Page 41 of Brody
Beside me, Brody went rigid, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air.“Something’s wrong,” he said, his voice dropping to that dangerous register that made my spine tingle with equal parts fear and anticipation.“Two foreign scents.”
My enhanced senses kicked into overdrive, every nerve ending suddenly raw and exposed.I cataloged every shadow, every whisper of movement, every potential threat.That was when two large men in black tactical gear materialized from the darkness, blocking our path to the gate of the B&B entrance.Given my height of five foot four, they loomed over me like twin mountains made of muscle and menace.
Brody’s arm shot out, pushing me behind his six-foot-plus frame.The protective gesture should have irritated me.Instead, something primal and feminine inside me responded to it with dangerous approval.
Everything happened at once.
“Dr.Dhahabu,” the larger one said, his voice eerily calm as he stared down at me, eyes glittering with predatory intent.“You’ve made some powerful enemies with that research of yours.Time to come with us.”
“Like hell,” I spat out, adrenaline flooding my system like liquid lightning.Being short had taught me to turn disadvantages into weapons.My center of gravity was lower, making me harder to topple, faster to maneuver.
The second man lunged for me while his partner engaged Brody.Time slowed, each millisecond stretching into clarity as my cheetah’s instincts merged with mine.I ducked under grasping hands that reached for me from what felt like miles above, driving my elbow up into the attacker’s solar plexus with enough force to double him over.The impact jarred up my arm, a satisfying pain that told me I’d hit exactly right.His hot breath gusted against my face as he bent forward, bringing his face down to my level.
“Your grandmother sends her regards,” he wheezed, recovering unbelievably fast.His eyes flashed with a glimpse of the predator beneath the skin.“Said to bring you back breathing if convenient.But she emphasized the ‘if convenient’ part.”
My blood ran cold even as heat flooded my limbs.So the kidnapping orders had escalated to potential elimination.The taste of fear flooded my mouth, metallic and sharp.
“So much for family loyalty,” I snapped, dodging another lunge from the giant, the rush of displaced air brushing my cheek as his fist missed by millimeters.
After the Kenya hyena attack, I’d promised myself to never be helpless again.Years of training kicked in, muscle memory taking over as I faced down my attacker.But even as I moved, my peripheral vision caught Brody in action, and holy shit, the man was a lethal weapon made flesh.
His combat training showed in every devastating movement.Brutal efficiency.No wasted motion.He trapped his attacker’s arm, the crack of bone audible even over my own ragged breathing.He drove his knee into the man’s ribs with bone-crushing force, then followed up with an elbow strike to the temple that would have dropped a normal human.His opponent staggered but didn’t fall, definite shifter resilience.
The fight spilled from the sidewalk into the street, the pavement rough beneath my boots as both attackers tried to create distance.My heart thundered against my ribs, each beat a war drum pushing me forward.
I landed a perfect roundhouse kick to my opponent’s sternum that sent him stumbling back.Being short meant I had to compensate with speed and precision, something my years in martial arts had perfected.The satisfying thud of impact traveled up my leg, a confirmation that all those dawn training sessions had been worth it.
Brody’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, his momentary distraction almost costing him as his opponent lunged.
“Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?”he gasped, blocking a vicious strike at the last second, his forearm taking a blow that would have shattered a normal human’s bones.
I grinned through the adrenaline rush, tasting sweat on my upper lip.“You think I survived the Amazon by asking plants nicely?”I pivoted, narrowly avoiding a grab that would have pinned my arms.“Your turn to impress me, wolf.”
Something shifted in his expression, a flash of primal hunger that had nothing to do with violence and everything to do with the provocation in my voice.
“Challenge accepted,” he growled, his eyes flashing molten gold as he executed a flawless takedown that left his attacker eating asphalt.
The night air filled with the sounds of our combat, grunts of exertion, the slap of flesh against flesh, the scrape of boots on pavement.Beneath it all, the accelerated heartbeats of four predators engaged in a deadly dance.
My opponent recovered faster than expected, backhanding me across the mouth with enough force to snap my head sideways.Pain exploded across my face, the taste of blood flooding my tongue as my inner cheek split against my teeth.The coppery tang awakened something dangerous in my cheetah, calling to her predatory nature.
“Feisty bitch,” he growled, reaching for me again, his fingers beginning to elongate into something that wasn’t quite human.“Dead or alive, the bounty’s the same now.”
The confirmation of my grandmother’s deadly intent should have terrified me.Instead, I was filled with cold fury.
I grabbed his wrist and twisted, using his momentum to throw him over my hip.My size worked against him; he wasn’t expecting a five-foot-four woman to have the leverage to take down a man nearly a foot taller.The shock in his eyes as he went airborne gave me a vicious satisfaction.
“Sorry to disappoint.”I spat blood onto the pavement, the scarlet droplets glistening in the moonlight.“But I’m not going anywhere.”
He hit the asphalt hard enough to crack it but rolled to his feet with predatory grace, his fingers now fully transformed into vulture-like talons.Not just restraint techniques anymore, those were killing strikes aimed at my throat.
“On your six!”Brody’s warning came sharp and clear through the chaos.
Without hesitation or thought, I dropped into a crouch, feeling the rush of air as Brody’s fist connected with the second attacker who’d tried to flank me.We moved together like we’d rehearsed it a thousand times, my body somehow anticipating his, his rhythm syncing perfectly with mine.The partial mate bond hummed between us, no longer a theoretical connection but a tangible thread linking our movements.Even without the final claiming bite, our connection was growing stronger, more physical, a preview of what the completed bond might feel like if we ever took that irreversible step.
That was when everything changed.
The larger attacker charged.I tried to sidestep, boots scraping pavement, but he anticipated me.His mass slammed into me like a freight train.Air whooshed from my lungs.My ribs screamed as my body was lifted off the ground.The world spun as he threw me down with brutal force.
