Page 19 of Catnip

Here was the man the legends talked of. There was no doubt that what they said of him was accurate enough. He looked like a killer, the kind who did it not because they needed to, but because it wasfun.

He also looked like after killing, he’d fuck his way through every woman in his path. Covered in blood. While laughing like amaniac.

She shook her head. Well, that vision was quitespecific.

“Ava FlaviaDale.”

He said each of her names slowly, rolling it around histongue.

She didn’tflinch.

“Your sister was taller. Prettier,too.”

Now, she was narrowing hereyes.

“They said she was stronger, yet you were the one whosurvived.”

She glanced at Ace, wondering if she’d told him about her siblings; but none of what she’d told the Alpha would have given him a clue about Aria’s height or herbeauty.

He’d been observing them. Of course. Watching your enemies wassmart.

Shit. Shit.Shit.

She controlled her breathing, and forced her body to appear calm, although she wanted to tremble, and maybe hide behind Coveney, who was waiting for her at the bottom of thestairs.

Finally, she’d reached the laststep.

“I was lucky,” shereplied.

The wolf tilted his head. “Luck. Yes. It’s certainly luck that allowed you to evade some of the most bloodthirsty hunters of the entire shifter kind for six months, I’msure.”

She wasn’t surprised when he moved. Somehow, at the back of her mind, she’d always suspected it wasinevitable.

The wolf seized the top of his cane and pulled it, unsheathing a long, thin sword, before he launched himself at her, still smiling broadly, like he was having a hell of a lot offun.

The Wyverns didn’t have a chance in hell of stopping him. They might be felines, but in their human shells, there was no way they could have matched his speed. They probably wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing even if they’dshifted.

Coveney, who was closest to her, attempted to push her behind him, but she didn’t lethim.

This wasn’t his fight. And she wasn’t going to let him get mauled to death forher.

So, she did what she had to do. Defense was pointless, pathetic against a predator such as him. She leaped on the nearest wall, and used her momentum to jump to his flanks. Her kick hit the mark. Holy fuck, she’d hit him! Thankfully, her body didn’t let her mind slow it down. On automatic pilot, she punched his sword hand, and flipped back when he appeared at her other side, claws extended this time, although the rest of him remainedhuman.

He could partially shift. He wasn’t the onlyone.

She extended her wings and flew up just in time to avoid his bite, before folding them back, and grabbing the Malacca’s sheath. He’d carelessly dropped it on the floor. Not a smartmove.

She’d learned early that any weapon was better than no weapon; it might not have an edge, but the thin wooden cane allowed her to keep his sword and teeth at adistance.

She was breathing hard, and maybe even sweating, but it hit her, suddenly, when the sword only missed her by ahair.

Her eyes bulged. She didn’t understand how or why, but she knew, without a doubt, that the wolf was justsparring.

All of a sudden, just as quickly as he’s started, he stopped moving, drawing his swordback.

She was pacing, holding her side, hurting everywhere, but the wolf didn’t have a hair out of place. He didn’t even seem winded, damnit.

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “You’re a Flavian,alright.”

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