Page 35 of Klaus

Except for a touch of red on the ground, no more than twenty feet ahead of me. I went to it, sinking to my knees beside it, the scent of blood filling my senses and sending the lion into a fury before I even had the chance to touch it to see whether it was still wet.

It was. Fresh blood.

Her blood.

I leapt to my feet, head on a swivel. Where were they?

I could go back to the cave and get help, but that would waste precious minutes, and we’d already established that my sense of smell was far superior to theirs, even in dragon form.

The seams on my clothing shredded as I shifted. My eyesight was stronger, and the scent of Ainsley’s blood on the ground filled my head with the strongest, purest lust I’d ever experienced in my long life.

Lust for more blood. Their blood, whoever they were. Whoever thought they could put their hands on her and harm her.

A gust of wind carried another scent, not a strong but just as important. Humans. At least two of them.

I followed the scent into the craggy, tree-covered hills at the foot of the mountain, her name repeating in my head with every slap of my paws against the ground.

Ainsley, Ainsley, Ainsley.

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