Hunting Season: Werewolf Bodyguard Romance (Guarded by the Shifter Book 1) by Kate Rudolph (new reading TXT) 📗

giant windows in the library. The French doors could open to a small balcony and it would make a great point of entrance if someone could get up to this floor. Definitely not impossible given the fire escapes or sufficient climbing equipment.

He checked it out, but the sound didn't seem to be anything. Maybe a bird or a twig. He opened up his senses, trying to use his wolf, but still nothing.

Everything was fine. Stasia was safe. Or as safe as she ever could be.

He headed back toward the bedroom and that was when he heard her scream.

Owen sprinted. Who had her? How had he missed something?

The screams were gut-wrenching. It sounded like she was being stabbed and Owen could feel his claws and teeth growing sharper as he busted through the door, ready to take on whoever was threatening his mate.

But there was no one else inside the bedroom.

Stasia lay on the bed and thrashed from side to side, her body covered in a heavy sweat and her mouth letting out pained screams.

Owen had to take a deep breath to pull in his claws and teeth. His mate needed him for something else. This wasn't an enemy he could fight.

He made it to the side of the bed and wasn't sure whether he should touch her. Finally he decided to at least feel for a fever. That was a first step. His hand covered her forehead and her skin was burning hot.

Her eyes flashed open and they were the same yellow he saw when his wolf was close to the surface.

She was changing. It might've taken him and the others three months to go from the ritual to their first change, but she had only been bitten about a day ago, maybe thirty hours at the most. He knew that was important information, something he would need to know, but it didn't feel important now. Right now he just had to figure out how to get her safely through this.

He and the others had changed quickly once it had begun. There had been howling, but not much screaming, and not this kind of pain.

Was something wrong?

Was this something a person wasn't meant to survive?

Fear swept over Owen and he wished he had somebody he could call, but he wasn't going to leave Stasia alone. She needed someone to bring her through this change and out the other side and that someone was him.

At least that was his plan until he heard glass shatter in another room and the security alarm started blaring.

His instincts had been right. She wasn't safe.

He had his gun still on him and his wolf within him, but how could he leave Stasia?

A second window shattered in another room. That meant more than one intruder. Probably more than two. If he didn't leave to defend her, the intruders might get to her. And she was in such a vulnerable state that she couldn't fight back.

He couldn't leave her in this room. It wasn't easily defensible. And it was the first place that the intruders would check. Besides, he didn't want her to get wrapped up in the sheets as she struggled against the change. He scooped her off of the bed and winced as she let out a pained cry.

She would be okay. She had to be.

The master bathroom only had a small window to the outside, one a person couldn't fit through. It meant she was trapped, but they would have to get through him to get to her. He placed her in the bathtub. It wasn't safe, but there weren't obstructions there and he didn't have many other choices.

Owen gave her forehead a kiss and then turned away and headed out to fight whoever was coming for her. He was going to show no mercy; they didn't get to come into his mate's home and try to take her or hurt her. It would be the last mistake they ever made.

While his wolf hadn't been much help during his patrol of the house, now it was close to the surface and it felt like he could hear everything, smell everything, even see everything. He was tempted to shift fully, but he needed his hands. Claws and sharp teeth would have to do.

He closed the bathroom door and hoped that it would hold for long enough. Then he left the bedroom.

The first attacker had already made it to the hallway outside the bedroom, and Owen leapt at him without hesitation. The man didn't have a gun. That was good. It meant he probably wasn't here for death, just kidnapping. But that was his mistake. He had a Taser, and it might've done enough to slow Owen down if he hadn't got the jump on the guy, but he did.

And he made short work of him with teeth and claws and punches. The man went down and Owen didn't care if he was dead or alive. Judging by the amount of blood he didn't have much hope for survival.

One down, how many to go?

He continued down the hall and followed his ears to the next guy. This one had a stun gun and it almost touched Owen, but he was too fast, and this time he reached for his own weapon and got off two shots, making the man drop down.

Two down.

There were still more. At least four if his ears were not deceiving him, and he doubted they were. Six people to come and retrieve Stasia. Overkill? If that's what they thought, they were severely mistaken.

But the arrogance of Owen's wolf almost got him killed. He charged down the hall ready to take on the next attacker, but the four remaining weren't loners. They were bunched together as a solid unit, and judging by their gear were more than capable of taking on one man, even a man as well trained as Owen.

Stasia screamed again. Owen wanted to go to her. She needed help. She needed her mate. She shouldn't be doing this alone. But