Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)
Trina M. Lee
Chapter One
The taste of blood brought my wolf to the surface. I snarled up into the face of the vampire and braced for another blow. I welcomed it. The need for a good fight had my adrenaline pumping.
My bloody lip was quickly forgotten when the jackass grabbed me by the throat and banged my head against the ground. Light exploded behind my eyes. I brought an elbow up into his face before he could do it again. The crunch that followed was satisfying.
“You like to play, don’t you, wolf?” With a backhand, he knocked the stake from my grasp and I watched with dismay as it rolled across the parking lot.
I followed up with a kick that effectively threw him off me. In a leap I was on my feet, braced and ready for him. In my mind, he was already dead. It was just a matter of when I tired of this dance. At the moment I was enjoying myself. His psychic attributes were weak, almost non-existent. So he was a full on physical guy. A good brawl was just what I needed on a hot July night.
I liked to keep things fair. I’d let it stay physical unless he got me in a bad position. Knowing he slaughtered Edmonton’s homeless like they were cattle fed my eagerness for a nice, bloody beat down.
Patrick Morgan had been on my hit list for weeks. My partner, Jez St. Claire, had accompanied me on this hunt. I kept expecting her to jump in and help me out but she had yet to appear from her place in the shadows.
I rushed him, faking a punch but sweeping his legs out from beneath him with a kick instead. It didn’t keep him down longer than a split second. He recovered fast and came at me with fangs bared. As if he really believed he’d get a chance to use them.
Just before he hit me, I threw my weight forward and leaned down low, effectively tossing him over my shoulder. I leaped on him fast, straddling him as I rained down blow after blow. I settled for dropping punches into his face. It wouldn’t kill him but hurting him sure felt good.
“How many hits in the face do you think you can take before there is nothing left to look at?” I sneered with a bitter laugh. “My arms aren’t even tired yet. I can go until sunrise.”
Twisting his body suddenly, he threw me off, following through with a few well placed hits. I was going to be a mess of bruises after this. The struggle for dominance ensued. We each fought to gain leverage over the other. It was starting to feel like a hair pulling, bitch slapping kind of fight. I needed to take it to the next level.
He managed to put some space between us and sprang to his feet. I followed suit, circling back to give myself room to feel out my next attack.
The wolf’s stamina and speed carried me when I came at him with claws ready. He moved swiftly and rather than take his head off, I merely scratched a few deep lines in his cheek.
Surprise glowed in his dark eyes. I must have caught him off guard on that one. Good. I lunged again but he was ready. He gave me a nice shove, one that lifted me off my feet. I hit the ground hard and rolled, getting back up. Glancing toward the stake, I made as if to move for it and the vampire stopped me with a well placed kick.
Taking a kick to the head stunned me. I fell to my knees, the stake just out of reach. I couldn’t go for it and defend myself at the same time. Not when I was seeing stars. I still had all my teeth though so it could have been worse.
He grabbed me from behind, choking me before I’d recovered from the blinding kick. The son of a bitch was strong. I gasped for breath. Now might be the time to pull a psychic attack on him. I flung a clawed hand back behind me, groping blindly for his face. I felt the soft, vulnerable area around his eye. Success.
The scream that tore from him when I stabbed a sharp claw into his eye was almost feminine. It would have been funny if things hadn’t just gone from feisty fun to death match. He released me immediately.
Blood poured down his face. His eye was a mangled mess. Rage rolled off him in giant waves. I never gave him the chance to recover. Lunging swiftly, I snatched the stake up and threw all of my weight at him. I hit him in the chest and we both went down. I called forth just enough power to help me hold him.
I still hadn’t mastered my abilities despite having been born with them. What had started as basic telekinesis and energy manipulation had evolved over time. Becoming a werewolf had done nothing to hinder my power. In some ways, it seemed to enhance it. As far as I knew, I was the only living werewolf to possess power so close to that of a vampire.
Patrick Morgan gave a loud, angry cry and fought hard to throw me off. “Fucking bitch! I’m not going to beg.”