Page 44 of Tender Wild

Miguel leaned forward, his body angling lower over the handlebars. Jared mimicked his position, pressing himself tight against his mate’s back as they drove faster. Wind whipped past them, carrying with it the faint scent of exhaust and the acrid tang of Jared’s own fear. He turned his head slightly, eyes watering from the rush of air, trying to see how close the truck was. The headlights were two piercing beams, hurting his eyes.

Oh…shit!

Ahead, road signs flashed warnings of a particularly nasty bend. Yellow diamonds with black arrows curving like snakes. Jared’s breath stalled in his throat, every muscle tensed for a crash. Miguel must have realized the same thing. Instead of taking the risky turn at their current suicidal speed, Miguel slowed abruptly, veering off the road and into a field dotted with tall grasses that swayed like waves around them.

The truck skidded briefly across loose shale before regaining traction on the grassy terrain. Headlights bobbed and jolted across the uneven ground, but kept pace behind them as stones flew and pinged against metal.

Miguel cut the engine, letting momentum carry them several yards before stopping completely. The abrupt silence felt wrong after the roaring wind and engine. Only ragged breathing and distant crickets could be heard. Jared couldn’t even hear the truck anymore.

Doors slammed behind them in quick succession. Footsteps crunched through dry grass. That explained why Jared couldn’t hear it. Whoever was driving had stopped.

“Get off,” Miguel’s tense voice commanded.

Jared slid from the seat on shaky legs, stumbling slightly as his feet hit solid ground.

“Stay behind me.” Miguel placed himself between Jared and the approaching figures.

Three men emerged from the glare, their silhouettes morphing into familiar shapes as they approached. Not hyenas as Jared had feared.

Three cheetahs from his own coalition walked toward them with a predatory gait that made his stomach drop. They were young men he recognized, ones who’d voiced their displeasure when Kia’s cheetah had chosen a wolf as its mate.

Jared recognized Cameron, Doug, and Richard. Their faces were twisted with barely contained rage as they approached.

“Well, well,” Cameron called out, his lip curled into a smirk. “Looks like we caught the mutt.”

Mutt? “What the fuck?” Jared fisted his hands at his sides. “You could’ve killed us on that goddamn road!”

“We don’t appreciate wolves mating with cheetahs. And since Xavier won’t do anything about it…” Cameron gave a lazy shrug.

A low, feral growl resonated from Miguel. “You really don’t want to fuck with me, boys.”

Doug jerked his head back, staring at Miguel with revulsion. “What happened to your face?”

“The same thing that’s going to happen to yours!” Jared lunged for him, but strong hands curled around his waist, pulling him back. “You lousy son of a bitch! Does it make you feel like a big boy to talk shit about someone? How would you like it if I talk about your mom and how she—”

Miguel pressed a hand over Jared’s mouth.

Richard let out a whoop, laughing. “Jared’s grown some balls!”

“So did your mother!” Jared shouted from behind his mate’s hand. He despised bullies, and these three were the biggest ones he knew.

“I’ll give you one last chance to get back in your truck and drive away,” Miguel said calmly as Jared glared at them.

“Or what?” Cameron tilted his head. “Gonna piss on my leg, doggie?”

Jared’s eyes widened when he felt the hand over his mouth sprout fur. Slowly, he turned his head, then gasped as Miguel began to shift.

But it wasn’t a wolf forming before his eyes.

Bones cracked with sickening pops as Miguel’s body contorted and expanded. His clothes strained against bulging muscles before seams gave way, the fabric tearing like paper. Jared stumbled backward, nearly tripping over the motorcycle as his mate’s transformation accelerated.

Miguel’s face elongated into a snout, his human features disappearing beneath thick, slate-gray fur that sprouted across his skin like fast-growing moss. His height shot upward until he towered over them all, massive and terrifying. Eight feet of pure predator stood where a man had been seconds before.

“Holy shit,” Jared whispered, unable to look away.

Not wolf. Not human. Something ancient and primal that existed between worlds. Miguel’s lycanthrope form radiated raw power, muscles rippling beneath fur that caught the truck’s headlights, giving him an otherworldly glow. His shoulders spanned twice their normal width, yet still recognizably Miguel in the intelligent blue eyes that glowed with amber fire.

Despite his terror, Jared couldn’t deny the creature’s savage beauty. Every line of Miguel’s transformed body was deadly muscles, a perfect killing machine honed by evolution.

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