adi,” she said, looking down at the much shorter girl.
    “Yeah,” Adi agreed like she didn't believe it, still looking at her feet. For all her bravado, she sure takes a lot of the responsibility on her shoulders, Cyn thought.
    The girls stood quietly for a time then Adi said, “It's time to make our way back.”
    Cyn shook her head. “No, they'll be expecting that. It's not safe.”
    “It's safe,” a voice said from out of the forest.
    “Holy shit!” Cyn yelped, stumbling backward and Adi grinned with relief.
    “What's so damn funny?” Cyn asked, insulted. “I think a drop of pee came out!”
    “They're Were... and I know them.” Adi's confidence returning in one fell swoop.
    “Friendly?” Cyn asked, putting a tree trunk in front of her like a shield. Not that it'd do a damn bit of good. She'd seen a Were throw another halfway through a tree, felling it as smoothly as an ax. Yup, things were so not okay if they weren't friends.
    Then several things happened at once.
    Two large males moved into the open patch of forest between stands of trees.
    They were in half-wolf form, which was creepy as hell, but Cyn was getting used to it. Which was its own slice of weirdness. She recognized the first one instantly and was relieved. The second one Cyn recognized seconds later.
    They were kinda naked so strong eye contact was advised. The answer to the age old question was: no, fur doesn't cover everything. Still, it was like when you knew you weren't supposed to scratch, it made ya itch with wanting to. Cyn realized it was pervy but when a bunch of half-werewolf men were walking around with their macho commando action... well...
    Then after several heartbeats of scrutiny she began to realize that the third was Karl Truman from Homer. Cyn blinked slowly.
    Truman stepped forward as she took a step back.
    “Cynthia Adams,” he growled and Adi cocked a pale brown eyebrow at Cyn in surprise.
    “Nice to meet you,” Cyn said, adding, “again.” It just couldn't get any stranger.
    He dipped his chin in a parody of a greeting and it was too much for Cyn, she simply sat down on her ass where she stood. They could figure out what to do with her but there were too many freak-outs presently.
    Her restaurant manager was a Were.
    Fucktastic.
    The cop from Homer who had been hot on her trail was now a Were.
    They were naked half-werewolves.
    Weirdness squared.
    Truman was the same as Jason, his body covered by a shadow of scarlet fur, his eyes were orbs of green in his head... spinning, always spinning.
    What did it all mean?
    For her.
    For them?
    For Julia.

CHAPTER TWO
    Julia
     
    Julia couldn't get enough of Scott. She woke up in his arms, fully awakened.
    Their soul-meld complete.
    Or nearly so.
    He gazed down at her with a similar expression. His eyes, so nearly black they swallowed his pupil, framed a face that was far too serious.
    “What?” she asked softly, smoothing the hair off his forehead.
    Scott searched her face, knowing full-well he should tell her. He wasn't sure if the knowledge would improve things between her and the people they were now in charge of leading. Probably not.
    Julia's hand dropped. “Okay, I know what that look means.”
    Scott smiled. Busted. Hard to hide things from your soulmate, though their bond was fragile, untried.
    He lay back down on the bed and Julia rolled over so she was slightly above and on top of him, pushing the fringe of short black hair off his forehead. Her own caramel-colored hair swept forward,